a lot more satisfying and constant discovery than
a profession as a medical doctor. His passion for
art was bigger, and he had the courage to follow
his heart. Then again, the elements providing for
a highly surprising career are those of diversity,
discovery and constant learning.
His collection is based on interesting, importantand artistically powerful drawings, those that
surprise the fine art market and that are fresh to
the market. The fact that no two drawings are ever
the same is a great source of motivation for him.Benjamin Proust’s interest in art started when he
was eighteen years old while living in the beautiful
Loire Valley in France. The art “bug”, or what
we are calling that mysterious call, came about
through his visits to Sundays’ small flea markets
in the villages around Tours. This mysterious call
became a passion strong enough to encourage
him to move to Paris.His initial inquiries into the world of art as
an occupation were met with discouraging
assessments of the hard realities that come with
making it ones source of income. He was told,
“If one is not the son of a dealer, an
auctioneer or an established collector, one
should forget about any possible success in
that endeavor”.
Contrary to those warnings, he enrolled in an Art
Market Business school in Paris, while working
weekends at the Paris Flea market as well as
undertaking internships with experts, dealers,
auctioneers with Drout, the auction conglomerate,
and at the Carre Rive Gauche. He quickly realized
that his exposure to art through these dealers and
experts was brought not only knowledge, but also
an eye that can discover the beauty, uniqueness,Onno van Seggelen
Claes van Beresteyn
(Haarlem, 1629-1684)
A willow tree
Pen and brown ink
15,0 x 12,2 cm
Provenance
Private-collection,
Netherlands.