Becoming Goliath

Are You an Honest Company?
A dealer's reputation is her most valuable asset. Even in the burgeoning realm of online art selling channels (as we'll discuss in Chapter 6), surveys confirm that buyers care deeply about who is standing behind the art being sold. Being viewed as honest unquestionably helps a dealer gain influence. "Honesty" as Hall contextual-izes it, connotes being
"honest, transparent, and consistent, which is what customers like." The one of those three that sticks out like a sore thumb in the art industry is "transparent." Indeed, a truly infamous opacity is a hallmark of the gallery system. It is viewed widely as a key source of power, but perhaps the path to becoming the next mega-gallery is sorting out how to make transparency your competitive advantage.
This may be nowhere near as far-fetched as I am sure it strikes some dealers.Consider for example the untapped potential of the young, newly wealthy tech industry executives, who seem resistant to nearly every attempt to convert them into contemporary art collectors. This frustrates even some top art dealers, who consistently manage quite well to convert young bankers or captains of other industries. A great deal of speculation exists as to why the tech industry does not seem to be interested in collecting contemporary art. Consider for example a central argument in Alice
Gregory's article in the New York Times titled "Does Anyone Here Speak Art and Tech?"