How a Top Art Adviser Helps Clients Like Ryan Murphy and Greg Berlanti Build Meaningful Collections

Ryan Murphy and husband David Miller, Netflix’s Bela Bajaria and her husband Doug Prochilo, Greg Berlanti and Robbie Rogers, and Joel and Sarah Mchale are among the Hollywood names who work with art adviser Joe Sheftel in building their art collections. “Joe has been great in helping us focus and translate our passions into visual arts, while also teaching us a great deal about market trends. We’ve discovered artists’ works both historical and current that our whole family is inspired by every day,” say Berlanti and Rogers, in a joint email to THR.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the New York-based Sheftel — who operated an art gallery on the Lower East Side from 2012 to 2015 — talks current trends in art, what is special about working with industry clients and his advice on navigating the Frieze Los Angeles art fair, which runs Feb. 16 to 19.

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How would you describe the current moment in the art world?

It seems like we’re on the cusp of a transition. For the last decade or so, things have been very focused on younger artists and emerging art and figuration. But that’s not the only narrative right now. There’s a lot of interest in historical work; we’re seeing a lot of younger galleries looking at art from the ’60s and ’70s from overlooked artists.

What is it like when you start with a new client?

With everyone I’ve worked with, we spend a lot of time looking — without the pressure of buying for a while. It’s important to look at a lot of stuff without making decisions and meeting galleries and experts and artists and auction-house people. Look before you jump for that first purchase.

Are industry clients different from other clients in any way?
People from entertainment have done so much visual work as part of their careers. They’re involved in the production of worlds. So they bring a lot of that insight to collecting, as well as a decisiveness about what looks interesting to them.

Could you describe Ryan Murphy’s point of view as a collector?

Ryan’s view is very narrative and he has a really instinctive understanding of what is happening culturally and creatively. A lot of his collection is inspired by the location the art is going to be in. So for the New York house, the reference points were very much 1980s New York, what was going on then, the AIDS crisis and the artists who were being political in that moment, like David Wojnarowicz. Also what Ryan is working on, [like] The Boys in the Band and [The Andy Warhol Diaries] documentary, has a lot of influence.

How is Greg Berlanti and Robbie Rogers’ collection different?

They both have a lot of love for painting, both abstract and figurative and also colorful. They have an interest in gay historical painting, like Hugh Steers is an artist they’ve been really interested in and Betty Parsons, a lesbian painter and gallerist who was showing Mark Rothko and all those artists in the ’50s and ’60s. They’re also interested in younger queer artists like Anthony Cudahy. And they are interested in things like American surrealism, artists like Robert Vickrey and George Tooker, and then moving to artists like Peter Halley and Alex Katz.

What’s it like working with Sarah and Joel McHale on their art collection?

So Sarah’s background is that she’s worked in design and also is a visual artist. Her work has a lot of collage in it. So that’s often been an area of interest in a lot of the thing we look at together. They’ve been interested in L.A. artists and younger artists working in collage and also in biomorphic forms. Sarah has a great eye in understanding younger talent.

Do you have any tips for navigating the Frieze art fair?

Come in with a plan. To access the A-plus material, you need to have some access figured out beforehand, whether that’s a qualified adviser or a relationship with a gallerist there. It’s also great to use as a place to learn about artists and galleries and research them.

You acquired a Peter Halley work at Frieze Los Angeles last year for Berlanti and Rogers. Can you tell me why is resonated for them?

Greg, Robbie and I had been discussing Peter Halley prior to Frieze L.A., 2022 as an artist who fit into their exploration and collection of Great American painters. Halley emerged in the 1980’s as part of the Neo-Conceptual movement and has continued to inform the narrative around abstract and geometric painting through his writing and teaching as well as his studio practice. The colors of this work are spectacular and embody Halley’s exploration of information and narratives in visual presentation. We saw this work in Karma’s preview for Frieze L.A. 2022 and decided it was a must for the collection and secured the work prior to the fair’s opening day.

A few years ago, it felt like so many people wanted to be art advisors. Does that still feel like it’s the case?

It does not seem like that’s a moment anymore. I think a lot of people found out it’s really a hard job that requires a lot of work and negotiation and skills sets that are both visual and transactional. A good art advisor is comfortable negotiating six-figure, seven-figure transactions in complicated settings. I have a lot of respect for my peers and I see them out there at the gallery shows and at the less popular art fairs; they are at the auctions and they put in the work to get their clients good material. I think a lot of people don’t think about the fact that art advisors advocate for their clients. It’s not as much about trying to get someone to buy something. It’s about trying to get someone who wants to buy something the best material.

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