Art Dealer

An Art Dealer is a person who buys and sells art. Hopefully, you are also passionate about finding good art, getting it into the right hands, and making a profit for everyone involved at the same time. Though you are dealing in a highly creative industry, the position of Art Dealer itself is not creative; networking is your number one priority. Creating relationships with Curators, collectors, museums, and other Art Dealers is the best way to become successful in your field.

To be successful in this position you’ll need to learn how to watch the art market—in fact, this will become a specialty of yours, and is truly an art unto itself. The market fluctuates greatly depending on various factors including but not limited to, the state of the economy and of course, what’s popular in art.

You’ll have to anticipate the changes and adjust accordingly. You can also choose to specialize in a certain period or style of art, which is great if it’s popular, but trying when it’s not.

Your main interest is art, but you should also enjoy history, culture, business, and sales. Most Art Dealers are very social by nature, which makes establishing those connections at museums and with collectors easier and fun.

Some Dealers work on creating relationships with the Artists, identifying themselves as “Gallerists” because of this. But whether you focus on the artists or museums, you get to be around art, Artists, and collectors all day, and you can make a living doing so.