Matt Bangser, Blum’s Long fixture and a cautious broker for high-risk transactions, will join Art Intelligence Global (AIG) on September 8 as senior director, the company announced Tuesday.
Bangser’s appointment brings a mix of mastery of gallery, auction house discipline and Rolodex built over twenty years. He spent 16 years at Blum (formerly Blum & Poe), where he was responsible for global sales, secured major estates such as Robert Colescott and worked closely with artists including Mark Grotjahn and Henry Taylor. Prior to that, Van de Weghe Fine Art’s senior position worked between the departments of Phillips and Christie’s. From 2017 to 2020, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Art Dealers.
The move comes after Blum’s Los Angeles and Tokyo galleries closed last month, when founder Tim Blum announced that he was leaving traditional gallery models. He said the decision was related to the market, not the “system”, i.e. the unremitting efforts, openness and obligations of the art world. The news of the shutdown prompted people to call Bangser, one of which comes from AIG co-founder Amy Cappellazzo. Their conversation, Banser told Artnewsreveals the “real meeting” about the market. “Add to AIG is a natural development in the art world,” he said.
Cappellazzo launches AIG with Yuki Terase in 2021 Artnews She doesn’t want to expand the senior ranks, but “adding Banser” is “one of the rare opportunities you won’t miss.” She attributes him to “understand the entire ecosystem” (from artist studios to secondary market trading floors). She added that he believes the current market is stagnant, not retreating. “Because he has worked in galleries, auction houses and working directly with artists, he has brought a series of very valuable experiences, especially now,” Cappellazzo said.
New York and Hong Kong-based AIG advises private clients, artists, estates and institutions on acquisitions, sales and long-term collection programs. Its third founding partner, Adam Chinn, no longer works with the company and is now in charge of International Art Finance, a company that is responsible for boutique art companies.
