(Behind the scenes) Collector to Brainard: “How honest do you want me to be?”

Published: Fri, 01/21/22

And he says “How honest do you want me to be?”

I recently interviewed Juan Yarur Torres on a live Roundtable for Praxis Artists session.

As the son of a textile magnate, Juan’s appreciation for beautiful things led to his art-collecting addiction. The 36-year-old’s collection includes works by Tracey Emin and Andy Warhol, but also leading Chileans such as Cecilia Vicuña and Claudio Bravo.

He is the head of a nonprofit art foundation, Fundación AMA, which aims to raise the profile of Chilean artists internationally, and he is on the Latin American and Caribbean Fund Committee at MoMA.

If you are dying to know what actually happens behind the scenes when a collector decides to collect one artist and not another…

Why some letters get answered immediately and others ridiculed…

How collections start and what’s in it for the collectors when they promote their artists…

Then you should check out these fascinating excerpts from our conversation -

(transcript and bio in each very short clip, under a minute each)

Talking honestly about how crazy artists send him ridiculous letters (transcript in description) - https://youtu.be/d__4GTshluw
On how the collection started (not following trends) https://youtu.be/bexZmzbnYbk
On how they promote their artists - https://youtu.be/13WVFCiV8l0

Here are the key insights I want you to internalize:

The collection grows organically with Juan finding artists and works that speak to him. They don’t collect to set a trend or to fill a historical gap. (Great news if you’re worried that you’ll never get into a major collection because your art isn’t “trendy” or doesn’t have a sociopolitical “message”!)
The collection represents him “in a very visceral and honest way”. It’s part of his identity - so he has a vested interest in making sure those works are discovered… and understood... and valued.
Therefore, major collectors are conscious and very consistent about how they support their artists. “It’s not enough to only have artists in your collection. You need to present artists. You need to promote them. You need to speak to different institutions or cultural agents in order to get artists known."

As you can see, the right collectors can make an artist’s career.

And that’s exactly why I created this workshop: I’m going to teach you how to find those influential collectors and get them to buy your art.

Join us live on 24th January at 1PM EST and I promise you will walk out of the session knowing exactly what it takes to land your first or next major collector.

>>> You can register for the workshop here (just click the link, no opt in required) <<<

(Registration closes next Monday the 24th of January, no exceptions.)

Brainard

PS: The workshop is only recorded for those that register, so click the link above even if you can’t make it to the live session.

There’s also a big show-up live bonus that you get just by showing up live...

All webinar registrants will get a replay afterwards, but only those who attend live will get the slides. And if you stay till the end of the workshop, I’ll also give you the contact details of 2 major collectors!

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