02 · The rooms between artist and collector
Galleries
What a gallerist does all day, where the white cube came from, how to survive an art fair with your judgement intact, and why galleries cluster in the same three streets of every city.
The trade
What a Gallerist Actually Does
Not selling, mostly. Waiting, paying, shipping, arguing with museums, writing emails nobody answers, and once every few years being right about somebody before anyone else was.
3 further stories
The White Cube and Its Children
The white room with the grey floor was an invention, not a default. A century on, galleries are moving into churches, factories and bakeries, and the reasons say a lot about what art is now asked to do.
How to Survive an Art Fair
Three hundred booths, four thousand works, one afternoon. A plan for seeing well, buying calmly and leaving before your judgement does.
Why Galleries Cluster in the Same Three Streets
Chelsea, the Marais, Auguststrasse, Cork Street: gallery districts form for reasons that have almost nothing to do with art and everything to do with rent, foot traffic and the walking habits of people with money.
From the Show
Four works
to stand in front of.
Every section of the magazine has walls in the Show. These are hanging in it now.
04Thirty degrees
Art Light
Ceiling height, centre of the work, what it is made of. Out comes the distance of the spot from the wall, the beam angle, the lux limit and how many years you have.
06Two thirds
Scale Finder
Sofa width, wall width, ceiling. Out comes the right size for one work, a pair or a triptych, drawn to scale above your furniture.