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Art, Money, And Chasing Your Dreams: Rony More

Rony More of Art Please for ONS Clothing

It’s no secret that the Art World is changing. From Jean-Michel Basquiat to Andy Warhol, several artists are now at the center of popular culture—thanks to celebrities and social media influencers who flock to Art Basel for that perfect Instagram post. Art Please has used this to its advantage in the digital marketplace. The emerging platform’s CEO & Founding Partner, Rony More, recognized a need to disrupt the traditional way that fine art is bought and sold to collectors.

Today, Art Please is a network of thousands of fine art professionals with satellite offices in New York, Prague, Dubai, London, and Hong Kong. Luckily, we caught Rony while he was in NY to get an inside look into this new art experience.

 Since its inception in 2015, Art Please has grown into a platform dedicated to +10,000 collectors and professionals across the globe. How did it all start? To what do you attribute your success?

I was the Director of Sales for a gallery here in New York City and realized that many galleries are run by old school doers and thinkers. No disrespect, their ways worked for a very long time and there is much we can learn from them. But new markets, technology, new thinking are changing the way art is bought and sold—and fast.

Bringing a better experience to our customers, introducing a more transparent way of doing business (yes, it can be done!), taking our time and putting in the effort to truly understand the market, curate the content, educate and introduce art to new collectors, and open to people who never even thought of art before—all this and more is at the bedrock to our success. Well, that and working harder than anyone else.

You left finance for the art world. What inspired this shift in your career?

I believe that I’m simply doing what I was meant to do all along. I’ve pretty much always been involved in the art world. My parents collected art, and my mom is a very talented artist. I was a professional photographer for a few years, and later I started collecting more and more art. I guess starting in finance just delayed the inevitable.

 Art Please has a small yet nimble team. How do you maintain your strong, international presence? Is there more expansion on the way?

We have a core satellite approach. We have the backbone of the operations in New York and a carefully curated team of professionals scattered around the world acting as our satellites behaving as our eyes and ears. Having our team dispersed in London, Paris, Dubai, New York, etc. helps us have people on call for our client’s anytime and anywhere. The idea is to then expand locally, thereby creating stronger teams where we see a lot of excess demand for our service.

“We’ve sold four works by Basquiat, three by Warhol and two by KAWS in the last month alone!”

 Which artists and movements are currently the most sought after among Art Please’s network of collectors?

High-flying emerging stars like Brooklyn-based KAWS and blue-chip Post War masters such as Warhol and Basquiat are always in high demand. We’ve sold four works by Basquiat, three by Warhol and two by KAWS in the last month alone!

Last month at Sotheby’s, Jean-Michel Basquiat set the record for any U.S. artist at auction with a $110.5 million price tag for his “Untitled” masterpiece. Will the valuation of this late Brooklyn artist’s works continue to climb? 

The art world was in awe when Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa dropped $110.5M USD at Sotheby’s for the 1982 powerful painting of a skull (“Untitled”). This translated to the 6th highest price ever paid at auction and most for an American artist – placing Basquiat up there with the likes of Picasso, Pollack, and Francis Bacon. The world’s affluent are creating increasingly more wealth for themselves and as a result have more capital to deploy for such trophies so competition is getting tougher at all levels.

 Who are the other heavy-hitting artists at auction that collectors have their wallets ready for?

The top auction lots in 2017 were led by Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso, Peter Doing, Lichtenstein, Warhol and of course Basquiat (twice!). So pretty much the usual suspects on repeat.

Rony More of Art Please for ONS Clothing

 You’ve lectured at Christie’s Education on Art Investment and Valuation for two years. Have you observed any emerging trends in the market? What advice do you have for individuals just beginning to invest in art?

The courses that I lecture at Christie’s Education focus on data mining and analysis. So finding price anomalies by sifting through relevant data, analyzing this data and ultimately making the investment if price and liquidity make sense.

You can find these opportunities in varying price points. Everything from KAWS toy-sculptures, Lichtenstein prints and even Warhol paintings. If you put in the time and are ready to invest then there’s money to be made. And if you don’t have the time, then give us a call and we’ll do it for you.

“Curating our personal collection is one of our greatest joys. Our approach is open minded, eclectic and yes, investment oriented – no shame in that.”

During the shoot, we visited Material Good. Can you tell us a little about your partnership with this luxury SoHo concept?

We’ve been very fortunate to partner with Material Good in SoHo, New York. Probably the best designed retail location for luxury products and one of New York’s best-hidden gems. Together with Drew Aaron, it has been a pleasure to team up with the founders Mike Herman, Rob Ronen, and their amazing team.

Material Good has a lot of large walls for us to curate and we’re constantly changing things up so lots to do! Right now we have works up by Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Andreas Gursky to just name a few…

 How many works are housed in your personal collection? What are your most coveted pieces?

Curating our personal collection is one of our greatest joys. Our approach is open-minded, eclectic and yes, investment oriented – no shame in that. You can find works that you love and that have potential as investments.

To name-drop a few: we own iconic sculptures by Keith Haring and Brooklyn based KAWS, a stunning figurative painting by George Condo, a sculpture made out of salt from the Dead Sea by Sigalit Landau and a thought provoking Study for a Bullfight by Francis Bacon. Obviously some are bought for resale, but most of what we own we don’t expect to sell for the foreseeable future…

Rony More of Art Please for ONS Clothing

Fashion and art have a long-standing relationship. How would you describe your fashion sense as it relates to your taste in art?

There are two characteristics that I’m looking for both when it comes to art and fashion style: quality and originality. Although I have to say that I let myself be much more influenced when it comes to what to wear, than what art to like or buy.


To learn more about Art Please, check out the website here.

Follow Art Please on Instagram here.

If you liked this story, check out more in our Urban Transplants issue.


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