Artist Advocate - Representational - Summer 09
G A L L E R Y I N T E RV I E W
Rehs Galleries
New York City
In the interest of offering our readers insights and perspective into galleries, we plan to feature discussions with a successful gallery owner in each issue. These interviews are edited to fit the available space; the full text of the in-depth interview (well worth reading) can be found at
www.artistadvocate.com
in the Gallery Interviews section. —The Editor My grandfather passed away in January 1963, and that same year the firm’s name was changed to Schillay & Rehs, Inc. It wasn’t until 1991, when the last of the Schillay family left the business, that the name was changed to Rehs Galleries, Inc.
Artist Advocate: When did you enter the scene? Howard L. Rehs: I think I was brainwashed at an early age — art, art, art! And I Artist Advocate: Can you share the have tried that with my kids, but with little story of how your grandfather and fasuccess. I spent many a summer working in ther got into the art gallery business? Howard L. Rehs: Our story starts Howard Rehs is director of Rehs Galleries the gallery. During the really early days, that back in the mid-20th century. My grand- and president of the Fine Art Dealers consisted of me playing in the packing material. As they say, you have to start at the father, M. Edwin Schillay, an accountant, Association. bottom and work your way up. had an antique dealer as a client. This I majored in art history at New York University, which has dealer suggested, some time in the 1940s, that he consider entering the antique or art business and was very helpful getting him one of the finest art history programs, and I had the added benestarted. The dealer recommended that he travel to Europe, buy a fit of studying with many of the top professors: Rosenblum, Sangroup of paintings, and have them crated and shipped to the U.S. dler, Janson, Sullivan, etc. For me, this education was priceless. Once here, the containers were brought to a space he rented at the Manhattan Storage Warehouse and sold in bulk. He never Artist Advocate: What are your keys to success in the gallery business? opened the crates, each of which held 400-500 works. Howard L. Rehs: Be as knowledgeable as possible in the This “business” continued until the mid-1950s, when his wife decided she wanted to work. They rented a space at 303 period of art you deal in and realize that even an expert cannot Park Avenue South and started to bring the crates in on a more know it all. Be open and honest, treat every customer as a friend, and do your best to make your customers happy. regular basis and open them up. In 1960, the business moved to a larger space at 386 Park Avenue South. By this time, they were bringing in 12 shipments per year, each containing 500-600 works of art. When my grandfather became ill, his son-in law, my father, Joseph B. Rehs, also an accountant, went to work in his accounting firm — but it did not take him very long to see that the art business looked like a better opportunity. By 1961, my father was working in the art business full time. He remembers the good old days: buying paintings by the British Victorian artist Oliver Clare, framing them, and selling them for \$10. He even went out on a limb and bought a major work by Frederick Morgan for \$225 (75 pounds sterling) and sold it for \$450 — a huge profit. Of course, that same painting came back on the market not too long ago and sold for about \$1 million!
R12 Artist Advocate | Summer 2009 |
www.artistadvocatemagazine.com
<1>
<2>
<3>
<4>
<5>
<6>
<7>
<8>
<9>
<10>
<11>
<12>
<13>