Art specialist

Aimee Brown

When strolling through the streets of Florence, it is easy to feel you are at the birthplace of modern art. So it is little wonder that after a six-month stint at art school in Italy’s Tuscan capital, Caroline Cooper was inspired to pursue a career in the art world.

Cooper, who now works as an art specialist at auction house Lawson-Menzies, enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts in Art and Art History at University of Sydney after returning from the Lorenzo de’ Medici School.

“It was because of that experience that I decided to take an Art History course at university in Sydney,” Cooper says. She then completed a Master of Arts in Art Administration at the College of Fine Arts at the University of NSW.

During her first degree, she started working at auction house Bonhams & Goodman. “It was initially a casual position. I fell into the paintings side because I had an interest in it,” she says.

While completing her degree and postgraduate studies, Cooper continued to develop her skills in the art department of Bonhams & Goodman, eventually moving into a full-time position. She then moved to Lawson-Menzies and now specialises in Australian art.

“Eighty per cent of the time we are collecting works for the sale. We select carefully because the stock you have reflects the quality of the business, so we try to maintain a certain value,” she says. “But at the same time, it is always nice to include a few more quirky things because everyone has different interests.”
She says the busiest time for her is the two-week period culminating in the auction.

“During this phase we concentrate on selling,” she says. This includes raising awareness of the products to be auctioned through a published catalogue.
But without doubt, the most exhilarating work is during the auction itself.

“It’s high adrenalin,” she says. “Sometimes I will have more than one buyer at each auction that I am looking after.

“I’ll be talking with one person in London on the mobile and another in Melbourne on the landline. It certainly gets the heart pumping.”

How to be an auction house art specialist
You usually need tertiary qualifications such as a Bachelor’s degree in art or art history. For details, contact the Auctioneer and Valuers Association of Australia,
02 9747 8600 or avaa.com.au