Chiara Mortaroli is Gallery Registrar here at Agora Gallery, and many of our readers will have grateful memories of the way she helps artists to ship artwork and get it through Customs, and generally makes their exhibition process as smooth and enjoyable as possible, in addition to helping out at opening receptions with a beaming smile and the many other ways she is involved with day-to-day life at the gallery. Since so many people come into contact with her through the gallery in one capacity or another, it seemed like a good idea to share an interview with her discussing both her background and her love of art. Enjoy!

When did you first discover your interest in art?

Very early on. I was raised in a very artistic family. My father is a professional creative and used to create paintings of our summer vacations – the houses, the landscapes, us etc. My grandpa was an engineer by day and a poet at night, my great-grandmother left my mom amazing paintings which she had done during World War Two, and my mother also appreciates and collects marble sculptures. The smell of paint and conversations about art were always in the air. It was just natural for me to be interested in it.

You have lived in both Milan and Rome, where you got your BA in Art History. Do you think that growing up in Italy, with all its history and art, had an impact on you?

Definitely. Studying art in Italy is a big deal, obviously, because many people do so. You are constantly pushed to explore different interpretations, analyze deeply every single detail of an artwork, on both a conceptual and a physical level, and as a result to have a comprehensive yet specialized opinion on it. It taught me how to recognize what I like best in art and ultimately to develop my respect and understanding for the efforts that make artists who they are.

You traveled widely in Europe. Did those experiences influence your love of art in any way?

Absolutely, they were so important. Italy is an “open air museum;” the arts are in evidence on every street corner. The work of centuries past is everywhere – you can walk past the Coliseum without realizing its first construction started as long ago as 72 AD. Italians are obviously very proud of all of this but it is hard to get a sense of current artistic developments while staying in Italy. I feel that unfortunately there is not much space for “the new” when “the old” is so important. My trips around Europe made me love forms of art that I never even came across during my university studies, an experience that taught me not to have prejudices but to be open to everything I see. In France, Spain, Germany, England, Turkey and Greece I received precious lessons from unexpected as well as traditional sources. For example, I learned as much about Byzantine art from the rug sellers in the Grand Bazaar as in the stunning Hagia Sophia of Istanbul. Those trips really taught me how to enjoy art freely, instinctively.

What made you realize that you wanted to work in the fine art world?

Fine art combines many of my favorite interests – from Logistics to Marketing, from History to Psychology, from Philosophy to Aesthetics – and ever since high school I have felt instinctively connected with it. Getting to actually work in the fine art world was not that easy though, especially in New York City where a LOT of people have the same goal, but I was definitely willing to start from the lowest position available in order to find the place that was right for me and that determination stood me in good stead.
The fine art world is always in the midst of the “evolution/discovery” process; something that no one liked a few years ago, is suddenly the new big hit today, and vice versa. This aspect encourages you to develop the flexible perspective that is needed to get along within that process and brings you closer to a part of what art is really about: talent,  charm and communication.

Why New York?

After I graduated with a degree in History of Art I decided to study Marketing instead of continuing the university path of specialization. I wanted to add a business orientation to my passion, and New York is the place everyone was telling me I should go to, to study Marketing and learn “the business.” I recall having a conversation with the Master’s department office rep about my registration and hanging up the phone thinking, “Wow, this is real, I am really going to move there.” I was only 22 and I didn’t expect this city to be that “manageable” and to fit me as much as it actually does. New York pushes you to your limits and beyond, but the result is that you come to know what you want, what you are good at and how to value those skills without losing your identity. It is just different from any other place. The people, especially, make it unique. Best decision I ever made.

What’s your favorite aspect of working in Agora Gallery?

The work ethic we have here. The high quality standards we have when it comes to being available and efficient with our artists, collectors and visitors as well as with each other. We have a great team and we really work hard to deliver the best service possible to our clientele. There is nothing better for us than hearing our artists so happy about the services they receive and I have to say that every sale really is a shared joy and accomplishment.
I like that we all come from different backgrounds and from different countries and states as much as I like the diversity of the art we exhibit. It is this range, in terms of personnel, artists and artwork, which keeps us real.

If you could meet one figure from art history, who would it be?

It would have to be Michelangelo. Not only because I did my final dissertation on him and because he was such a multifaceted artist but because history does not provide enough answers to many of the questions about his artworks, his techniques, his secret arrangements with this or that pope, his collaborations with other artists and also his love life. I love finding out about the human, personal lives behind the creation of the artwork; it allows me to connect better with the art. Michelangelo in particular had such a romantic side (he was a tremendous poet). It would be so interesting to sit down with him and ask “So, tell me, how many portraits did you actually make of Vittoria Colonna? What did you really say to Pope Julius II when he first saw the Sistine Chapel? Did you really sleep in a bed made out of straw placed on a frame?” What an interview that would be!