At the time when art is becoming more and more synonym with money and investment, I thought it would be interesting to get the views of a passionate art specialist. And I could not think of anybody else than Nicola Shane from the Purdy Hicks gallery on Bankside. The Purdy Hicks gallery has established itself for showing top contemporary art both in the painting and print publishing departments. Nicola Shane, the Director of Purdy Hicks, tells us that art should be loved more for its beauty and less for the potential investment return in a very refreshing interview.   Olivier Bourseau: Hello Nicola, I am very pleased to see you again and have this opportunity to interview you. What sort of art is Purdy Hicks displaying and how does it compare to the other Galleries in London? Nicola Shane: I think we show a wide range of work. We have a reputation for showing strong painting but we also have a very active print publishing department. In this way we are similar to Marlborough Fine Art and Flowers East - they also specialise in paintings and prints. We have started to show more photography. There are some terrific photographers at work and collectors are keener to collect photography than ever before.In the past there was a mistrust over how the work was editioned etc. Now the collectors have gained confidence and it is a very popular medium for collectors. Olivier Bourseau: What are the most used topics by current artists in their art production (sex, nature, money, politics)? Nicola Shane: It is strange because we have two exhibitions at the moment -Michael Porter and Rachel Budd - both are landscape paintings but they are completely different from each other. Before this we had Ralph Fleck and that was landscape too. But we don’t specialise in landscape paintings. We show a number of abstract painters such as Estelle Thompson and Felim Egan. Visitors often say they can spot a Purdy Hicks Gallery artist. We show good strong work and our artists are not afraid to tackle difficult subjects. Hughie O’Donoghue makes work on a number of subjects including the First and Second World Wars but people appreciate that they are the most wonderful paintings and they are not something which you put on the wall that makes you comfortable or happy, but they give you other feelings as well. So I don’t think there is a particular theme. Olivier Bourseau: How do you pick your artists? Nicola Shane: Very difficult that one! It’s probably the most difficult thing to find artists. As you can imagine we get approaches by about twenty or thirty artists a day with people coming in the gallery or through the internet. But the most important thing is you have to love the work. You have to have complete confidence in it, and believe in the artist.I think if you start showing an artist whose work you don’t like but you know you can make money selling then I think you are cheating the artist and you are cheating your valued clients. You just have to have a 100% belief in the artist. We show one artist who is now so well collected that we sold out his entire exhibition on the opening night. But for years we sold a small amount of his work, but we were determined to continue to show his work because he is such a wonderful artist. So I think the main thing is you have to believe 100% in your artists. Olivier Bourseau: Have you always been interested in art, what is your art background and how did you decide to set Purdy Hicks up? Nicola Shane: I didn’t live in London originally and when we came to visit we would go to museums like the Tate or the National Gallery and it made me want to work in a museum. However my Careers Mistress at school told me I wasn’t clever enough and that people who worked in museums had Phds and that I would never get one of those so I felt so hopeless that I didn’t go to university, I couldn’t be bothered.. Then something unbelievable happened: I had been a secretary for three or four years with interesting jobs with architects, and just by absolute luck one day I was sitting on the bus reading the Daily Mail (not a paper I normally read) and there was an advertisement for two jobs at the Tate Gallery: one was in the Information Department, and one was in the Education Department. I was sick of my job, it was going nowhere and it was badly paid and by then which was in the late 70’s you could just chop your job off and get something immediately. I had given my notice in and I was going to have a long holiday but I applied for the job at the Tate and I got an interview and they said “do you want to work in the Education Department or in the Information Department” and I said “I want to work in the Information Department” which then encompassed the press office and all sorts of things like sponsorship and organizing dinners etc. In the late 70s there were three of us – now it is the most enormous department! So I got the job, which was amazing because when the personnel manager phoned me the next day he said “you beat 500 people to it!”. If I had known that, I would just never have gone to the interview. I would have been sick! I just thought it’s a job at the Tate, it sounds quite nice so I wasn’t scared. I loved the Tate (and still do). I stayed there for five years, and then I worked for a art charity called the Contemporary Art Society whose function was to buy contemporary art to present to museums and then after twelve years I left and started here at Purdy Hicks. I didn’t set up the Gallery myself. It was set up by Richard Pomeroy and Jayne Purdy in about 1987. Rebecca Hicks joined in 1991 and I arrived in 1993. Richard had already left as he wanted to travel and Jayne left to spend time with her family. Olivier Bourseau: What do you think about the art industry and how big have been the changes you have seen in the last 10 years in your industry? Nicola Shane: I think the changes are just extraordinary, I don’t think anybody could have believed the current prices especially in the last auction two weeks ago when a painting by Peter Doig estimated for about £150,000 went for nearly £6 million, nobody could have thought that! Twenty years ago you could actually visit most of the galleries in London on a Saturday. I mean you would have to get your skates on but you could do it. Now I think you would have to give up your job and have a chauffeur and you would still not do it in a week! There are hundreds of galleries in London! But I think the biggest change is the proliferation of art fairs and especially the Frieze Art Fair in Regents Park each October. I have heard that some galleries now live for fairs and that is where they sell most of their work. The internet has played a big part as well. Ten years ago we didn’t have a website, and most galleries didn’t. Email too … I wonder how we ever managed before! Before email if somebody wanted to see images of a work, you would have to take a polaroid photograph and post it to them, or get a photographer in to take slides. In some ways it is easier but you have to work a lot harder now because people want the information immediately because they know they can whereas in the past people would probably come in and have a look. Olivier Bourseau: What sort of clients do you have and are you seeing the new strong economies such as Middle East, India, Russia, and China buying into the London market? Nicola Shane: We have wonderful clients, they are all fantastic, and are serious collectors. I don’t mean they are huge collectors on the scale of Charles Saatchi but they are people who buy because they love the work rather than buying because it is the latest thing. They are really serious and passionate about the work. Quite often they go on to buy more work from the artist and follow their careers very seriously. Most of our clients are based in this country, but there are a few from America, and some others are from Europe. Olivier Bourseau: What is the difference between a collector and an interested viewer? Nicola Shane: I don’t know really! Visitors to our gallery are people who buy art, who are collectors, as well as many who come in and don’t buy but would always come to see exhibitions at Purdy Hicks because they expect a certain standard, and even if they don’t like the work they are interested to see it. We are very lucky because we are around the corner from Tate Modern, it is very easy to get here and a good point of reference to potential visitors. Olivier Bourseau: How is London compared to New York for Art industry and your art especially? Nicola Shane: It is interesting because years ago London was behind New York, but recently there have been many articles in newspapers saying that London is now the new New York. There is a big art fair in New York at the moment, the Armoury show, but I am not sure if the Frieze Art Fair doesn’t have more clout. Of course England is very small compared to America. Charles Saatchi was always criticised for controlling the art market but in America there would be probably ten collectors of his stature. I think we really punch above our weight, and lots of Americans come to London to buy art and I think the best contemporary auctions are now in London. London is definitely catching New York up but the galleries in New York are extraordinary I have to say, and somewhere like Chelsea in New York is phenomenal. Olivier Bourseau: How are prices set in your industry? Nicola Shane: It is hard question, but the length of the career and representation in public collections is an important element in setting the price amongst other things. It is a difficult question and I don’t know if there is a straight forward answer. Olivier Bourseau: Is modern art a good investment or a pure gamble? Nicola Shane: At the moment it seems to be a good investment but you just have to know which artist to buy! There are very few contemporary artists who, if you buy the work, you get your money back or make a profit within a year. But there are some of course. If somebody asks us if what we have is good investment, we say we really don’t know because you just got to love what you buy. If you are selling pictures which are price at millions of pounds you would have to think of the investment for your clients. Sometimes people ask if prints are a good investment for £500 each or so, and I really don’t know! You should buy it because you love it and not because you think it is going to double in price. I do think our artists are a good investment but I would never say so because it is a risky business. Modern British art has been really underpriced for years and now the prices are just unbelievable. Olivier Bourseau: How do you see the London art industry in 10 years time? Nicola Shane: I don’t know, I just hope that the directors and artists of Purdy Hicks will be billionaires, that’s all! (Laugh.) Olivier Bourseau: What is your favourite piece of art you dream you would possess? Nicola Shane: It would be something from the National Gallery, maybe a little Chardin. There is a wonderful Vermeer – The Kitchen Maid - at the Riiksmuseum in Amsterdam of a woman pouring milk into a bowl, I’d like that please! Olivier Bourseau: Thank you very much Nicola!!