Contemporary Collectors Club

My buddy Lauren Gentile started a new blog called The Contemporary Collectors Club DC. This woman knows a lot about the business of art, something many collectors don't understand well, and I for one am glad she's imparting some of this knowledge.

Many of us art collectors buy art because we like looking at it, or maybe it makes us uncomfortable to look at, but we buy it anyway because it challenges the way we look at the world. This approach to art collecting works well because ultimately, we must live with our art regardless of its value. But maybe secretly in the back of our minds, we're hoping to build a collection that will grow in value and that just might possibly include something really significant. The next Damien Hirst or Ryan McGinness or something like that. Does thinking about art as a business taint the experience? Naaah, I think it adds to the adventure.

Lauren Gentile brings to Irvine Contemporary a knowledge of the economics in the international art market, expertise in valuation and art advisory services, and art collection management experience. Ms. Gentile holds a Master's in Art Business degree from Sotheby's Institute of Art in London, where she wrote her thesis on fine art as an alternative asset class and art investing. She also brings a thorough background in art history, and holds two B.A. degrees from DePaul University in Chicago. She has studied art history, Italian and German at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, the Goethe Institute, and the University of Florence.

www.c-c-c-dc.com

p.s. That painting behind Lauren is by Dalek. It's awesome. I want it.