Matt Bangser, lengthy a fixture at Blum and a discreet dealer of high-stakes offers, will be part of Artwork Intelligence International (AIG) as senior director on September 8, the agency introduced Tuesday.
Bangser’s appointment brings to the advisory agency a mixture of gallery savvy, auction-house self-discipline, and a rolodex constructed over 20 years within the commerce. He spent 16 years at Blum (previously Blum & Poe), the place he oversaw international gross sales, secured main estates corresponding to Robert Colescott, and labored carefully with artists together with Mark Grotjahn and Henry Taylor. Earlier than that got here senior posts at Van de Weghe High-quality Artwork, Phillips, and Christie’s, together with a stint on the board of the Artwork Sellers Affiliation of America.
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The transfer follows the closure of Blum’s Los Angeles and Tokyo galleries final month, when founder Tim Blum introduced that he was strolling away from the standard gallery mannequin. The choice, he stated, was much less concerning the market than the “system” — the artwork world’s relentless circuit of festivals, openings, and obligations. Information of the shutdown prompted a volley of calls to Bangser, certainly one of them from AIG co-founder Amy Cappellazzo. Their conversations, Bangser informed ARTnews, revealed “an actual assembly of the minds” concerning the market. “Becoming a member of AIG is a pure evolution of my time within the artwork world,” he stated.
Cappellazzo, who launched AIG with Yuki Terase in 2021, informed ARTnews that she was not trying to increase her senior ranks however that including Bangser was “a type of uncommon alternatives you don’t go up.” She credited him with “understanding the entire ecosystem”—from artist studios to secondary-market buying and selling flooring. She added that he sees the present market lull as a second to advance slightly than retreat. “As a result of he’s labored in galleries, at public sale homes, and instantly with artists, he brings a variety of expertise that’s extremely useful—particularly now,” Cappellazzo stated.
AIG, primarily based in New York and Hong Kong, advises personal shoppers, artists, estates, and establishments on acquisitions, gross sales, and long-term assortment planning. Its third founding associate, Adam Chinn, is now not with the agency and now heads Worldwide Artwork Finance, a boutique art-lending firm.
