Claudia Altman-Siegel '95
Director, Luhring Augustine Gallery
 In 1997, Claudia Altman-Siegel was thrilled to be hired by the small and prestigious Luhring Augustine Gallery. So thrilled, in fact, that she took the only job they offered her: security guard. "I sat and watched a small Jackson Pollack for a month," she recalls. She must have done a good job: when the Pollack show ended she was hired on as registrar; one year later she was named director.
A web of Barnard connections led Claudia to Luhring Augustine . While still an undergraduate she interned with the sculptor Jon Kessler and helped him organize his solo show at the gallery. A Barnard friend, Saskia Rifkin, had introduced her to Kessler; "Saskia worked for the artist Robert Longo, and Jon saw those two together and basically said, 'How can I get one of you?'" An Art History and American Studies major, Altman-Siegel jumped at the chance, journeying to Williamsburg every weekend to help Kessler fabricate work for the show.
The connections continued even after graduation. Before joining Luhring Augustine herself, Altman-Siegel would visit Michele Maccarone, a fellow alumna, there. Another graduate, Vanessa Critchell, Class of 1997, is currently Associate Director of the gallery.
Luhring Augustine, a boutique gallery, represents 17 prominent artists. As director, Altman-Siegel acts as each artist's agent, handling the business side of the art world--planning exhibitions with curators and assisting museums and collectors interested in acquiring work--so that the artists can concentrate on producing new art. "We're the link between the artists and the outside world," she says. Altman-Siegel also works closely with collectors, advising them how to build conceptually interesting and financially successful collections. "We're very hands on," Altman-Siegel says of her gallery. "All of our artists get a lot of attention."
A Boston native, Altman-Siegel chose to attend Barnard because of its New York City location and strong art history department. An "art kid" in high school, she subscribed to Artforum as soon as she settled at Barnard and regularly visited the galleries downtown. "Being so close to the industry helped me realize the direction I wanted to go in," she recalls.
She hasn't stopped going. In addition to writing about art--most recently publishing a piece on Christopher Wool in ANP Quarterly - Altman-Siegel sits on the board of directors of the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), a networking organization for young art dealers. NADA organizes informational panels--a recent evening promised "financial planning for artists"-- and holds its own juried art fair that runs concurrent with the well-established Art Basel Miami Beach.
NADA allows Altman-Siegel to give back to the arts community while also alerting her to young artists she might not otherwise come across. And who knows--maybe one day, she allows, she'll be a young dealer with her own gallery. But in the meantime Altman-Siegel loves her work as gallery director. "I travel a lot, and get to see art all the time. It's a real pleasure."
--Ilana Stanger-Ross
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