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Carla Caputo helps coordinate efforts purchasing works of art and fees for Citi's wealthy clients.
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She always takes a few key precautions when entering clients' homes.
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Caputo also handles shipping logistics, from organizing cargo flights to handling huge boxes.
This essay, as stated, is based on a conversation with Carla Caputo, art collections manager and senior vice president of the Art Advisory group of Citi Wealth, which supports private bank clients. Before joining Citi in 2023, she worked at the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. The following message has been edited for length and clarity.
I consider myself best as a high-level project manager at Citi. wealthy clients. Sometimes I help them loan art to museums, sometimes I write condition reports, and sometimes I work on installations in their homes or offices.
When clients buy art from a gallery or auction, installation is often a lengthy and expensive process. Once the artwork is paid for, I contact receptionists and delivery managers to coordinate delivery of it to the client's space. Does this part already have a drawer? Does it have a road frame? Will he fit on a passenger flight or does he need to go on a cargo plane? And if he does need a cargo plane, how will he get to one of the few hub airports that accept these flights? Which route will he take?
Then you need to figure out how to pick up the product, deliver it to the client's home or office, pick it up and unpack it. Next, we need to figure out the storage location: do we keep the box or throw it away? If we store it, where will it be stored? To make things even more challenging, I've been thinking a lot recently about how much art weighs because the wall may need to be reinforced if the piece is too heavy.
By the time our team is finally ready to install a piece, I have to work with a lot of different people: house managers, conservators, furniture movers, art movers. I love getting to see clients' homes and I can't even begin to describe some of their art collections. But being in these places comes with a lot of responsibility and a few rules that I always follow.
If I have an iPad or other small thing, I don't put it down because I never know if it's a chair or a piece of art. I also make sure nothing is hanging off my body and tell artists, for example, to remove things like tape measures from their belts.
I always take off my shoes or put on shoe covers. Sometimes the client is not home, which can make the process a little easier, but I always try to come and go. For some projects I have to hire furniture movers, like when we had to deal with a huge beautiful stone table that was in our way.
There have been times when I have noticed that a room is very warm and have advised clients to check the temperature because the heat can damage some of the artwork. Or maybe there's a lot of light coming in and it's worth investing in window shades. I have also helped clients replace their lamps with more energy efficient ones that produce less heat, which helps preserve artwork over time.
Our clients have high expectations from us, as they should. I don't know what it's like to be them bankerand I'm sure it's very stressful in other ways. But for us, being in our clients' homes and offices—even while taking every precaution—helps us build lasting relationships.
Read the original article at Business Insider
