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The see and be seen Thursday night opening of the 2019 Toronto Art Fair teemed with glamour, glitz, canapes and incredible art – early 20th century Group, the trending Maud Lewis effect, 21st century Banksy inspired message art, modern Automatiste, post-painterly Toronto and Curnoe Regionalist memories all paired with glittery objets for the upcoming millennial crowd.

​The art fair, for Oeno Gallery, is but one avenue to art buyers – albeit a very exciting one – in an over all art business strategy. In the gallery business, relationships with collectors, art consultants and designers are key – with most of these partnerships established and nurtured over years.  Many of these connections, especially international ones today can be made in the brave world of online sales. Never mind blockchain networks and cryptocurrency just yet, how important is the virtual world in building success?

​​​Excerpt. “A glimpse into the business of art.” Umbrella, Quinte Arts Council, Winter, 2019. 
What were the social, political and economic conditions that fostered and then destroyed the Golden Age of the Dutch Baroque? Against a backdrop of early capitalist machinations, Master painter and printmaker Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606 - 1669) went from rags to riches and then back to rags again.

“Art Business in 17th Century Holland: how the bottom fell out of the Golden Age of Dutch painting.” Art Business Magazine, March 3, 1997. 
In 1970, Canadian painter Paterson Ewen was ready to throw his canvas and brushes away for good -- the ideology and goals of non-figurative painting to which he had adhered for over two decades were suddenly anathema to his very existence. But what drove him to abandon abstraction in such disgust? Ewen's phenomenal shift in thought and image-making marked a turning point in Canadian art history. 

“Paterson Ewen, The Turn from Figurative to Non-Figurative Painting.” Journal of Canadian Art History, Vol.x, No XII, No. 1, 1990. 
  • ​​“A glimpse into the business of art.” Umbrella, Quinte Arts Council, Winter, 2019.  
  • “Inspired by Italy, major solo exhibitions by Montreal-based painters.” Umbrella, Quinte Arts Council, Fall, 2018.
  • “Art Trade Policies, new arts sector profiles and strategic plans will help guide Canadian cultural industries beyond the border.” Arts Business Exchange, June, 2003. 
  • “Art Sales Strategy, Canadian artist subverts sales tradition.” Arts Business Exchange, May, 2003. 
  • “Tax exemption for artists, proposed bill draws attention to profession of the visual artist.” Arts Business Exchange, May, 2003. 
  • “Sixties Art, promotional value through concurrent events at seven museums.” Arts Business Exchange, May, 2003. 
  • The Creative Subcontractor, behind every successful public sculpture there is a skilled CAD designer.” Arts Business Exchange, April, 2003. 
  • “Art Defence, ‘cultural expression used to battle oil and gas industry in Alberta.” Arts Business Exchange, April, 2003. 
  • “Modern Portfolio Theory, applying the Sharpe Ratio to visual art.” Arts Business Exchange, April, 2003. 
  • “Scientific art history, conference led by an economist.” Arts Business Exchange, March, 2003. 
  • “Mei-Moses Art Index Update: art totals outperform S&P.” Arts Business Exchange, March, 2003. 
  • “Elgin Marbles, a perspective…” Arts Business Exchange, March, 2003. 
  • “Art diplomats, Canadian dealers invited to attend the first Art Basel Miami.” Arts Business Exchange, February, 2003. 
  • “Author explores implications of McMichael legislation.” Arts Business Exchange, February, 2003. 
  • “Art Exchange, Toronto International Art Exchange in development.” Arts Business Exchange, December, 2002. 
  • “Cultural Activism, Montreal’s creative class is determined to shape the city’s future.” Arts Business Exchange, December, 2002. 
  • “Museum Directors issue statement on object repatriation, criticized as “Eurocentric’.” Arts Business Exchange, December, 2002. 
  • “In Art We Trust, trust accounts for artists.” Arts Business Exchange, November, 2002. 
  • “Artist on the Move, Helen Papagiannis aka multimedia designer-artist Alice Glass.” Arts Business Exchange, November, 2002.  
  • “Artists’ Health Centre, health Centre for Canadian artists opens for business.” Arts Business Exchange, October, 2002. 
  • “Art Biz Education, art business incubator program for practicing artists.” Arts Business Exchange, October, 2002. 
  • “Protected Art Sales, US courts decide what is art and what is trinket.” Arts Business Exchange, September, 2002. 
  • “Artist on the Move, Larry Towell, a global perspective in small town Ontario.” Arts Business Exchange, September, 2002. 
  • “Art Entrepreneur, Bill Lishman lives and works outside the box.” Arts Business Exchange, August, 2002. 
  • “Playing Marbles, restitution of Parthenon marbles heats up.” Arts Business Exchange, August, 2002. 
  • “Cultural Diversity, pushing for a treaty on global cultural diversity.” Arts Business Exchange, August, 2002. 
  • “Outdoor Art Galleries, small town economic revitalization through the arts.” Arts Business Exchange, July, 2002. 
  • “Crisis Management, next generation arts managers may be hard to find.” Arts Business Exchange, July, 2002. 
  • “Salon Style Art, a new Vancouver art market.” Arts Business Exchange, May, 2002. 
  • “Gilded Gallery, Hamilton art museum to re-clad in golden steel.” Arts Business Exchange, May, 2002. 
  •  “New chapters in the price-fixing scandal.” Arts Business Exchange, May, 2002. 
  • “Art and Government, the talent gallery responding to Canadian cultural workers.” Arts Business Exchange, April, 2002. 
  • “Canadiana purchase for $7-Million in Eliot Lake, Ont.” Arts Business Exchange, April 2002. 
  • “Spinoff effect from arts subsidy questioned by economist.” Arts Business Exchange, April, 2002. 
  • “Artist on the Move, Larry Williams, a new generation in Canadian landscape.” Arts Business Exchange, April, 2002. 
  • “CultureNet Closes, first ‘on ramp for Canadian culture to the information highway’ signs off,” Arts Business Exchange, March, 2002. 
  •  “Decorative and Intellectual Appeal…” Arts Business Exchange, March, 2002. 
  • “Artspeak in Renaissance Italy.” Art Business Magazine, February 5, 1996. 
  • “Commerce and Art.” Art Business Magazine, February 12, 1996. 
  • “Selling 'Legitimate' Art: The Drabinsky and Friedland Galleries.” Art Business Magazine, February 26, 1996. 
  • “The Artist at Odds with Society: the historical roots of the artistic avant-garde.” Art Business Magazine, March 18, 1996. 
  • “The Visual Artist Today: more powerful than a locomotive?” Art Business Magazine, March 25, 1996. 
  • “Towards a Commercial Art Museum: an inevitable and healthful direction?” Art Business Magazine, April 8, 1996.  https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/202/300/artbus/1997/artbus.b16/bankeleven.html
  • “Claude Monet, a 19th century businessman.” Art Business Magazine, April 22, 1996. 
  • “The Visual Artist at Odds with the Mass Market.” Art Business Magazine, April 29, 1996. 
  • “Advertising is Art., soup cans, paintings of soup cans, reproductions of paintings of soup cans.” Art Business Magazine, June 10, 1996. 
  • “Quizzing the Ontario Arts Council.” Art Business Magazine, July 1, 1996. 
  • “Self-fulfilling Prophecy in Post-Secondary Visual Arts Education.” Art Business Magazine, July 22, 1996. 
  • “Who's Afraid of Jim Keirstead?” Art Business Magazine, August 26, 1996. 
  • “An interview with the curator: the emotional issue of exhibition relevance in the art museum.” Art Business Magazine, September 8, 1996. 
  • “Contemporary Art as an Investment, Part I: the value of an artist's reputation.” Art Business Magazine, October 20, 1996. 
  • “Contemporary Art as an Investment, Part II: speculation, artifice or magic.” Art Business Magazine, November 11, 1996. 
  • “Curators roaming the streets in packs and the demise of the outpost Canadian art museum: an interview with Ihor Holubizky, Chief Curator, Art Gallery of Hamilton.” Art Business Magazine, December 15, 1996. 
  • “The Train Man’s Vision, art is important, useful and in no need of protection except from people like me.” Art Business Magazine, December 21, 1996. https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/202/300/artbus/1996/artbus.b06/columnfraser.html
  • “Art Business in 17th Century Holland: how the bottom fell out of the Golden Age of Dutch painting.” Art Business Magazine, March 3, 1997. 
  • “Paterson Ewen: a story of economics and the modern Canadian painter.” Art Business Magazine, December 29, 1996 
  • “Protection vs. Promotion of Canadian Cultural Industries.” Art Business Magazine, March 24, 1997. https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/202/300/artbus/1997/artbus.b16/banksixtynine.html
  • “’The Capitalist Threat’ and the Advent of Post-Modernism.” Art Business Magazine, May 4, 1997. 
  • “Taking a Look at the Big Economic Picture: a response from Bill Horne, President, CARFAC - BC.” Art Business Magazine, May 19, 1997. 
  • “The Multilateral Agreement on Investments.” Art Business Magazine, June, 1997. 
  • “Paterson Ewen, The Turn from Figurative to Non-Figurative Painting.” Journal of Canadian Art History, Vol.x, No XII, No. 1, 1990. 
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  • Videos
    • "Canadian Fit, John McEwen’s ‘Babylon’ at the McMichael Canadian Collection.” Arts Business Exchange, 2001.
    • “Supply Management KABOOM! Artist Gerhard Harpe gives up on the Canadian art scene.” Arts Business Exchange, 2001.
    • “Four Artists Surviving Canada, David Urban, Tony Scherman and Vera Frenkel.” The Artist’s World, PBS, 1999.