The art consultancy firm Barbara Guggenheim Associates, Inc., with offices in New York and Los Angeles, has been in business for more than 30 years. Barbara Guggenheim has built collections for corporations including Coca-Cola and Sony, and numerous individuals, including celebrities Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg.
Barbara Guggenheim is the dean of art advisors. She was among the first of less than a handful of consultants who became major art world players representing individuals in their journey creating collections. As a fiduciary, Barbara helped incipient and savvy collectors identify works by promising young artists, find established masters in obscure collections, do the due diligence necessary in any transaction, and negotiate with dealers and traverse the landscape of the auction houses. Drawing from her education (she holds a doctorate in Art History from Columbia University), her experience looking at and studying art, she wrote the definitive and highly entertaining book on the inner workings of the business, ART WORLD: THE NEW RULES OF THE GAME.
All of this, plus years of teaching at Douglass College and lecturing at the Whitney Museum make her a supercommunicator. Barbara’s able to weave facts with often humorous stories of clients making their way through the labyrinth of the art world. Whether you’re a novice or experienced collector, you will relate to what Barbara says and be able to readily use the knowledge you acquire in your own collecting.
Barbara has lectured in museums, to bankers and their clients, charitable organizations and countless YPO and CEO Chapters and Universities. She was the first, in fact, for a YPO University in NYC, to create events and programs outside the hotel (before that, all events were held inside the hotel.) Her stories and humor set her apart from other speakers and make for an enjoyable, relatable experience as well as one that’s educational.
Every lecture Barbara gives is crafted to fit the group’s needs— whether it’s a current exhibition, topics of the day, such as how art can be used in wealth transfer, investing in art, identifying promising younger artists, or creating a collection that separates you from the herd. For Next Gen conferences, she shows how art can be a tool in creating better relationships amongst generations, binding them together in a meaningful dialogue.
Barbara is married to Alan Patricof, a legend in Venture Capital. They live a bi-coastal life between New York and Los Angeles. They also have homes in East Hampton, France and Mexico, which adds to Barbara’s ability to keep a pulse on the global art market.
In short Barbara’s message is clear: collecting is life-enhancing in many ways. It’s known to be a factor in longevity, it can expand your knowledge, create a new bond in marriages, introduce a new community of friends, and even lead to making good investments and return profits.