commercial art
architecture
WHAT CAREER DID YOU SEE YOURSELF IN WHEN YOU WERE 16?
WHAT CAREER DID YOU SEE YOURSELF IN WHEN
At 16 I didn’t really know what I wanted to do as a career and so I chose A Level subjects that I thought I would enjoy.
YOU WERE 16? Architect
A LEVELS: Spanish, English and History of Art; AS Level
AS Level Chemistry
Annabel Matterson (DH 2007)
Geography
Abigail Woolf (DH 2008) A LEVELS: Maths, Further Maths, Geography and
UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE: Engineering at
UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE: History of Art at Bristol University
University of Cambridge
CAREER PATH: At university, I completed internships in
CAREER PATH: After school, I joined the Pre-
galleries, with art dealers and in auction houses to try and gain the broadest possible experience. I then started working for a private art gallery in London which was amazing. I was advised to undertake a Masters to set myself apart from the other Art History graduates and so spent two years studying at Hunter College in New York and did an internship at Christie’s New York as well as doing freelance writing and research. Then a vacancy at Christie’s London came up, and I was offered the job.
University Placement Scheme at the Arup Group, a global civil and structural engineering firm and worked there for nine months. It gave me the opportunity to discover more about engineering and also paid for travelling at the end. Getting that job was probably the most important step for me in terms of my career.
CURRENT OCCUPATION: I am the Senior Writer and
Researcher in the Impressionist and Modern Art Department at Christie’s. I conduct research on paintings that are coming up for sale and write about them for the sale catalogues, telling the story of each work, where it fits into the artist’s life and into art history. It is a varied and interesting role but is also hugely time-pressured in the run up to a sale. I am lucky to have seen some of the incredible works of art that have passed through Christie’s doors. I’ve been at Christie’s London for almost three years and I absolutely love it. I definitely plan to stay working within the art world.
CURRENT OCCUPATION: After graduating from
Cambridge, I joined Arup as a Graduate Mechanical Engineer and I design building services for a range of projects such as offices, hotels and stations. I really enjoy my job and I hope that in time, I might be able to apply for an internal transfer to the San Francisco office. I will have to wait and see! WORDS OF ADVICE: Engineering is a great career.
You get to be creative and work with a range of people. It’s both challenging and satisfying and I feel immensely proud when I show people the projects I’ve worked on.
WORDS OF ADVICE: Internships are key – and are essential
to start out in the art world. They can be incredibly positive and you can gain a wealth of valuable skills. Whether it’s in a small gallery or a huge international organisation, it is a great way to start networking which is invaluable because although it is a global business, the art world is a very small community.
“Internships are key – and are essential to start out in the art world”
“Engineering is a great career. You get to be creative and work with a range of people
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