This article was published in the Desert Magazine in the November 2009 issue. DOWNLOAD PDF OF ARTICLE (1.2MB)
Over the past decade, the valley’s art scene has grown into a richly diverse and burgeoning marketplace, one filled with world-class offerings for every taste and pocketbook. Not only have the area’s galleries blossomed, but also in response has the local community of artists and world class collectors who now reside in the desert full and part time.
Further, new organizations such as ArtsOasis, designed to attract attention within the tourism arena, have placed the desert on the map as a credible regional art destination.
However, buffeted by the past year’s economic shifts and downturns, we wanted to know how these top galleries have managed to maintain their excitement, energy and interactions with their audience? We spoke with the best of the best and learned that despite the current crests and troughs of both the art and financial markets, a love of art, at the most elemental level, will continue to secure a place for fine art in the collective investment consciousness.
Christian Hohmann
Christian Hohmann Fine Art, Palm Desert
Christian Hohmann was literally born into a gallery, thus igniting his life long passion for art. Following a successful career in his native Germany, Hohmann followed his aunt Eva to the desert where he acted as director of the popular Hart Gallery until it closed this past summer.
“It was my turn to carry on the family’s art legacy,” he says, “and so last month I opened Christian Hohmann Fine Art on El Paseo, where I will continue to turn the valley on to well-established and investment-worthy European artists such as Paul Wunderlich, Karin Voelker, Eberhard Hueckstaedt, Thomas Ritter and some others whom we have continuously represented over the last decade.”
Hohmann likens art collecting to an exciting journey through life. “From the moment you make an emotional connection to a work of art for the first time, to the feeling of hunting for the next work for your collection…once you get hooked, art can enrich your life in a way that very few other thins can,” he says. “Every art dealer can tell you that no matter how long they have done this, there is something new to learn every day. I have met art dealers and art collectors that were in their 80s or 90s who had an almost childlike curiosity and agility because of their passion for art. There is nothing that keeps you young like the desire to learn and to discover and both are inherenet parts of the world of art.”
The dealer believes that turbulent economic times equal exceptional buys, providing a channel to purchase something that you love that has the potential to retain value or even increase.
“One thing I have seen that can be connected directly to this economy,” he says, “is that if we have a buyer who is willing t pay the price, he or she can have a pick of some incredible works that would have never been available two years ago, when people wouldn’t part with their treasures for any price.”
