In Manhattan’s Turtle Bay, a 95-unit building called The Perrie was recently given a smart reboot. Amenities include a fitness center, a lounge, a tidy garden — and access to an in-house art advisor.
The idea for the unconventional service came about organically. Independent advisor Bridget Murphy, tapped by real estate developer Cape Advisors to select work for The Perrie’s common spaces, found herself studying not just the building she needed to fill with artwork, but also its prospective buyers. Situated between Grand Central Terminal and the United Nations, the Perrie’s units are single-bedroom condos that clock in at around a million dollars and are marketed toward professionals and first-time homeowners. Maybe, thought Murphy, the prospective buyers might also be new to art collecting, and unsure where to start.
Now, if residents want help finding a piece to match a dining room set or advice on how to spend a weekend exploring local galleries, they can call on Murphy. “My goal is to make people comfortable with collecting,” she says.
Whether the problem is a perceived high cost or lack of time or know-how, art can seem out of reach for many would-be collectors. Real estate developers — at both ultra-luxe buildings and more attainable ones — have taken notice. Now, in a few full-service Manhattan apartment buildings, access to art and consultancy services is a perk.
“A lot of what you’re paying for with an art advisor is a point of view, direction, taste, of course, and also access,” says Christopher Omachi, who has been an art advisor in various capacities for the last four years. A well-crafted piece can deliver a luxury good’s quality, sophistication, and complex narrative impact, no matter what it costs. Part of the job of the advisor is to peel back the veil on the industry and guide clients toward work that aligns with their sensibilities and budget.
“Many people have no idea where to start with art,” says Omachi. Often, art advisors work on retainer, in a long-term capacity. When a client has questions, wants to go to an art fair or gallery, or hopes to learn about a new artist, an art advisor acts as a liaison.
Sarah Stein-Sapir, a consultant specializing in contemporary art (who recently worked with ELLE Decor A-List designer Josh Greene on the reimagining of a Park Avenue apartment), knows that clients come to her for the kind of cherry-on-top quality that only art can add to a well-articulated design. “It’s a luxury,” she says, and one that “elevates the experience of living in a space.” While art consulting offered by way of a building’s concierge services is new and pretty rare, the concept makes perfect sense to Stein-Sapir. “People expect a certain level of sophistication in a high-end development,” she says.
At 212 W 72nd Street, owners and prospective buyers can visit apartment 9H, outfitted by design firm frenchCALIFORNIA in partnership with L’Objet to be both a model apartment and a shoppable one. It’s also the backdrop for design and art consultation services, via NAVA Contemporary — a team of art advisors and an online gallery. “The idea was to offer something completely turnkey,” says Guillaume Coutheillas, frenchCALIFORNIA’s founder and creative director. “[9H] is not a store, but it is shoppable in the sense that everything that you see has been customized for this particular building and is available through FrenchCALIFORNIA. With these concierge services, the goal is to make it easier for people to live in a better and more personal space.”
For Coutheillas, connecting potential buyers with up-and-coming artists is a personal mission, part of which involves poking holes in the perceived barrier to entry of art collecting. “People think it’s unattainable and it’s not, there are ways to do it and places to go; the barrier to entry is not really there if you’re willing to look a little longer or further,” says Coutheillas. “It is not that much more expensive to buy real art.”
For some, however, it’s not the price but knowing where to find it — and how to buy it — that’s the barrier. At Sutton Tower, a luxury high-rise in midtown, where available apartments range from $1.8 million to $65 million, a penthouse on the 78th floor was turned into an exhibition space for VIP collectors, unit owners, and potential buyers. Called Sutton 78, the activation is the product of a partnership between JVP developers, a private real estate investment firm, and GSH Contemporary, an offshoot of the Zurich-based gallery Gerber & Stauffer Fine Arts. Opened in May to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair and up through the end of September, Sutton 78 is accessible by appointment only.
The activation is intended to “benefit both parties,” said Joshua D’Ambrosio, new development administrator at JVP: attracting an international collecting crowd to the building, and bringing in an international selection of art. Each artist, work, and its placement in the penthouse was considered; the show was “built around the architecture,” said D’Ambrosio. “What sets this apart is that it’s a specific installation for that specific apartment.”
While the offering at Sutton Tower is very different from services at The Perrie or even 212, the intent is largely the same: linking a building’s tenants with art that moves them. “The emotional attachment to art is extremely important,” says Coutheillas. “That’s why sometimes people move from one house to the next and they get rid of everything except their art, even if it’s not high value.”
No matter where a piece was purchased or what its cost was, the value of art is largely determined by the intangible spark it elicits from whoever buys it, displays it in their home, and lives with it over time. “Art is an investment,” says Murphy. “No matter what [a client is] spending, they want something that brings them joy or challenges them or inspires great dinner conversation.”
