15 Minutes With a Price Database Power User: Phillips’s Head of Private Sales on Why Collectors Still Want to See Art in Person

There is only one tool
trusted by art-world insiders to buy, sell, and research art:
the Artnet Price
Database. Its users
across industries—from auction houses to museums, galleries and
government institutions—represent the art world’s most important
players. We’re taking 15 minutes to chat with some of the Artnet
Price Database’s power users to get their take on the current state
of the market and how they’re keeping up with the latest
trends.

Miety Heiden’s job as a deputy
chairperson and head of private sales at Phillips allows her to
work with many of the world’s top collectors. “With private sales,
it is all about the speed at which you can make a purchase, and not
being confined to auction seasons,” she says. “The main appeal for
collectors is instant satisfaction.” 

Even during the current pause on
in-person business, Heiden has continued to make waves for
Phillips, negotiating sales of works by Banksy,
Yayoi
Kusama, and
Bruce
Nauman.

We had the chance to catch up
with Heiden about everything from how online sales will change the
art market, to what makes an online viewing room stand out from the
crowd.

How has the role of private sales within the larger art
market shifted over the past decade?

Auction houses have been selling
privately since the 1980s. Nowadays, we are seeing more “public”
private sales, including selling exhibitions and, of course, online
viewing rooms. There has been a greater shift to public private
sales than anything else.

You had an important hand in Phillips’s response to the
growing interest in historically marginalized and underrepresented
black artists, including the 2019 exhibition, “American African American.” Since
then, how have you seen this segment develop?

Phillips as an organization has
benefitted from the insights of our senior advisors, particularly
Arnold Lehman, who was once the director of the Brooklyn Museum,
and curated “American African American.” The interest from
collectors in African American artists has skyrocketed in recent
years and the market has evolved rapidly. Back in 2015, I held a
selling exhibition at Sotheby’s featuring works by Jacob Lawrence, Barkley Hendricks, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, among many others. At the
time, there was very little interest in these works—you could have
picked up a Barkley Hendricks for $100,000, but nobody bought
it—and now we are seeing his work sell for over $10
million.

Are there any artists in particular you think remain
undervalued?

I still think women artists are undervalued, in general.

What emerging art-market trends are you keeping your eye
on?

I’m constantly keeping an eye on what’s happening globally with
art-market trends, and I love what’s happening on Instagram and
seeing what people are selling on Instagram. It’s instantaneous how
the name of one artist gets buzzed around the world. It happens in
what seems like hours, the trend starts in California and the next
day people in Asia are talking about it. Recently I had a request
from China for a work by Jonathan Chapline, the next day I received
a request for his work from Europe, and the next from America. It’s
remarkable to me how connected the global art market is.

Over the course of your career, you’ve worked internationally
with clients all across the globe. Do you think there are still
regional collecting tastes within the global art market?

Yes. People feel comfortable
with a gallery they know, where they can go and see artworks in
person, and that’s where it starts for many collectors before
moving to the global market. For example, if we are looking to sell
a Fontana we would likely defer to our Italian colleagues, for a
Karel Appel we would defer to our Dutch or Belgian colleagues, and
for a Warhol we would most likely sell to an American
collector.

Right now, every dealer and auction house is launching their
own online viewing room. What do you think makes for a successful
online collecting experience? What can dealers do to stand
out?

Like everyone in the art world
during the last few weeks, I’ve been looking at countless online
viewing rooms. I believe that it comes down to the quality of the
artwork and knowing what collectors are looking for. Simply put,
you cannot sell something that people don’t want to have. In the
end, it is about the artwork.

Do you think the experience of collecting online will shift
behavior, perhaps with collectors favoring works that translate
better in photographs?

No, I don’t think so. Seeing
works in person will still be essential to some collectors and for
some artworks, it can’t all move to a virtual interface. How we
achieve that may shift from how we did things before, but a
real-life experience will emerge in some way. I think we will be in
a position to sell 60 to 70 percent online if we continue to
improve our digital capabilities and the online experience, but in
the end collecting art is a fun thing to do when it involves a trip
to New York for the auctions, seeing the works in person, traveling
for one painting and ending up buying something completely
different because it’s more captivating in reality. To meet with
other collectors, to go to an exciting new gallery, to see a museum
show. I just don’t see the whole world buying art from behind their
computer or mobile.

How do you think the relationship between auction houses,
galleries, and art fairs will change?

The lines have been blurred
between these distinctions over the last decade. Auction houses
have already been showcasing selling exhibitions and selling works
in the primary market, and we are likely to see this more and more.
With the cancellation of so many art fairs over the coming months,
the auction houses and galleries will have to increasingly work
together, as auction houses have a wider reach than most galleries
and dealers. 

And of course, what’s the last thing you searched for on the
Artnet Price Database?

I searched this morning for a
Banksy.

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art market research tool trusted by appraisers and aspiring
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The post 15 Minutes With a Price Database Power User: Phillips’s
Head of Private Sales on Why Collectors Still Want to See Art in
Person appeared first on artnet News.