Roxanne Zarnegar: If you don't create demand — for you to do more
ARTinvestment.RU   19 февраля 2020

Executive Director of ARCIS — about the current requirements for the management of collections and the role of technologies, innovations and discoveries in the life of a collector

Roxanne Zarnegar both a theorist and a practitioner of the market. According to students of the Institute of art Sotheby's, it is one of the best teachers, forcing-новому to look at the art market. Roxanne Zarnegar launched the first e-auction for Artnet, and the U.S. office of Christie's achieved the best results in the beginning of the XXI century. 2020 Roxanne — Executive Director of ARCIS, the largest repository of art in the U.S. (new-Йорк).

a Specialist in the auction the work Roxanne does not consider himself: "Rather, I “logistics specialist with a passion for digital innovation”! At the time, I have spent years, to Christie's understood how to work with art and collectors. We launched the program of supporting activities, which then led to sales. In Artnet I came up with a base of applied knowledge, which nevertheless helped to create a virtual environment for deals in the art world".

ARTinvestment.RU: You deliberately told the world art, not the market art?

Roxanne Zarnegar: Of Course.

AI: you Can see why?

R. Z.: I found the following terminology: works that are sold during a calendar year, form market art. And those that are privately owned, — are the world art. In the world art collector has the ability, not available on market: it can open new names, creating demand. The market as such is just the tip of the iceberg, trading platform with the official figures.

AI: by the Way, about figures. When people talk about the volume of the art market, the most commonly mentioned $67 billion — annual turnover. The value of art in private possession is almost fifty times higher — about $3 trillion, but many people forget about it. What happens to the assets in private ownership when they are looking to enter the market?

R. Z.: In the art world between the buying and selling of works committed many actions: they store and exhibit, explore, exploring provenance, transfer to pledge, to place at the art-фондах, etc.

AI: a Year ago, as the speaker Cube.Collectors Summit in Moscow you said, "remittance is not the ultimate point of art-сделки: after committing a real life piece of art is just beginning". You meant the management of the collection?

R. Z.: Yeah, it was about control. I really think that the deal is just the trigger. Much more important the actions of the collectors before the sale and after it: they can facilitate the conclusion of beneficial transactions and reduce the efforts of the parties no.

AI: Many researchers in the field of the Economics of art celebrates the influence of the provenance and care of the collection of the results of future auction sales. And I noticed you, while working as chief operating officer for Christie's Americas?

R. Z.: a Quality provenance and care of the collection necessary for a healthy ecosystem art trade. It is a completely different concept, but they have similarities: they are strongly influenced by the capitalization of the asset. In the past, the care of the collection meant only storage and conservation, but today there are new standards, which involve storing, exhibiting and selling of works of art under the roof of a purpose built building. The General principle is: the less you disturb the art, the safer it is. Believe me, with art it is possible to work, even when it physically does not move.

AI: After Christie's you held the position of senior Vice-президента for auctions and private sales at Artnet. What is the difference between physical and online-аукционом?

R. Z.: First of all different sales channels. Traditional auction, in the language of technology, — is "sensitive connection", individual approach in working with the collector. Digital, or online-аукцион involves fast results and wide geography of sales.

AI: What new digital platforms offer in working with the collector?

R. Z.: See, shopping online-платформы have been around for over 15 years. In the last 7-10 years, they become particularly actively developed. This is due to the arrival of a new generation of collectors who are ready to perceive the new art, and new technology purchases — in particular, over the past 7 years, the turnover of art sold online has grown more than 100 %. Further, leaves a generation of authors, the names of whom he knew and bought. At the same time year after year come new talented artists with works worthy of the market, — but the market doesn't know about them. So, in my opinion, the primary task of art-технологий — to introduce the collector and the artist so that the first wanted to buy the second, and today, unfortunately, most business-идей associated with trading and increase market transparency.

AI: What is asset management, which deals with your company ARCIS is different from sole management of the collection?

R. Z.: In our model, the "asset management" means the minimum of the involved companies — third parties to work with the owners art. Management becomes more internal and is conducted by staff. In fact, it is the analogue of the family office. ARCIS was created to meet the needs of the collector, and one of his main requirements was always an individual approach and a limited number of intermediaries.

AI: Your experience shall be given to the students of the specialty "art-бизнес" — in particular, of the Institute of art Sotheby's. Is it possible to teach students to manage a collection?

R. Z.: I find that managing the collection — is a set of best practices that can equally use a curator, collector or investment Manager. In fact they are standard, but vary in relation to the objectives of each of these specialties, depending on many variables. Students receive a common base of knowledge, but to think outside the box, and variability, to be free on the field of innovation, technology and discovery, unfortunately, school does not teach.

AI: Today, many engaged in self-education in various fields of activity. In the last decade has been published a lot of guides on the management of collections. From the point of view of practice: what's in these books for loss?

R. Z.: unfortunately, I have not seen a single publication, which would have standardized the management of collections. Books and manualsdedicated to every "best practice" authors, which they successfully used in the work.

AI: ... and if you have written such a book might sound like three best advice to collectors from Roxanne Zarnegar?

R. Z.: the first tip: work with the technology. To make the art world better, you need to use the latest developments and tools. Tip two: create innovative business-модели. Study the negative experience of market participants — he will inspire you. And the third piece of advice: constantly discover the world of art, expand their knowledge and search for new niches and new authors. For example, today much more attention is given to digital art — new medium for artists to work and create using the elements of the game. Remember: if you don't create demand — for you to do more.

Interviewed by Denis Belkevich, AI