Whitewall caught up with Beverly and Elizabeth Jacoby of BSJ Fine Art to see what they are up to this spring. Find out their thoughts on established artists looked over during the boom, valuation, and why now is a good time to edit your collection.

WHITEWALL: What have you been up to? Last time we talked was the week of the Armory Show. It’s now May.

ELIZABETH E. JACOBY: What we’ve been up to is valuation. We realized there’s a whole lot of uncertainty and people are hearing it all across the board. There are questions about what’s going to happen.

BEVERLY SCRHEIBER JACOBY: It’s uncertainty combined with a lack of confidence about what to do. There are two things. One is the volatility of what’s going on in the world around us. And then there is the inability to make a decision about what course, what direction to take. And we feel very –

EEJ: Strongly that if people know and have the right information then they can make decisions and begin to move forward. There’s so much going on in the art world right now that we’re seeing.

BSJ: So a new thing we’ve launched is a Second Opinion Service. If someone has a list, if they have a valuation, we can review them, we can be their consultants.

EEJ: People are receptive to hearing right now –

WW: You mean people should double-check the valuations, appraisals, and estimates they receive?

EEJ: Yes!

WW: So do you find you’re now going beyond acting as the eyes and ears of the transactional side of your client's collections?

BSJ: Our model is to do the things that the client needs to have done when the client needs to have done it. Every client has a very unique set of circumstances. Whatever you might have told them a year ago –

EEJ: Six months ago! This market is up and down and up and down! No one has really caught up yet. We were referenced to a court case and the judge said, “You were buying art, you can afford a second opinion.” And it really resonated with me. You had the opportunity, you were spending a lot of money, you didn’t have to listen to that one person, you could have talked to two or three.

I had a client today that said, “I’m going to start looking at the art I have.” And that’s fine too.

WW: So what has stood out to you lately? What have you found that others have looked over?

BSJ: Last night we were at Danese and there was a beautiful Bryan Hunt piece. And then today we had lunch today with a client who was talking about looking for some outdoor pieces for one of her houses. Then we took her out to look at another piece that might work outside. We looked up and there was another Bryan Hunt. My point is that I think this is a really good moment to look at people who are mature and sovereign artists that have careers, track records, and critical acclaim. They may not be household words but they have the highest respect from galleries. In times like these people remember that this is really what collecting is about.