Martin Levy will give a Brown Bag Lunch presentation on Monday, January 28, at 12:15 pm. His talk is entitled “A Lifetime in the Art Market: A View from the ‘Dark Side.’”

This talk will address ways in which the art market has changed, and not changed, over the past century. It will center on the history of H. Blairman & Sons, and how over the generations the firm’s role has evolved beyond simply buying and selling works of art. Based on personal experiences, the talk will examine how the art market can, and ideally should, advise museums, teach institutions and government-sponsored committees, and look after its customers. Suggestions will be made about how to become involved in the market and pitfalls will be discussed.


Martin Levy is the director of H. Blairman & Sons, which deals in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century English and French furniture and works of art. Levy has lectured in the UK and US and has contributed articles, exhibition reviews, book reviews, and letters to numerous publications including the Decorative Arts Society Journal, Apollo, Metropolitan Museum Journal, and Furniture History.