I like to pay special tribute on CultureGrrl to art professionals who took time from their busy lives to deepen my limited understanding of art and the artworld, back when I was beginning my own professional journey.
One always reliable, unfailingly gracious source of help and knowledge was Martha Baer, the founding head of contemporary art at Christie’s, New York, which paid tribute to her in a classified obit published yesterday in the New York Times. Having joined the the upstart American offshoot of the London-based auction house after working for two leading contemporary art dealers in New York, Baer was “a beacon for an extraordinary generation of collectors and the role model for colleagues who venerate her genius, guidance and generous spirit,” in the words of the remembrance signed by three Christie’s executives—Stephen Lash, Chairman Emeritus, Marc Porter, Chairman Americas, and Bonnie Brennan, President Americas.
Photo: Courtesy of Christie’s, Inc.
While recognizably Martha, the sleek, well coiffed personage pictured above doesn’t quite capture the slightly tousled, nonstop dynamo of fond memory.
Here’s my own early tribute to Martha, as published in my 1982 roadmap for collectors—The Complete Guide to Collecting Art (Knopf):
There are concrete factors to consider in choosing among the auction houses. Perhaps the most important are their levels of expertise and the quality of their track records in handing the types of objects that you are planning to sell. The expertise of specialists in different fields varies at the different auction houses; the most highly respected expert is likely to attract the best consignments, and the sale with the best consignments is likely to attract the greatest interest and fetch the highest prices.
When, for example, Martha Baer became contemporary-art specialist at Christie’s, New York, in 1978, she brought with her the contacts and reputation gained from previous experience as vice president at André Emmerich Gallery and, after that, president of Acquavella Contemporary Art (both top-flight galleries in New York). Although Christie’s was a newcomer to the New York auction scene (opening its New York auction premises in 1977), Baer was soon able to assemble sales that surpassed those of the long-entrenched rival house, Sotheby Parke Bernet [now just: “Sotheby’s], in both dollar volume and (in the eyes of many observers) quality of offerings [from pp. 55-56 of my book].
In addition to the family service, a memorial service will be held this autumn at Christie’s, New York.
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