By Ludovico Pratesi

Webinar: October 27 and November 3, 10, 17, 2020
A link, valid for 7 days after the webinar, will allow participants to listen to the lesson again.

For Guggenheim Circle members only

Peggy Guggenheim created a unique art collection that is nowadays admired by thousands of visitors. What were her first steps? How did she decide which artists to support and which works to buy?

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents a short course for non-professionals who wish to gain insight into collecting. How do you become a collector of contemporary art? How do you learn to choose a quality artist? What about costs and budgets? How do you invest in the ‘Picassos’ of tomorrow? Four webinars will offer guidelines to orient oneself in the global art system, including biennials, fairs, galleries, museums, and foundations.

The course is led by Ludovico Pratesi, art critic, curator, director of the Guastalla Foundation for contemporary art in Rome, professor of contemporary art history at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Urbino, art critic of La Repubblica, and author of L’arte di collezionare arte contemporanea nel mondo globale (2019).

The art system from local to global

October 27, 2020
Online: 7:30 p.m.

The meeting will touch upon the transformation of the art system from local to global after 1989, the most significant exhibitions of the 1990s, the effects of globalization on public and private exhibition spaces (global museums and galleries), and the role of collectors in the art system of the 2000s.

Portrait of the collector in the 21st century

November 3, 2020
Online: 7:30 p.m.

The meeting will examine how and why contemporary art is collected, how to build a collection, the transition from collection to foundation. It will also look at two Italian collections, that of Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and of Miuccia Prada.

How to orient oneself in the market

November 10, 2020
Online: 7:30 p.m.

The meeting will offer a brief overview of the global market, the primary market (galleries) and secondary market (auction houses), its dynamics, characteristics, and percentages. It will also look at the structure of galleries and international and national fairs, including Art Basel as a model fair and its evolution, and at the pre and post Covid-19 market.

How to build a collection

November 17, 2020
Online: 7:30 p.m.

The meeting will examine the difference between gathering and collecting works of art. It will discuss a collection as a project, the methods behind a first purchase, the difference between a unique and multiple pieces, and where, how and what to buy, including prices and discounts. It will conclude on the agenda and know-how of the 21st-century collector.