Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Michael Reid is a featured speaker in a Christie’s Education course being held in Sydney
Australia at Reid’s gallery next week. The subject is Mapping a Career in the Art World. Reid is a
longtime Sydney gallerist also has an outpost in Berlin. He’s a frequent commentator on the art
market. Here are his own notes on what it takes to have a career in the art world (slightly edited
to make them globally relevant.)
Practical skills are the keys to being at the top of the arts pack.
A good education, with a major in ne arts, is simply expected. Everyone in the arts is well
educated. So what?
Remember: Tunnel vision won’t help your career in the art world, and it’s bad for business.
PR / marketing
Fundraising
Art shipping
Designer / framer / printer / art insurer
Interior designer or interior architect
Conservator
Archivist
Valuer
Librarian
Remember: You can achieve victory by circling your intended prize. Do as Chairman Mao
Zedong did in seizing control of China: take the countryside rst, and then the encircled cities
will fall.
‘A prudent man should always follow the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are
most excellent’ – Niccolo Machiavelli.
Always audit your behaviour. Are you actually doing what you’ve been asked or hired to do, or
are you trying to do the job you want to do?
Do something for yourself, by yourself, that’s outside the mainstream of your paid work. Don’t
sit around waiting for opportunities to appear. Make change happen for you.
Long workdays and irregular hours are part and parcel of working in the art world. Accept and
get comfortable with the long hours. Devour them.
Do internships with a wide variety of organisations, such as an art gallery, an art shipper, an
auction house.
Employing people is expensive. Every single position that is advertised already has a particular
type of candidate in mind. No organisation or rm can risk employing someone on spec. Help a
prospective employer mitigate this risk by working with them – and showcasing your talents –
in a manner that isn’t costly or risky for them.
Build your professional pro le in the art world, but don’t let the art world consume your
personal life.
Be seen, build your personal pro le, and then be selective. To begin with, get involved in the
community you’d like to become a part of. If you want to work in a commercial gallery, you need
to identify the galleries whose artists and exhibitions resonate with you. Then go and see ALL
their exhibitions, and if possible, attend all their openings, artists’ talks, etc. Gallery owners and
their staff are immensely proud of the exhibitions they stage. Even though the digital world has
expanded audiences for galleries, there is still nothing artists appreciate more than art
enthusiasts making the effort to turn up and view an exhibition in person. Over time, you’ll
become familiar with, and eventually meet, people from the art world within the gallery
environment. The arts community isn’t huge, but it’s very committed and dedicated. Contacts
are key in breaking into the art world.
Once you have established yourself professionally, avoid the overheated social hothouse of the
art scene. Don’t go to the opening of an envelope. Your attendance should send the message
that an event is noteworthy. Absence, when noticed, can be a very strong presence. Attend only
what you need to attend to further your career. Socialise with your real friends.
Remember: If you lose a person’s professional respect, you are professionally expunged.
With artists, in particular, and with the majority of collectors, be rm and friendly, but never
familiar. You are wanted and needed for your professional experience and expertise, not for
your sparkling personality.
Remember: Position yourself physically within the social environment of your clients.
‘Never do any enemy a small injury for they are like a snake which is half beaten, and it will
strike back the rst chance it gets’ – Niccolo Machiavelli.
And, nally.
‘In dif cult times, we must not lose sight of our achievements’ – Chairman Mao Zedong.