Patrick Orbe is a well-known East Coast art dealer, specializing in late 19th and early 20th century paintings and historically accurate framing. He is a collector at heart and has also spent years compiling a collection of vintage silver, vintage frames, and other treasures that tug at his heart strings.
Patrick allowed us to shop his own private collection of hundreds of vintage silver pieces from around the world. Shop The Patrick Orbe Collection.
We sat down with Patrick to learn about his career as an art dealer, his expertise in historically accurate framing,
Tell us about how your career as an art dealer has progressed.
Early in my career, I owned a vintage frame shop, then moved on to decorative art and framing in the 1980s, which led to a deep interest in original works from the early 19th and 20th centuries and expertise in historically accurate framing. And that is the path that led me to framing an original work by Johann Richard Seel that now hangs in the Louvre.
Knowing the right style and period for the perfect marriage between art and frame proved to be a very natural thing for me and soon the galleries were calling me regularly. I proceeded to build a inventory of vintage museum quality frames little by little until a major old frame company in NYC that did framing for Salvador Dali and other major artists allowed me to acquire their inventory of antique frames when they lost their lease.
I've worked with Green-Wood in Brooklyn assembling a collection of around 300 works, with big auction houses as a fine art specialist. Each day is different, but it always brings me back around to beautiful things.
When you were young, what did you dream as a life for yourself, and
how does your real life compare?
When I was young, I’m not really sure what I envisioned but I was always drawing pictures and was fascinated with art. Once I was older I knew I wanted to be self-employed in some kind of business. Looking back it’s quite obvious that I was the creative artistic type but didn’t appreciate it since schooling primarily focused on one thing. I look back and realize that art class, creative writing, acting were the things that I enjoyed the most. On a personal level I did envision being in a solid relationship slash marriage and once it came about with children I realized that I’m a devout family man.
What do you think people misunderstand about art and how to collect it?
I think there is too much emphasis placed on history and study when collecting art. I like to encourage my clients to allow themselves to be honest about how they respond to works of art. Collectors should acquire pieces they love or pieces that speak to them in some way. Buying art as an investment is a waste of effort and money if you don't love the piece of art itself.
You're clearly a collector at heart like I am. Tell us about your
favorite collection.
I have to say that, yes at times I am, but I am more of a dealer than a collector and things come and go. I’ve had some very interesting things passing through my 1890s home. I tend toward victorian and very ornate pieces, and I live with them in my home rather than stowing them away for a special day.
Regarding public collections, I enjoy the Metropolitan Museum because it’s so diverse but I tend to be drawn to the early 20th century especially Salvador Dali, the German Expressionists, Gustav Klimt etc. and I certainly am drawn to depictions of people and interesting portraits more than landscapes. I appreciate the academics of the earlier period like Bouguereau but I love what was done a bit later.
What advice do you have for our our readers on how to start and build a collection of anything?
Collect what you love, and if you're looking to collect art of monetary value, do your homework to understand the provenance and market value. Otherwise, you might be over-paying.
We always like to end an interview with a recommendation - tell us
about a show you're watching, a movie you've seen, an exhibit, a
book, a restaurant, anything you'd like to share with our Elsie Green
readers.
I watched The Intern on the airplane coming back to N.Y. with Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway and it really hit me that the writer/director Nancy Meyers seems to have a consistency with her movies that I love. They all make me cry at some point, she just certainly deals with things that have a deep meaning, the human spirit and just the reality of life, but presents it in a wonderful entertaining way and she brings such love and emotion into the story.
And my wife is a vegan chef so we often visit vegan restaurants in New York. We recently had a fantastic meal at Avant Garden in the East Village.