The Santa Fe New Mexican/Sunday, August 15, 2004

Business, Section D front page

Invisible, indispensable

Appraisers, framemakers, conservators and others do critical work behind the scenes for the art business in Santa Fe

By Natasha Nargis

For the New Mexican

When James Hart was in graduate school, his plan was to become a fine-art photographer, and he did, “but in a different way,” Hart says with a smile. “I’ve been photographing fine art in Santa Fe for 15 years.”

Hart is one of a number of artists who grease the wheels of the Santa Fe art machine while continuing, often on a smaller scale – and not always for profit – to make art.

The Friday night gallery cruise has become a Santa Fe staple, but people are less familiar with the conservators, appraisers, framers and small packing and shipping companies who help make it possible.

These people are overlooked, like the back of a painting, which conservator Steve Prins says should look as good as the front.

Prins intended to become a painter – but looking at historical paintings piqued his interest in conservation work. He began conserving and restoring paintings in New York City in 1977, and has been working with galleries, museums, institutions and private collectors in Santa Fe since 1985.

His workspace is a large, bright, loftlike studio on Pacheco Street – a studio any artist would die for. Prins’ assistants, Eowyn Kerr and Amy McKenzie, were working, and occasionally joined the conversation. Kerr trained in Italy and later received a fellowship in London. McKenzie also studied in Italy and worked with a framed in Washington, D.C.

“Both have a great deal of formal training,” Prins said. Kerr and McKenzie and two of Prins’ four employees.

Prins has worked with the major galleries, but said there has been a shift over the years. “I still work a few galleries, but work mostly with museums, institutions and private collectors,” he said.

After studying at the Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in the 1970s, he interned with Marco Grasso, a prominent restorer in Manhattan.

Unlike Prins, who finds little time to paint – and when he does it’s for himself – Marty Horowitz said that at 5:30 p.m. he turns his head around and becomes Martin Carey Horowitz the artist, instead of Marty Horowitz the frame maker.

“All artists have to learn to make a living some way, unless you’re so brilliant that all of a sudden you’re a star – and even then you might need a second job. So I learned how to gild,” Horowitz declared with a laugh.

Horowitz said many people are intimidated by gold because it’s so strong. “But when they come to me and allow me to do my thing, which is to design frames to suit the paintings, I don’t overdo the frames. I don’t make the gold too strong. The art is framed correctly,” he said.

Goldleaf Framemakers of Santa Fe is both a workplace and showroom. The large shop is abuzz with energy, as each frame is hand-carved and later meticulously gilded. Horowitz employs six or seven people. “I train art students. There are four students in the shop right now. Everybody in the shop is a musician. Everybody, it’s really wild,” he says, added that he’s an old drummer but doesn’t do it anymore.

Horowitz makes frames for most of the major galleries. “We do all the frames for the Riva Yares Gallery – the Milton Averys, the Hans Hoffmans, Elias Rivera – recently did the Marquez show – we go from the contemporary to the very old. I have a French frame on the easel that’s Louis XV. We replicate frames for period paintings,” he said.

Horowitz began making gilded frames in 1967 after graduating from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Carolyn Seigel came to Santa Fe in 2000 to work as an appraiser for Bernard Ewell. In April, she opened her own business, 20th Century West Art Appraisal, Inc. “I felt ready for a challenge. Bernard has been a great mentor. I thought the best thing for me to do was to branch out on my own,” Seigel says.

Bernard Ewell, who has been in the business for 28 years, agrees. “Part of being a mentor is being pleased when people working with me go out on their own,” Ewell said, adding that it’s wonderful to have Seigel available to refer people to, because he knows that her ethics are impeccable.

Galleries are a large part of Seigel’s client base. She provides appraisals for charitable donations and estate settlements, which are reviewed by the IRS. “When it comes to appraisals for the IRS or for estate settlements, galleries are too close to the market. They would just as soon be at arm’s length. Referring an appraisal to someone like me protects the client, because I can provide an unbiased appraisal,” Seigel said.

A good appraisal is backed up with an argument listing the considerations involved in deciding on the figure. “Basically, it’s a logical argument that would lead the reader to the same conclusion,” she explained.

An interview is essential to choosing an appraiser, she said, because you would want to know about their education and background in the area they’re appraising. Also, it’s important that the appraiser is a member of a larger organization that accredits and educates appraisers.

“I don’t set values as much report,” Seigel explained, added that she thinks of herself as a combination of an investigative reporter and a research librarian, because so much of what she does is find sources and report information.

Seigel has two master’s degrees from Indiana University, one in art history and the other in library science, and is a member of the American Society of Appraisers.

When thinking about climate control, museums come to mind, - but David Astilli has been providing a private climate-controlled storage facility for artists since 1997.

Astilli was a printmaker in San Francisco before moving to Santa Fe and continues to make art. Being in business was something he had never considered. But one idea led to another, and providing a quality archival service became so interesting that he researched it for about two years before opening his business on Second Street.

Climate control involves the control of humidity. “Whether something stays at one temperature or another doesn’t really matter so much except for how it affects the fluctuation of humidity, which affects objects of any type,” he said. The idea of climate control is to provide a stable environment in which to preserve objects. If the humidity fluctuates, it aids in the disintegration or degradation of materials. I usually keep the humidity at around 40 percent, though it fluctuates very gradually throughout the year between 36 and 42 percent.”

In addition to climate control, Astilli catalogs each item. “Keeping track of things and treating them well is important. Over the seven years in business I’ve created a good name and an extensive referral market,” he said.

The art market is new to Sam Silverman, who bought Ancient City Art Crating in 1992.

“I was looking for something to do. Ancient City was for sale, and I thought it would be an interesting business – and as it turned out it was,” Silverman said. He later bought Southwest Crating as well.

Silverman said he bought Ancient City because he thought it was something the city needed.

“If you take care of people, you can do all the business you want to do. We’ve always prided ourselves on giving good quality service and a quality product. It’s a market where people don’t switch around a lot, unless you do something really stupid.”