Park West Auctioneers Tell Us Their Favorite Things About Working with Art

Park Westโs Vice President of Sales Tim Findlay
Itโs one thing to enjoy art, but itโs another thing to make your entire life revolve around art. Thatโs a choice that Park West auctioneers make every single day and, from what they tell us, itโs a decision they donโt regret.
Park West Gallery has a staff of dedicated auctioneers working all over the globeโat special luxury events and on over 90 cruise ships circling the seven seas. We recently asked five of our top auctioneers to tell us WHY they loved working with art and artists so much.
Hereโs what they saidโฆ

Auctioneer Casey Gandy
โI never knew I even liked art before this cruiseโฆ I never thought Iโd collect artโฆ Iโm so excited about my new art!โ
I live for those types of comments from our guests. When I get the chance to take someone who has never been introduced to the magnificence of art and I get to open their eyes to a whole new colorful existenceโฆ itโs an absolutely beautiful experience.
โ Casey Gandy

Auctioneer Matt Whittam
Art can be weird and wonderful at the same time. The way I look at it isโฆ I imagine having a high school reunion and telling all my school friends that Iโm now an auctioneer selling fine works of art all over the worldโฆ it would blow their minds!
When Iโm out on a ship, itโs amazing to see people who say they have no idea about art spending time at all our onboard events and, at the end of the voyage, they collect art for the first time. Itโs incredible.
โ Matt Whittam

Auctioneers Irene van Huyssteen and Jared Hamer
Just the other day I introduced the artist Wyland to a packed room on Norwegian Blissโthe billion-dollar ship that he paintedโand he said โThank youโ to me? I had to pinch myself! But itโs just another day at the office with Park West.
โ Jared Hamer

Auctioneer Chris Greyvenstein
Everyone has their own passion, and Iโve come to learn that my passion for art grows every day. I really love sharing art with others. The best thing is when someone says, โYou have changed my life and my entire outlook on art!โ or โThe art gallery team made my cruise!โ
Iโve found that, on a cruise, Iโll encounter three different kinds of people.
- People who have zero interest in artโฆ theyโre great practice for my communication skills. I love the challenge of winning them over.
- People who have some interest in artโฆ they provide me with an excellent opportunity to get involved and really educate them more about something that intrigues them.
- And people who have a lot of interest in artโฆ those are the people where I learn from them, which is fantastic. Thatโs how my passion for art grows.
โ Chris Greyvenstein

Auctioneers Katherine Moreno and Chris Vounnou
My favorite part of being an auctioneer is having the opportunity to expose new collectors to another personโs perspective through art. Someone can be transported to a new worldโa new feeling, an idea, a thought, an emotionโthrough an artistโs form of expression. That is a powerful and purposeful feeling I get to experience every day.
โ Katherine Moreno
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Want to learn more about becoming a Park West art auctioneer and traveling the world to spread the joy of art? Visit Art Auctions Abroad!