If you want to collect works by modern or contemporary masters, secondary market galleries can be the starting point of your search.
Primary market galleries collaborate with living artists to launch and sell their works for the first time; secondary market galleries (along with auction houses) are responsible for subsequent transactions. The latter’s collection may come from private collectors who want to sell their collections, or from legacy foundations that carefully consider and want to “reduce assets”.
Taking Alex Daniels – Reflex Amsterdam as an example, many galleries choose to operate in both of these markets at the same time.
Collectors may ask, “Why should I buy works from a secondary market gallery instead of an auction house?”
One main reason is that secondary market galleries provide long-term resources, and the art consultants and scholars working for them can assist in preserving and researching art. Top secondary market art dealers will always maintain a good relationship with the artists and their estate foundations.
By interviewing John Russo, CEO of Maddox Gallery, which is based in London, Gstaad, and Los Angeles; Debra Pesci, Director of Hollis Taggart Gallery, which is based in New York; and Aeneas Bastian, Director of BASTIAN Gallery, which is based in London and Berlin, we can understand why secondary market galleries are a good place to discover artists and make safe investments.
Many secondary market galleries take it upon themselves to find and promote artists who are not fully recognized in popular art genres and movements. Bastian said: “We only exhibit and offer works from the secondary market that we are very familiar with, mainly 20th century and post-war works from Germany and the United States. As a result, our customers can buy with confidence.”
Hollis Taggart Gallery also focuses on 20th century art, with styles and genres that are “hard currency” in the market, especially Abstract Expressionism of the mid-20th century. Pace West said: “Our gallery has a decades-long tradition of supporting artists who, for some reason, are no longer popular and deserve our re-examination.”
She added: “We have brought many American modernist artists back into the spotlight, as well as post-war artists. Michael Corinne West, Leon Berkowitz, Albert Kotin, Idelle Weber, and Norman Carton are all good examples.” Recently, the gallery held a very successful exhibition called “Kinship,” which juxtaposed the works of 20th century painter Betty Parsons with Dusti Bongé’s emotional abstract expressionist paintings (on display until November 12th).
Hollis Taggart Gallery is also committed to building a robust academic resource library so that collectors can fully appreciate the artist’s work. The gallery has developed a detailed marketing and exhibition plan to gradually reintroduce neglected artists to new audiences over a period ranging from months to years. “West is a great case,” said Pace West. “We organized three exhibitions of the artist’s works: the first one is somewhat a retrospective, aiming to reintroduce the artist to the audience; the following two are thematic exhibitions, involving different aspects of her work. With the support of academic catalogues, we have presented a more comprehensive and lasting display of the artist’s work in this way.”
At the Maddox Gallery, curation relies on the collective efforts of the team. The curatorial team uses social media and other resources to stimulate enthusiasm and embed the gallery’s exhibitions into contemporary discussions. “We want to curate exhibitions with clear themes,” said Rosso. “From subject matter to aesthetic analysis, from social themes to rare treasures, curation in the secondary market needs to achieve one thing: all the works displayed on the gallery walls should follow a coherent narrative.”
Due to the emphasis on 20th-century art, secondary market galleries are largely associated with an older generation of collectors. However, gallery representatives we have spoken to have indicated that millennials are very interested in 20th-century artworks. Rosso deduces that many of these young buyers have experienced multiple economic downturns and therefore prefer to make prudent financial investments.
Bastian said: “Given that many outstanding artists are about to be rediscovered, [works in the secondary market] can be considered a very good investment and an alternative to primary market works. Of course, there is a market for young emerging artists, and the most mature artists of our time also have their own buyers, but some collectors may prefer to look for undervalued works in the secondary market.”
Maddox Gallery also recognizes that the secondary market is attractive to collectors from the Millennial and Generation X cohorts. Rosso points out that 20th-century art styles like Pop Art have found a revival in contemporary artists such as Stik and Javier Calleja, which may be one of the reasons the market is attracting young people. “Young collectors want that sense of nostalgia, which is reflected in their preference for playful, optimistic works with a broad audience,” he says.
Secondary market gallery
It’s a haven for curators to rediscover artists
“Historically, art has always been a haven during times of economic instability,” said Russo. “Over the past 100 years, from the Great Depression to the 2008 recession, from World War II to the dot-com bubble, astute investors have chosen to use the secondary art market to protect their wealth.”
Pace West mentioned that art investment is often the key to a viable financial portfolio. Galleries will guide collectors to choose artworks from established genres that can still cater to the art market’s interest in new things. “We have achieved considerable success in establishing a continuously strengthening art market for some of our ‘rediscovered’ artists,” he said.
This is a microcosm of a major trend – not only to raise awareness of these artists but also to increase their commercial value. Some of these works are severely undervalued, so they will not be affected by economic downturns.
In the final analysis, the reason why secondary market galleries are an excellent path into art collection is due to the property protection they provide.
As Russo summarized: “There is nothing more exciting than seeing a collector take the first step into the secondary market. This is a journey full of opportunities and extraordinary discoveries, but authenticity and provenance are also indispensable factors to ensure balance.”
