Matching Art Collector to an Artwork Is Like a Love Story - An Interview with Joanna Cohen
The art historian Julija Palmeirao in conversation with
the art collector and art consultant Joanna Cohen
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Passionate art collector, art consultant, and originally a New Yorker, Joanna Cohen has been living in Paris for 18 years. Growing up between two cultures, two continents, Cohen has developed a special ability to perceive subtleties in art collecting invisible to the naked eye. On her professional path, Joanna is successfully guided by her intuition and knowledge. Hearing Joanna speak about art is like music to my ears, so I decided to talk to her a little about how art came into her life and how she lives with it today.
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Tell us a little about where you were born and the places you grew up in. Where and what did you study?
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My resume would give a much clearer answer, but it would obviously leave out a lot of important steps because things are usually not as clear and easy in life. And that is exactly what I find so amazing about the art world, namely that nothing is entirely clear nor isolated from everything else. Of course, going down into details is always hard, but this is precisely where the whole mystery lies.
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I currently live and work in Paris. I was born French, and was raised in Paris, Brussels, Paris again, and then New York City. I studied in Boston University. I have got two BAs – one in art history, and one in psychology. At first, my main interest was psychology, but I also wanted to study art history too. My life-long passion for art came from my parents. My mother always had a keen interest in culture and art. In fact, both of my parents gave me a rich cultural education during our numerous visits to all the museums in all those many different places we went to. I think it was my mother who told me how to look at art. Thanks to my parents’ experience, I learned how to see both art and life itself. This is also why I found psychology so interesting – I love people, and I’m fascinated by human nature, its complexity, its dark sides, and the histories that make us what we are. It is like a detective work, and I always found it fascinating. When I started learning art history at school, and fell in love with it. I became aware of its humanist dimension, because art history is comprised of particular histories of different cultures around the world. While it helped me see things on a macro level, I used psychology to uncover the details on a micro level.
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These two different areas of studies seemed to complement each other, and after that I had many summers of continued education in different universities. I attended New York University, Colombia University, then Massachusetts School of Arts. I cherish all those experiences I had in different schools. Eventually, I decided to settle on art because, at that time, art history seemed like a more precise science than psychology. I realised that it was easier to analyse human-made objects than human beings who never stop changing. Artwork signifies the moment in time when somebody creates something. Then artists move on to the next step of evolution of who they are. Artworks are like markers of identity, and of history. For me this realisation makes total sense. I do believe that art history and psychology studies are a really great duo. I guess that’s why I studied them in Boston.
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I come from an immigrant family. My mother is Parisian, her French roots go down for many generations, and the oldest threads lead to Spain. My father was born and spend his childhood in Tunisia, and his roots are French and Italian. I really cherish my heritage, and I think it has influenced my work too. Living in different places and learning different languages gave me strengths, such as adaptability and knowing how to listen and observe. For me, it has always been back and forth between France, Europe and Americas. This aspect definitely involves learning history and being open to the European past. I found my American experience particularly enriching because I’ve learned that there is always another way of doing, thinking and looking at things. Being able to step outside the box and see things from a different perspective. All the experience in different companies I happened to work in helped me create my own path in arts.
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It took me many years to finally discover that I am neurodiverse. I would always start interacting and coping with the world visually and through movement. I study dancing thought out my childhood. Recent studies have showed that the neurodiversity such as mine has a direct effect on visual perception. For instance, some people can taste or smell colours. And I seem to have this ability to see things with particular visual intensity. I think that it’s only by studying both psychology and art history, and now also by analysing and working with artists, that I realised I had this quality of hyper-sensitivity. It is particularly characteristic of how I experience art and others reaction to it.
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Back and forward between Europe and America – I think this is the defining aspect of my interest in art history and openness to the European past. I feel particularly enriched by new American ideas, especially the idea that there is always another way of doing things. So for me, being outside the box and trying to see things differently made it rather easy for me to arrive at my current job.
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You started your career at Christie’s, New York, where you have worked as a Senior Sales Administrator in the Post-War Art Department. Could you tell us more about this experience?
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Christies auction house was my first place of employment. I entered as an intern, later I’ve got an opportunity to work as an Administrator of the day sales of Post-War & Impressionist Auction. At Christies, I have learned due diligence and became organised. I have also learned the importance of documented books, and archival, researches to create Provence. I was in charge of contracts between the clients and the house, which involved working closely with all of the art specialist in my department, legal department, clients, publishing department, event and transportation department I think that the auction world is a wonderful way to learn about collectors and how they live with art. There’s a different dimension to this idea of an increase in value as the work of art enters collector’s home, and how it interferes with family members and the whole house. By entering a new place, the artwork becomes like a new family member. It
emanates a specific vibration and tells something about who lives in this house. I am fascinated by the idea of falling in love with art and living with it.
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At Christies, I really loved the scientific aspect of research (which I have already experienced and loved during my psychology studies), as well as the historical and human aspects. Some of the sales were made because somebody had passed, so families were selling the collections of the family. As a professional, I found meeting the collectors themselves very interesting.
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One thing that I was missing at Christie’s was that I had so little time for the artworks themselves. When studying in Boston, I worked with several successful shows at the Boston University Gallery. Which was wonderful – I helped with the works of David Smith “Medals of Dishonor”, Dorothea Tanning, and Ellsworth Kelly. So at Christie’s, I was really missing that human side of the artist. I found working with artists particularly exciting. So, as the next step after Christie’s, I thought it would make sense to work with galleries.
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Then you joined Gagosian Gallery as the Assistant to the Director at its Madison Avenue headquarters. How does it feel to be inside the hottest art events in one of the world’s most important art galleries? What have you learned from this experience?
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Before Gagosian, I had another beautiful experience with a tiny little gallery in Chelsea called “Gasser & Grunert Gallery”. I did not stay with them for too long, but I managed to be part of an exhibition that I am proud of – I worked on Urs Fischer’s first show in New York City. When the artist arrived around a week and a half before the exhibition opening, he started living and working in the basement, in the gallery’s storage area. I had a chance to observe the creative process from up close because I was the Assistant Director. I would get to see artworks two days before the public did. This experience was extremely intense compared to Christie’s where everything was orchestrated down to the minutes, to the final stage. In the gallery, the artist was the center of it all, while in Christie’s this place was taken by the artwork, i.e., an object.
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Then, I saw Urs Fischer’s artworks in Venice Biennial in 2003. It felt wonderful to have witnessed – and been a part of – the very beginning of the artist’s career. I think this was when I felt the desire to work with emerging artists, to accompany them in their careers.
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Then I had an opportunity to work for Gagosian. I started by assisting Stefania Bortolamy, today a brilliant galleriest in New York City but at the time she was sales director at the Madison Avenue flagship gallery. I also assisted Larry Gagosian and Melissa Lazarov. I had a chance to travel with him and meet amazing artists. I meet and observed Cy Twombly, Jeff Koons, John Currin, Ellen Gallagher, Richard Serra, Ed Ruscha, Verra Lutter. I was very lucky to work with the amazing colleagues such as Bob Monk (Director at Gagosian, New York, for over twenty years, worked closely with Ed Ruscha and Richard Artschwager), John Good, and others. I think that Gagosian is so successful because Larry Gagosian knows how create team of talented individuals (how have a very shape knowledge and very experience) who bring their own stories. One of Larry’s biggest talents – regrouping talented people for the benefit of the gallery as an enterprise. Being in a team of different professionals in the gallery, your job is to collaborate with the artist careers. And Being part of the Gagosian team was really enriching – I have met some amazing individuals, collogues, including some great collectors, and I have participated in many amazing events. This experience taught me that it is really important for the artists to not just sell, but be institutional, even corporate, and also make works in collaboration with the galleries. It’s all these different aspects that the artists’ careers are built on.
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Thanks to Gagosian gallery, I had a pleasure of meeting the art advisor Joanne Heyler (Director of the Broad Art Foundation, LA). Back then, being an art advisor was a novelty. So I eagerly started learning about this particular job. I loved it so much that I decided to start my own art advisory practice STRAIGHT-ARROW ART ADVISORY in 2019 – helping the collectors expertly navigate the diverse ecosystem of art world. This helps them better understand their aesthetic aspirations, and also gives them the freedom of movement within the art world with its aestetics, materials, and meanings.
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You returned to Paris in 2004 to work as the Director of Galerie Maisonneuve. Was it a conscious choice to work in a relatively small gallery (compared to Gogosian)?
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Gagosian was fantastic, but I wanted to feel needed. When I moved back to France, I started my studies in Ecole du Louvre with Bernard Blistène (Curator in Chief of the Patrimony, Professor of Contemporary Art) and Laurent Le Bon (the president of Centre Pompidou). As I was mainly educated in US, my knowledge of the French art market was rather patchy. But at that time, the emerging market of contemporary art was owing a lot to USA. For me, this was a really interesting confirmation. I found the need to learn more to better understand the French contemporary art history in deep to better understand the institution and the French collectors and emerging artists.
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So my studies of French art market began with Galerie Maisonneuve. At the time, this gallery worked with artiste’s Jota Castro, Jan Kopp, Alberto Sorbelli, Martin Le Chevallier, author of the game “Vigilance 1.0”. And I really liked that this gallery worked with video, internet and interactivity as early as 2000. The idea was to sell Chevallier’s work such as intellectual property to collectors, while keeping this game freely available on the internet. I found this as a sort of a precursor to today’s NFT phenomenon. It was controversial. That’s why I loved working with this gallery. I think that Grégoire Maisonneuve was really bold and smart.
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Before setting out on my own path, I also worked in Galerie Eric Mircher. This was a brief, but enriching experience. This experience gave me the privilege to work painters such as Ronan Barrot, Bianca Sforni, Daniel Clarke, Donato Amstutz.
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One of the reasons why I wanted to work in France was the ability to share what I have learned about the American art market. For that reason, I taught Art history in Saint Marie Neuilly for seven years. I really enjoyed sharing my knowledge and inciting curiosity for contemporary art in students.
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One of your areas of activity is working with private and corporate collections. You help others create their collections, but it would be interesting to know about your own collection too. When did you start collecting art?
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For me, it really makes sense working with art collectors as art advisor. Matching the art collector to an artwork is always like a love story. As an art adviser, I think it is really important to help others understand the art market, and I am not talking only about my clients. With all twists and turns in my career, I never stopped collecting art. I have learned the basics of art of collecting from my parents. They taught me how to look at things & object, and how to buy purposefully and within budget as at the time I was a child and would be give me a few francs to start to invest while we were at antique fairs, or boutiques or backyard sales . That’s how I started my collection of black & white photo postcards of swimmer at Deauville (I was fascinated by bathing dresses fashion of 1850 to 1950). Later, when I moved United Sate, I started collecting vintage Coca-Cola publicity and merchandise. Little by little, I have learned using Coca-Cola collecting guides, understand market value and knowing what was the good prices for particular item and learning how to look for under value collectable advertisements. It was accelerating as a child to understand the power of knowledge in this line of business.
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Are you a spontaneous art buyer? How do you find new artworks for your collection?
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I wish I was one. I should be sometimes, but I’m not. I am rather intuitive in my knowledge and understanding of artists. Seeing the artist’s path is super interesting to me. It is very important for me to know that the artist has done everything on his parst, that he has been fully involved in the expression of the visuals of his art. Meaning, that they are going to do maximum to express what they wanted to express – that’s what I am looking for when collecting. I do pay attention to schools and other formalities. While some people are natural talents, for me, formal training is really important. It’s one of my personal criteria.
The first artwork I ever bought was at the Armory Art Fair. This was when I discovered the art work of Julie Becker. She was multidisciplinary artist with a portfolio of video art, drawings and installations. Very complex, very conceptual. I bought a drawing of hers shown by her gallery Green Naftali. At that time, even my colleagues were surprised at my choice. And that actually motivated me, because I realized that we’re all different and mysterious in our own way, and through our artistic preferences we can express something that would otherwise remain invisible. Another thing I realized was that I am naturally attracted to the woman figure in the figurative art that I acquire, there are a lot of them in my collection. My own analyzation of this particularity is that I am female and therefore I am exposing my intimate experience within the world. I am currently looking at man’s figure for future acquisition.
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During one of our conversations, you have mentioned that you are not attached to your collection. You said, you need to be able to let go, and let the pieces in the collection live their own lives. Do you let go easily?
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I love my collection like like I would love a adopted child (I am not the creator), which means I know that it will live beyond me. And for me, this aspect is very important, it is actually my act of love – the artwork which no longer conveys something I want to reflect about myself, should find another owner. Selling it is like making sure that its life continues. That’s why I like to use the analogy that artworks with children. If you want a child to succeed, you have to make peace with the fact that, while you are part of their story, you’re not the main character.
I try to convey to the art collectors I work with the idea of finding art that speaks to you, while remaining able to sell as soon as you change and evolve, in response to the movements of your eye and your life.
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During my 27 years of art collecting, I had a the joy of having Takashi Murakami in my collection, I was satisfied to part with it as I know that the new owner coveted as much as I did. I would lie if I said I was not attached to the artworks in my collection. Indeed I am. But, I am not attached to the idea of ownership. I think this is what it really comes down to: being proud to have had the joy out of it in my hands. I do feel that, after I’m finished enjoying it, art needs to return back into the world.
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Today you are a Paris-based art advisor for private collectors and corporate clients, and you specialise in global contemporary art and emerging art markets. Can you tell me more about your current activities?
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Three years ago, I have launched my own company – Straight Arrow Art Consulting. The company gives art advise to private collectors and corporate clients, specialising, like you said, in global contemporary art and emerging art markets. One of my goals is to show the art collectors how to live with art, how to hang it, how to show it, and how to communicate through art. I do believe that art is supposed to be part of our conversations and debates. I aim to show to my clients, that their homes can become spaces for their self-expression through the art they collect.
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One more important thing – in addition to my private collection, I also have my company collection which I use for investing in the artists I believe in, and want to support. So my goal is finding the ideal collector for the artworks in which I believe. Ideally, it is the moment when the artworks ‘click’ with collectors. I think that art collecting is something that stays with you for a lifetime. So it is very important that collectors are comfortable with what they do. I know I am.
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The original interview was published in the Lithuanian magazine “Lamų Slėnis”
Photo: Daiva Kairevičiūtė
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Thank you
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