The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of the art world globally — affecting the way viewers view art, how collectors buy art, and how and where galleries display art. The Hamptons has also seen its share of change over the past year within the industry.
Dana Prussian, Art Services Specialist at Bank of America Private Bank, has been coming out to the Hamptons for the past 15 years and considers it a “very special place.”
The art services team operates like an “investment banking product group that’s focused specifically on art,” at Bank of America. Taking care of client’s existing high-value art collections, she navigates how to handle art as a financial asset through art lending, art planning, consignment, and non-profit services — which could mean gifting to a museum.
“I help collectors through pretty much every stage of their collecting journey,” said Prussian. Many of those collectors are here in the Hamptons. And a handful of industry-leading galleries took the cue when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and headed east.
“Prominent galleries have been paying attention,” she said. Some of the early-on transplants included The Pace Gallery and Michael Werner, while auction houses, like Sotheby’s, also opened seasonal outposts. More recently, Berggruen Gallery from San Francisco moved in to East Hampton with a pop-up running through September 30.
“The galleries are really catering to this moment and we think they’ll be wildly successful,” she said.
The Hamptons has long held its place in the art world, and many East End galleries have seen decades of success. Now they are mixing with the new arrivals and creating what Prussian describes as a “gallery enclave.”
“I think the reality is that [these] galleries being in the Hamptons make mores sense than ever,” she said, noting that many of her clients are living in the Hamptons in a more full-time capacity, and while we might be getting back to normal socially, many are here to stay. “They’re not rushing back into the office,” she said.
“Our clients are buying more than ever,” she continued. “There’s a lot of liquidity in the market and a lot of collectors have made a lot of money during this time.”
Another way galleries have pivoted is by going virtual during the pandemic. She said this was a “phenomenon that came out of canceled art fairs and shuttered galleries,” and that it “helped keep the art fairs and galleries going.”
According to Prussian, specific genres that are doing well include Contemporary art, which she believes will continue to have a strong presence. Identity art has also become extremely popular, particularly works by African American and Asian women artists. She said artists who, “show their identity through their artwork, usually in a figurative way, are selling really big.”
She also noted that collectible sales — luxury handbags, jewelry, watches, rare wine — particularly in markets like the Hamptons, are also doing well.
