December 14, 2022 | 6:30 pm
ArtTable Circle members are invited to join us for a very special collection visit at the home of Alice Sachs Zimet.
Alice Sachs Zimet began to collect photography in early 1985 at a time when the medium was not recognized as a serious art form. The marketplace was nascent. There were few to no photo-only galleries, photo-only art fairs, photo-only auctions, and it was rare to find a photography exhibition in a museum. While there was little acknowledgement, Alice consistently defended her love of the medium even when most challenged her by saying ‘it’s not art’.
Today, fine art photography is a major global player with increased attention, respect, and market share. There are blockbuster museum shows, photo-only auctions, photo-only art fairs and photo-only galleries. And of course, the number of photo collectors and prices have increased significantly.
Zimet’s lifelong passion for the arts began with her parents who were print collectors, collecting images by Vuillard, Bonnard, Vlaminck, Rouault, and Lautrec, among others. Her world was always steeped in the arts – professionally and academically. She holds two degrees in art history and her early professional career began at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
However, her life changed when, for the next 20 years, Zimet worked at The Chase Manhattan Bank where she created a new sponsorship marketing department and became Director, Worldwide Cultural Affairs. She was given a small year-end bonus, which soon became her collecting budget — whether for one photograph or the purchase of several. But that was her acquisition budget for the year.
Zimet has made a conscious effort to buy from all sources — galleries, auctions, benefit auctions, art fairs and even trades. With a collecting career spanning nearly 40 years, she has developed deep personal relationships with professionals across every aspect of the field. Her collection has grown to roughly 350 museum-quality images, where she lives surrounded by the vast majority. “I consciously do not have storage. I live with most of my images surrounding me. With storage, I would not be able to control my collecting impulse. So, my walls provide that boundary.”
This program is open to ArtTable Circle members for $45 each.
Members may bring a guest for $55.
Registration is required below.
If you would like to join this special event and are not yet an ArtTable Circle member, you can apply for membership here or log into your Member portal to upgrade your current membership.
Please review the below before registering:
Health & Safety
You are considered fully vaccinated: 2 weeks (14 days) after your dose of an accepted single-dose vaccine.
Masks will be optional.
Please note that by registering for this event you consent to have your contact information shared with ArtTable to be used in the event that contact tracing is needed.
Accessibility
There are some steps to the front entrance of the building. If you require elevator use, please email Haley at programs@arttable.org to coordinate. A service entrance may be available if needed.
Getting There
This program takes place at a private residence in the Upper West Side. The full address will be shared with all registered attendees in advance of the program.
This program is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
About Alice Sachs Zimet
Alice Sachs Zimet is a collector, advisor and educator tied to the fine art photography marketplace. Alice’s collection offers a global and intimate portrait of everyday life, with additional emphasis on the role of the artist in the world as creator, activist, and observer. Images in the collection range from classics such as Berenice Abbott, Brassai, Lisette Model to Magnum masters such as Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Susan Meiselas, Elliott Erwitt, Martine Franck and Steve McCurry. The collection also includes photographs by influential artists such as Nan Goldin, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman and Robert Mapplethorpe, with more recent images by Jess T Dugan and Zanele Muholi. A respected educator and advisor in the field, Alice is recognized for both her connoisseurship and deep knowledge of the photography market.
Alice is Chair, Photography Curatorial Committee, Harvard Art Museums; board member, Magnum Foundation; Chair, Acquisitions Committee, International Center of Photography (ICP); and teaches workshops at the ICP School, Christie’s Education, LA Center of Photography, Maine Media Workshops + College and NYU’s Steinhardt School, Graduate Program, Arts Administration. “Collector Profiles”; and other press include Private Air magazine, Artsy, Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York Business, Forbes, New York Magazine, Inside Philanthropy, The Photograph Collector, and Art + Auction.
Alice is President of Arts + Business Partners which she founded in 1999 to initially advise arts groups and business funders on corporate sponsorship, after a 20-year career as Director, Worldwide Cultural Affairs, The Chase Manhattan Bank. She created the first corporate sponsorship program in a commercial bank, worked across 14 countries and generated over $2 billion using the arts as a strategic marketing tool.
Alice lives and works in New York City and continues to collect.
Image: Interior of Alice Sachs Zimet’s home and collection; Headshot of Alice Sachs Zimet by Grace Roselli.
Cathy Byrd is a contemporary artist, curator, educator, and art journalist with more than 20 years of experience in the field. Art censorship, the environment, activism, public and performance art, the global diaspora, and technology are among her research interests. Broadening access to art and culture has been her priority since 2011. In a roving audio podcast that she launched from a park bench in Brooklyn, Byrd demystifies contemporary art through stories appealing to the cognoscenti and the curious. She engages with today’s issues and ideas on a platform that fuses digital media, sound art and social practice. Fresh Art International has streamed programming from the Everglades and Key West, São Paulo, Paris, Berlin, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Dakar. The first 300 episodes of the podcast feature emerging and established artists, curators, writers, designers and filmmakers, as well as spiritual leaders, scientists, activists, and environmentalists at the center and fringe of creative communities around the world. Byrd considers it a privilege to witness and document the nuanced character of our cultural landscape. 
Arnika Dawkins is the owner of her eponymous fine art photography gallery established in Atlanta in 2012. The gallerist shows work by talented emerging and mid-career artists specializing in exhibiting fine art photography by African Americans and images of people from the African Diaspora. Her passion is connecting collectors to photography that is significant, inspiring, and provocative. As a fine art photographer and avid collector, herself, she is a valuable resource to collectors and artists alike. She is passionate about the medium, having obtained a Master of Arts in Digital Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Arnika Dawkins Gallery is a member of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), where she serves on its board and as Education Committee chair for AIPAD Talks.
