RH sponsored the wildly popular rain room at MoMA and the company is hardly the only enterprise trying to lower the barriers to Contemporary for novice buyers, so it shouldn’t take a leap of faith to see that the next move is to build up RH Contemporary Art as the Times explains:
On Nov. 9, it will also become a publisher, with a quarterly called RH Contemporary Art Journal that will be available for free to visitors of its new wood-beamed art gallery on West 16th Street. […] Both ventures are part of RH Contemporary Art, a platform that also includes documentaries, artist residencies and a web emporium, all aimed at selling creations by the artists it works with (who currently number about 50).
Collectors might notice surprising corporate tones to RH Contemporary’s approach. (All artworks, for instance, will be covered by a return policy — virtually unheard of in the art world.)[…] The Chelsea gallery has an Adrian Pearsall marble table in its office and vintage armchairs from 1stdibs in its viewing rooms, but little from RH. Why the divide? “Look, art clearly goes in people’s homes,” Friedman says. “But great art can stand alone, and shouldn’t be confused with decoration.”
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