Frédéric Hessler: "I represent both works by deceased artists and living artists whose work is less well known and not fully appreciated. (Photo: Nader Ghavami/Maison Moderne)

Frédéric Hessler: "I represent both works by deceased artists and living artists whose work is less well known and not fully appreciated. (Photo: Nader Ghavami/Maison Moderne)

For more than 20 years, Frédéric Hessler has been active in the Luxembourg art market. In addition to his gallery, Galerie F. Hessler, located in Belair in Luxembourg City, he also works behind the scenes as a broker and expert.

It all began when Hessler was in his late teens. Coming from a Luxembourg family, art had always been part of his daily life. “My parents took me to see exhibitions and visit museums throughout my childhood. I was immersed in this world from an early age,” says Hessler. At home, there were always magazines and art books. After his high school studies in Luxembourg, Hessler searched for his path and soon realised that art was very important in his life and was part of his interests. In Le Journal des Arts, he saw an advertisement for IESA and discovered that this school offered courses on both the history and the market of art. This interested him, and he decided to go to Paris to follow this training.

“I found these years of study absolutely fascinating! We had the opportunity to rub shoulders with great names in the sector and to immerse ourselves fully in this rich discipline.” He took advantage of these Parisian years to attend auction houses, particularly Drouot. He recalls: “I learned a lot at the auction house, I saw thousands of paintings there. At that time, it was possible to take everything in hand, to see the back of the paintings. I spent hours there and looked at everything I could. I also learned a lot from the experts who came to Drouot.”

The market and art history

In addition to this on-the-job training, he delved deeply into the study of artists' careers. He admired Yves Klein, Francis Bacon, Alberto Giacometti, Amedeo Modigliani... He also visited exhibitions and museums and acquired a solid foundation in art history. “I realised that, to work in this sector, it is better to have a solid base in art history. Without it, you are not credible and you cannot do your job well. But the taste for the market takes over. I quickly got caught up in the market game,” he admits, adding: “I quickly bought small pieces, which I then sold. I gained a little experience.”

Once he obtained his diploma, he returned to the grand duchy and honed his knowledge and experience with gallery owners based in Luxembourg: Christiane Worré at the La Cité gallery and Jean Aulner at the Galerie de Luxembourg. But in 1999, he decided to go solo and created Art Collection. “My objective with this company was to become a dealer and to develop my network from Luxembourg. But I didn’t hesitate to travel a lot to find works or to go and see them in auction rooms. Luxembourg was a good starting point for expanding my reach.”

This sculpture by Wim Delvoye and this painting by Simon Hantaï will be on display at the gallery's stand during Luxembourg Art Week. (Photo: Nader Ghavami/Maison Moderne)

This sculpture by Wim Delvoye and this painting by Simon Hantaï will be on display at the gallery's stand during Luxembourg Art Week. (Photo: Nader Ghavami/Maison Moderne)

Dealer, advisor... and gallery owner

From the very beginning, Hessler was lucky enough to be able to sell works to museums. “I remember selling works to the MNHA when Paul Reiles and Jean-Luc Koltz were working there. It gave me good publicity and made it easier for me to meet collectors.”

In parallel to his activity as a dealer, Hessler is also a consultant. “Between 1999 and 2005, I mainly carried out these two activities. But, as time went by, I felt the need to develop a third pillar and to open a gallery, to have an exhibition space that would allow me to make regular hangings and publish catalogues.”

He does not hesitate to work on the first and second markets at the same time, “two markets that complement each other very well,” according to him. “I represent both works by deceased artists, but also living artists whose work is less well known, not estimated at its true value.” This is how he sells works by Takesada Matsutani, of the Gutai group, among others.

“I often work with artists who already have a career behind them and help them find a more important place in the market, to better value their work, which is sometimes little or not known. This is what I do, for example, with the Luxembourg artist Arthur Unger, whom I discovered through Michel Tapié.”

Hessler is particularly interested in certain trends and artists, many of whom are from the École de Paris, informal art, other art, narrative figuration or the Cobra movement. On the walls of his gallery, one can see works by Jean Fautrier, Maurice Estève, Serge Poliakoff, Jean Fautrier, Gustave Singier, Pierre Soulages... “I show what I like and I always look for quality pieces. This requires a great deal of research, but I am used to doing this for my missions as an advisor or broker, so it is not a problem.” For these two jobs, moreover, he has managed to make a certain reputation for himself on the Luxembourg market. “I must say that I have made some great encounters and that trust is built over the long term.”

When he looks at his clientele with a bit of hindsight, he recognises two types of collectors: “Those who have a static collection, enthusiasts who do not resell but advance in their collection and complete it, and the collectors for whom things move, whose collection evolves over the years, and who often need advice to know if they have the right piece or if they should resell such and such a piece…” There have been times when he has been in charge of the resale of very fine works. “As dealers, we don’t have the same deductions as auction houses, for example. So there is room for everyone.” A place that he has made his own. Sometimes he is even given the task of choosing a work with carte blanche.

View of Frédéric Hessler's gallery in Luxembourg-Belair. (Photo: Nader Ghavami/Maison Moderne)

View of Frédéric Hessler's gallery in Luxembourg-Belair. (Photo: Nader Ghavami/Maison Moderne)

Luxembourg, an evolving market

Hessler has also closely followed the evolution of the cultural scene in Luxembourg. “I have been participating in Luxembourg Art Week for several years and I must admit that it is a real highlight for my gallery, which I prepare well in advance, by informing my collectors and presenting them with what I will be selling there. I have made many new contacts there, I have met some great collectors. I am positively surprised by the level of knowledge of the visitors and their level of collecting. Also, I noticed that the clientele in Luxembourg has evolved a lot, it has become more international.”

As for the internet, it has obviously revolutionised his practice. “A few weeks ago, I sold a work to a collector based in the Philippines. The internet is a great showcase, which has completely changed the way we work. And the money is available everywhere in the world. That’s why I signed up for platforms like Artsy, because a lot of new contacts can be made via this platform, and some of them actually materialise into sales.” A sales channel that complements the exhibitions in his gallery, which he does not intend to abandon at all, as shown by the one he is preparing for December 2021 around the artists defended by Michel Tapié.

This article was written for the supplement "Luxembourg Art Week", of the  published on 28 October 2021. 

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.