Reclaiming the Power of Space

Now it is said that art fairs and online art sales are taking power away from gallery spaces. Air fairs create a spectacle that drives people from a wider range of regions and closes huge amount of deal in a stunning short period; online sales has become increasingly appealing given their geographical convenience and relatively low commission fees. It is therefore interesting to see how galleries or auction houses react to these two changes and reclaim the power of their actual spaces.

Carving out a unique niche can be a good strategy. Phillips, an auction house at 450 Park Avenue, presents a good example. Instead of encompassing multiple categories in the art market, it targets specifically to contemporary art and culture, and organizes its sales around seven departments: Contemporary Art, Design, Jewelry, Photography, Editions, and Watches. Among these departments, the Watches Department is a newly established sector that will be conducting sales in Geneva, indicating a potential expansion worldwide for the company. This relatively narrow focus enables Phillips to further its sales through museum-level exhibitions as well as high-quality catalogues. As a leader in photograph sales, Phillips has presented several eye-opening shows including works by both 20th century masters and contemporary stars. Furthermore, the accompanying catalogues that provide high-definition images of works help to attract more collectors to its venue.

In addition to the appropriate niches that make a gallery competitive, quality is always what attracts people the most. Picasso & Jacqueline: The Evolution of Style, the current bombast at Pace Gallery, features nearly 140 works by Pablo Picasso created in the last two decades of his life while living with his muse, and later, wife, Jacqueline Roque. “With many works from the Picasso family and Jacqueline Roque’s estate on view to the public for the first time, plus loans from private collections and major museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, this exhibition is the first to examine Picasso’s late transformation in style, as seen exclusively through the portraits of Jacqueline, his last and perhaps greatest love.” This show, perhaps, has all the most essential elements of a high-quality museum exhibition: works by a great master, a scholarly curatorial perspective, a diversity of media (painting, sculpture, works on paper, and ceramics) featured, and an elegant graphic design. Complementing the works on view is a group of photographs that captured the artist at work and during private moments of his life with Jacqueline. The layout of these photos is in the form of a family photo wall, providing visitors with a rich historical context and an intimate viewing experience. Besides the show, another factor that differentiates Pace from other galleries is its accessible back room, in which visitors are invited to pull an art piece out of the shelves as they walk through the passages and explore art on their own. This “inviting gesture” re-empowers the gallery as a hub for art and its collectors.