It’s the moment when your work begins to cross into someone else’s world—when excitement, uncertainty, and pride all collide. In this personal story, Colombian artist Jorge Magyaroff reflects on his first encounter with a collector: an experience that tested his confidence, his ethics, and his understanding of what it means to value his art.
It had only been a few months since I’d begun working as a full-time artist when I received a phone call that would stay with me for years. A collector wanted to visit my studio.
Trying to hide my excitement, I kept my tone calm, answering confidently—as if I had been through this before. During our brief conversation, she asked me five times, “Do you know who I am?” Each time, I lied and said, “Of course I do.”
By the end of the call, she told me she was nearby and would arrive in five minutes. I rushed to tidy up my small, cluttered studio, not realizing that this encounter would soon turn into a lesson on power, perception, and integrity.
When I opened the door, an elegant woman stepped out of an armored van, flanked by a bodyguard and three friends. She was poised, distant, and commanding. Her friends, lively and talkative, orbited around her like satellites.
Inside the studio, she moved slowly, examining each corner while her entourage remained silent. Whenever she spoke, they listened. I answered her brief, direct questions about titles and materials, careful not to interrupt her rhythm.
Eventually, she asked, “What works do you have available?”
I showed her each piece in silence, answering questions about pricing. She asked me to hold several paintings for her to view. After a while, I began to feel more like a prop than an artist—an easel in my own studio.
Finally, she selected a piece she liked and asked for the price again. When I repeated it, she turned to her friends, whispered something, then declared, “That’s too expensive.” She offered me half.
I countered politely, offering a 20% discount and explaining that I had an exclusive agreement with a gallery. Even if I sold the piece privately, I would still owe the gallery its commission. She smiled slightly and said she knew the gallery owner “very well.” Then, lowering her voice, she added, “He’ll never find out. It will stay between us.”
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For a moment, I hesitated. Here was one of the country’s most powerful collectors—someone who could open doors I didn’t even know existed. But something in her offer didn’t sit right.
So, I stood firm.
When she extended her hand to close the deal, I didn’t take it. I watched her walk away, her bodyguards and friends following behind her.
Later that day, curiosity won. I searched her name online and realized who she was—a prominent art-world figure, featured in magazines and exhibitions, someone whose approval could have changed my career overnight.
But I also knew something else: my work would never be in her collection—and I was perfectly fine with that.
A few weeks later, one of the friends who had visited my studio with her called. She said she had loved my work and wanted to buy one of my pieces—the very one that had captured the collector’s attention.
The sale was simple. No negotiations. No hidden motives. Just mutual respect between artist and collector.
It reminded me that real connections in art come from honesty, not hierarchy.
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