The Curator's Eye Reports From Santa Fe

Aug. 28, 2012 - PRLog -- SANTA FE, NM - The Curator’s Eye (http://www.CuratorsEye.com), the global high-end art marketing organization, was recently represented by Lisa Dromsky, Director of Native American Art, in Santa Fe. Ms. Dromsky made the rounds during Indian Market 2012 at the Whitehawk Shows, where over 300 dealers displayed their wares at the Antique Ethnographic Art Show and the Antique American Indian Art Show.

According to Marcia Berridge, Show Producer, "the old energy of the show is coming back. It was a great year." Ms. Dromsky spoke with a number of prominent dealers at the shows and around Santa Fe about this year’s experience and the state of the Native American market. “The Native American art industry may be esoteric, but it generates big business,” said Ms. Dromsky.

As a field that appeals to both the passionate collector and the buyer who expects purchases to appreciate in value, Native American art is on the rise. This year in Santa Fe, “there was a good feeling among the dealers. The overall consensus was that they were having a good show,” said Ms. Dromsky. To harness this positive momentum, Ms. Dromsky is pleased to offer dealers the opportunity to participate in The Curator’s Eye, a distinctive online art market that seamlessly integrates into the current structure of the high-end art world.

Michael Kokin, gallery owner of Sherwoods Spirit of America in Santa Fe, told Ms. Dromsky, "we have had a very good 2012 Indian Market. It's the best it's been in this ‘new economy,’ the best it's been in six years." Indeed, his gallery sold so many pieces they needed to restock their gallery space because the shelves looked bare.

Dealers were quick to emphasize the intangible, positive aspects of collecting Native American and Ethnographic art. "An important question in collecting any work of art is whether it communicates some strong emotion or projects a spiritual or metaphysical presence. You can not get that from a stock portfolio or bank account," said Alan Kessler, owner of Alan Kessler Gallery in Santa Fe. As a founding member of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA), Mr. Kessler has witnessed years of market swings. Today, he says “record prices are being paid for great material. Native American Indian art is still alive and well.”

Toby Herbst, also an ATADA member and appraiser, sees “our market strengthening. Masterpieces, though difficult to find, continue to break new records. The prices of good material, having made a correction in the last couple of years, are starting to rise again.” He points out “several new books, on both private and public collections, that have spurred the market. More and more people are discovering Native American art and its affordability within the greater art market.”

Members of ATADA, which held a “Doing Business on the Internet” workshop during the shows, “admit that their industry is changing” and “realize that many collectors are using the internet to find the type of items they carry,” according to Ms. Dromsky. “The Curator's Eye has the ability to connect them with another group of buyers outside of their immediate industry, opening them up to a new and bigger client base.”

“At The Curator’s Eye, we are presenting and discussing great objects using the internet and today's methods of connecting buyers and sellers, but core of the site is really about relationships,” says Ms. Dromsky, who is an accomplished fine art preparer and preservationist, and has served as director of a fine art framing gallery in the Southwestern US. Her custom work can be found hanging in Native American museums and cultural centers. Ms. Dromsky is “pleased that Native American and tribal items are being revered as objects of art, in addition to their ethnographic and historic importance.” She says, “As an artist myself, I have much admiration for the skills required to create such pieces and am dedicated to helping today’s dealers expand their global customer base for these remarkable objects.”

To contact Ms. Dromsky, email Lisa.Dromsky@CuratorsEye.com. To view outstanding items available from the top dealers across the world, visit http://www.CuratorsEye.com.