Dominique Lévy delivers commencement address for Sotheby’s Institute of Art-New York

Lévy Gorvy Founder and Partner Dominique Lévy delivered the commencement address to Sotheby’s Institute of Art-New York Class of 2017 Master’s degree graduates on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at Sotheby’s auction house. Evolving from a small connoisseurship program begun by Sotheby’s Auction House in 1969 Sotheby’s Institute is now the leader in art business education and object based learning. Students master the unique forces at play at the intersection of art and commerce. All of us at Lévy Gorvy extend our warm wishes and many congratulations to the graduates.

We share the transcript of Dominique’s remarks below.

Dear Graduates,

Traveler, your footprints

Are the path and nothing more;

Traveler, there is no path,

The path is made by walking.

Antonio Machado is one of my favorite poets.

I first heard this poem as I was turning 50, and my immediate reaction was to look back at my 25-year career. Even as I stand before you, I have flashbacks to that magical moment when we realize: Everything is possible!

At the same time, where to start? How to start? How does one leave the cocoon of education to leap into a meaningful professional life?

When Yves Klein leaped into the void, he gained his full powers.

So, Class of 2017, how will each of you leap into the void?

Let me share a secret: I am a romantic, and I believe in the power of art to change the world. I believe that artists and art raise questions, provoke controversies, and force constant doubt. There is no certitude. Never!

My first wish for you, then, is to remain open-minded at all times. I hope that you ask questions and live in constant motion. There is no final destination.

I will assume that you are all passionate, and hopefully you are idealists. If not, you have chosen the wrong career!

My second wish is that your first step, as soon as you leave this building, is to find a mentor. I have been blessed, because at every crossroad in my life I have encountered a mentor. I count five to date: my father, Simon de Pury, Anthony d’Offay, Francois Pinault, and Bob Mnuchin. Each of these men have helped shape me, define me. Why? They trusted me and demanded that I excel. They allowed me to stumble and sometimes fall, and they helped me to stand again, guiding me.

Look out, be bold, knock at some doors, and find your first mentor. (I realize that my mentors were all men, but be assured that today we have a choice of so many women mentors, too!)

Do not take “no” for an answer. Work hard and give it your all.

Be prepared to start at the very beginning. Stay humble and keep the ambition alive. When you find your mentor, be the hungriest Pac-Man or Pac-Woman. Devour information, be the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave…make yourself known, indispensable, and noticed.

Let me share an anecdote about the Tremaine sale [November 1988] of Jasper Johns’s White Flag (1958). I was an intern at Christie’s in New York, working for Martha Baer. On the day the catalogues were going out, when everyone was getting ready to go home for the night, Martha Baer asked where the catalogue for Mr. Johns was. Everyone looked baffled and slightly scared. I quickly realized what was happening. Martha wanted this catalogue to be hand-delivered to Mr. Johns and not sent out anonymously with the thousands of others. After all, his masterpiece was in the sale, and his market was about to change forever. He would, with that sale, become the most expensive living artist. Martha Baer’s instruction had slipped through the cracks, and there was a total tsunami in the department. I offered to go to the mail room and find the catalogue. The idea was met with a grin. Nevertheless, I went and stayed until I located the famous catalogue at four in the morning. When I returned to work, my position as an intern had changed….

My third wish for you: a sense of purpose.

I embrace the validity of our profession. The survival of society relies on the arts. As long as there are artists (and by artists, I mean creative minds), a civilization has knowledge, and, most importantly, HUMANITY.

I hope you engage passionately in the career you choose, and that you become empowered by a profound sense of mission. Whether in the commercial world, the academic world, or in any aspect of the art world, if you can find meaning, it will be essential!

Some of you may wonder: How does one keep the spark alive? I thought I would share with you three of the many ingredients that make every day in my professional life fresh and fulfilling.

[1] The first is having relationships with artists—learning from their inspirational conversations and their radical generosity. I work with many artists from an older generation, and strangely enough, when they reach their eighties they become incredible risk-takers, larger than life, cherishing every minute and focusing solely on their practice. I want to share with you a few anecdotes…..

Visiting Pierre Soulages: He is now 98 and has been married for 75 years, but he still flirts with his wife. He welcomes me to his studio, shows me his paintings like I was his first visitor ever, and takes me to a gargantuesque lunch with more courses and more drinking than any of us could handle. He shares stories about his practice and finally invites me to freely choose all the works for our next exhibition.

Or my first visit, in the early morning, to Enrico Castellani, who is known for being a recluse and a very reserved man. I find myself so engaged in our conversation that suddenly it is lunch time. I join him, his current wife, his former wife, and all of their children at a family-style table. He had previously declined my invitation to exhibit at the gallery, but by the end of this lunch we started a collaboration that lasted five years and only ended with his recent passing.

Or Gunther Uecker, who came to New York for the exhibition ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow [October 2014 – January 2015] at the Guggenheim Museum. After two days, I found him in such a bad mood. When I asked him why, he said “I need to get back to the studio, this is where I have to be, this is where I belong…”

In each of these encounters, I found an innocence that touched my soul and made me want to be a rock and an ambassador for these artists. I find motivation and unconditional commitment in these relationships.

On to the next ingredient…

[2] To experience wonderment in front of art: I have worked in the art world for over 25 years and it has never failed me. Standing in front of a painting remains meaningful and visiting a good exhibition always revitalizes me.

So, all of you keep this secret: be out and about, see as much as you can, keep the desire to learn and discover.

And finally, the last ingredient….

[3] Conversations with collectors: When you spend time with collectors you engage them on a fundamental level. You determine where their passion lies.

Actually, this extends to conversations with writers, with designers, with researchers, with anyone working in the arts. There is always something new to learn, something different.

So, let me close these thoughts with a hope. The hope that each of you will commit to a deep engagement. Whatever area you choose! Whatever path you find! Remember…

Traveler, your footprints

Are the path and nothing more;

Traveler, there is no path,

The path is made by walking.

Today, you are each the Traveler. So Travelers, stand up and get going!

Dominique Lévy delivered the above speech at Sotheby’s auction house on Saturday, April 14, 2018. Special thanks to Christine Kuan, Nicole Hoffecker, and Ann-Marie Richard for welcoming us to share in this special occasion.

Photos: Courtesy of Sotheby’s and Sarah Merians Photography & Video