They are now between 25 and 45 years old.
The new generation of art market professionals — gallerists, antique dealers, auctioneers, experts, brokers and art advisers — are carving out their independence through a more collaborative, cross-disciplinary and technology-driven approach to their work. They are more confident and less constrained by convention than their elders, while acknowledging how much they have learned from them.
A new wave of young talent is sweeping through the art market. At 34 and 33 respectively, Charlotte Ketabi and Paul Bourdet opened the Ketabi Bourdet gallery together. Having learned their trade from highly regarded gallerists — Nathalie Obadia in contemporary art and François Laffanour in design — the two partners believe they have inherited from their mentors a sense of rigour, a long-term perspective, and a commitment to the quality of artworks and to collectors.
Nevertheless, certain differences set them apart from their predecessors. “The main one is greater fluidity among professionals of our generation, with more exchanges, mutual support and less direct competition, as each gallery primarily champions its own sensibility and distinct roster of artists. We have also grown up with a much more cross-disciplinary vision spanning art, design, architecture, music, fashion and performance,” explains Charlotte Ketabi.
With a more collaborative, cross-disciplinary and less hierarchical approach, the boundaries between the primary and secondary markets — and between design, Old Masters, modern and contemporary art, and the decorative arts — have become much more permeable. “Young gallerists bring together emerging artists, well-established names and artists who have gone unnoticed, effectively ‘rediscovering’ them within a revised history of art,” observes Katia Raymondaud, an art adviser and former director of academic programmes at EAC, a school specialising in culture, the art market and luxury. (…)