The contemporary art market can be daunting everywhere in the world, but particularly in NYC.  A lot of very successful people have approached my company or become clients of mine because they wanted to start a contemporary art collection that made sense for their lifestyles. Their first complaint was their own lack of time to do the necessary research, attend all of the shows and follow the careers of the contemporary art artists that they liked the most.  The second complaint is usually: now that I know what I like, how do I make contemporary art work for my life?

As a business owner, contemporary art collector and someone who has a passion for bedazzling, unique, art-centric interiors, I was utterly disappointed when I started buying contemporary art for my own collection back in 2000. I committed so many costly mistakes due to the pervasive lack of clarity and information about the contemporary art market. I also got so frustrated with the catch-all advice of the so-called contemporary art connoisseurs-- go to museums, go to all the gallery shows and find what you love.”  Really? Is it that easy?

The truth is that while I love contemporary art museums and galleries (and I buy all of my art from great contemporary art galleries in NYC and around the world and spot talents on the rise in museum shows), the whole concept of just seeing a piece of contemporary art hanging on a white wall seemed too out of touch from my reality. I needed to make this work for me (and as time proved down the line, for my clients).  Little by little (not without committing many mistakes, as I said before), I trained my eye, my mind and my spirit and was able to develop a contemporary art collection that is coherent, cohesive and is integrated with all other elements of my interior design.

Although the contemporary art is the most important investment I have made, after the purchase of my apartment, if my contemporary art collection or each piece were to be taken out of its current context, they would have taken on a whole different meaning. Each contemporary art collector gives specific meaning and purpose to a collection, and that is the beauty of it.