FROM THE SCHOOL RUN TO KUSAMA INSTALLATIONS, COLLECTOR LUNCHES AND A GARDEN IN NEED OF A BOTERO, OPERA GALLERY BAL HARBOUR DIRECTOR ALEXANDRE SARFATI MOVES THROUGH A DAY WHERE ART, COMMERCE, AND FAMILY LIFE INEVITABLY COLLIDE.
BY YOLANDA DEL PINO
7:00 A.M. – FIRST THINGS FIRST / Coffee. Non-negotiable. I make a quick pass through overnight emails: collectors, follow-ups, shipping, and delivery updates. In this business, something is always in motion.
8:00 A.M. – SCHOOL RUN, THEN SWEAT / I drop my kids at school and head straight to the gym. It’s the one part of the morning when nobody is asking me where a painting is.
10:00 A.M. – GALLERY MODE / Back at Opera Gallery Bal Harbour, I work through client proposals, incoming works and the constant choreography of hanging, shipping and moving art around the world.
11:00 A.M. – THINKING BIG / I meet with the City of Bal Harbour to scout a location for an outdoor sculpture by Pieter Obels. With monumental work, scale is everything. It has to command its surroundings without fighting them.
12:30 P.M. – THE HUNT / Lunch at Makoto with a New York collector passing through. Eventually, we get down to business: he’s searching for a George Condo painting from a very specific period. The hunt begins.
1:30 P.M. – KATZ, VALDÉS AND WHAT’S NEXT / Back at the gallery, we’re preparing an Alex Katz exhibition and catalogue spanning paintings, sculpture, and editions. I’m also planning for Miami Art Week and working with the St. Regis to showcase new arrivals, including Manolo Valdés works fresh from his New York studio and foundry.
3:00 P.M. – KUSAMA, DELIVERED / I oversee the installation of a Yayoi Kusama painting at a collector’s home, personally handing over the certificate of authenticity and making sure every detail is right.
4:00 P.M. – A BOTERO IN THE GARDEN / I meet a collector and his designer to consider placing a Fernando Botero and a Manolo Valdés in his garden. We walk the space, considering scale and placement. Even great art needs breathing room.
5:00 P.M. – THE PROPOSAL / Back at the gallery, I finalize a proposal for a Palm Beach collector. I’ve sourced exceptional, untouched works by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Finding the right work remains one of the great pleasures of what I do.
7:30 P.M. – OFF THE CLOCK / Home. The phone goes away. This is time for my wife and children. LATER – ONE LAST LOOK / Once the kids are asleep, inevitably, I check a few emails. Then the gallery finally closes for the day, at least until morning.
