“Happy birthday to my beautiful wife Olga Re Rebaudengo. In this difficult time for our countries, family and friends, I feel lucky to be together celebrating your special day”.

With these words, Mr. Eugenio Re Rebaudengo thanks his gorgeous wife in one of his Instagram profile’s posts. He does not only present himself as an entrepreneur ad an art collector, but also as a person with deep-rooted family values. That’s why, even if with a few days delay, we join with the good wishes.

It’s almost superfluous to provide any further presentation of the founder and director of the online platform ARTUNER, one of the the youngest and most interesting art collectors in the international scene.

Using his words in describing ARTUNER: “a featuring guest-curated online exhibition, it is a bold new player among the clutch of online ventures that are redefining how art is accessed and sold in the digital age”.

Among the artists displayed in his collection, we name the Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri, whose works we admire and we would love to get to enrich our little collection.

Question: As an entrepreneur and collector, how are you personally living the effects of this global emergency, that is also a cultural, intellectual, and social shock?

Answer: It’s a tragedy, absolutely. As an Italian, I have kept a close eye on the pandemic for a while. From a professional point of view, this situation has impacted all sectors and have, eventually caused some implications for our company. Having a strong online presence, however, enables us to continue to connect with people and keep our audience engaged. We are supporting our artists in any way we can during this time.

Q: Thinking about the future, what should be the content and values of the artistic productions that will help preserve the world of art?

A: Art answers to the challenges of the present as well as being universal. As our current situation is keeping us indoors, we are looking more at artists that contemplate the home as a landscape — one of them is Inez de Brauw, a Dutch artist that we represent, who paints large depictions of interiors. We are seeing many artists come up with different projects and ideas to cope with the isolation, which has been very inspiring. Art truly is an anchor for our society’s cultural values, especially now during this collective isolation.

(Inez de Brauw is a Dutch Postwar & Contemporary artist who was born in 1989. Her work was featured in several exhibitions at key galleries and museums).

Q: Smart working became a tool used by everybody. In this context, the home appears as the world to live in and to be shown, representing us in that precise moment in time. In this situation, art can offer new aesthetic and wellness opportunities on a personal level. What can art do to become accessible, to be present in more households without being considered an elite class-exclusive? I’m asking you this because with “Artuner” you were a pioneer about making art available to everybody.

A: Smart working is a reality we will have to live with during these months. Because the art market can only be experienced online, a larger variety of artworks can be seen by big audiences. Considering these new exposures, I think it’s possible to see more art, and hence find affordable pieces by younger artists. Furthermore, being surrounded by art can improve life indoors, and we do believe it could be a way to improve one’s wellness. My advice is to always keep looking at art and to welcome it in the home in any shape or form. 

Q: How do you live the relation with art in your house at this moment?

A: I am very lucky because I am constantly surrounded by artworks from artists that I highly value, with whom I oftentimes build a friendly relationship. Many of the artworks that I now have at home have been collected over the years during projects developed with Artuner. Seeing their creativity and talent has a very calming, positive effect on me.

Q: How is your approach as a collector conditioned by the current situation?

A: Of course, it’s a difficult situation: there are many worries that can influence buyers, as purchasing art may not always be a priority for many people. Art, nevertheless, can act as a distraction to escape from these terrible circumstances, at least for a while; luckily, we can still travel with the mind.

During our long quarantine, we also prefer to take this opportunity to entertain ourselves thanks to all that contemporary art can offer us, as well as thanks to the company and reflections that a pleasant person like Mr. Re Rebaudengo has very generously shared.

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