Dominique Cattin (63)
'I know the power of emotion' 

 "Project 2.0 is my habitat. Here it is not about selling, which is just a capstone. For me, it's about relationships, more so than art. Collectors are incredibly loyal and regularly come to see new exhibitions. The most important thing is to let them talk about their wishes and expectations themselves. These are very personal matters." 

"I originally come from the luxury industry in Paris and Monaco. As a result, I know the power of emotion. As with haute couture, you don't want a work of art because you don't need it. You don't buy an object, you buy pleasure, a memory, a statement about yourself. And usually you carry that with you for a long time." 

Dominique Cattin

"Beauty is never a topic of conversation in this, that is different for everyone. It's about the connection you feel with the work of art or its maker. Sometimes this is because you instantly fall in love with that particular work, other times the context or the underlying thought touches you - I can tell you all about that, of course." 

"Over the years, I myself have also learned to take off my glasses of quick judgements. If there is an intriguing vision underneath the work, I can appreciate it more than anything else. That is also exactly what good art does. And Coen has an unerring feel for finding the right artists." 

"For instance, everyone on our team has his or her own competences. We respect each other's and complement each other where necessary. As far as I am concerned, that is the biggest secret of our success." 

Flore Kueter (36)
'There is always plenty to share' 

 "Besides my work as an art consultant at De Galerie The Hague and Rotterdam, I manage all our channels on social media. There is always plenty to share and, of course, I am never short of good images. Moreover, I get lots of opportunities to learn and try; I have a background as a spatial designer myself." 

"Content and input, that's what it's all about. With social media, we reach a new audience; occasionally people even decide to buy a work based on a 'post', so we couldn't live without it. Fortunately, my colleague Ernst (???) beautiful videos with the artists, which I make grateful use of." 

Flore Kueter

"Whereas at The Gallery the emphasis is on quick changeovers and sharing stories 'on the spot', at Project 2.0 it is important to bring the deeper layer into the limelight. There, we work with a select group of artists whom we also represent at exhibitions and with whom we build long-term relationships." 

"How we as a team use social media is a yardstick for me. Photos are increasingly giving way to stories and reels, as viewing behaviour is changing. Followers want to see what happens behind the scenes, who the artists are. I play into that. That means switching quickly and letting go of direction to a certain extent - a challenge for me." 

"Eventually, I want to move towards more interaction on social media, with polls and by asking stimulating questions. Although the very best conversations still take place in the galleries themselves."  

Eva van den Oever (29)
'Communicating with artists I consider my expertise' 

"Yes, I am Coen's daughter, but I don't profile myself that way. I am - like any other newcomer - part of the team as a jack-of-all-trades. From early 2023, I have been involved in the preparations around De Galerie Rotterdam. Now we are finally open and we are surprisingly well received." 

"Rotterdam has a different flavour to The Hague. More raw, less conservative. Erwin Verkade's minimalist works, for instance, are much more appropriate there. Nice to see that this step works both ways: we serve a more diverse audience ánd we can represent a wider range of artists." 

Eva van den Oever

"Our task now is to see how the city responds to us and adjust the way we curate it accordingly. I am creating this own identity together with Maud and Flore. The freedom is great, but we do work from the existing concept. That means lending, renting, rental savings and art-buying schemes to make the art as accessible as possible." 

"I consider the experience of communicating with artists to be my expertise. After studying art history in London, I worked for Catawiki for a while. It talks very differently from ordinary 'suppliers'; the relationship is two-fold and the artist hands over his baby to you, so to speak. There's a lot of feeling involved in that." 

"But administration chores and lugging stuff for fairs I pick up too, mind you. As a newcomer to this company, I still learn a lot from my colleagues every day." 

Maud Maas (32)
'The artist sometimes makes a dance of joy' 

"With us, there is no fixed job description. Everyone finds their place naturally. As an art historian with experience at auctions, I came in to do both the front and back office, but gradually I started to delve more and more into the financial side as well. I feel comfortable with that." 

"Hiding behind numbers was, to be honest, also a good excuse in the beginning to avoid stepping forward as the face of the gallery. But that's going well for me now too; clients come back to me. Because I am sensitive, I can read people and help them give themselves a beautiful work. In that, I guide them without taking the upper hand." 

Maud Maas

"What gives me real satisfaction is the magical moment when a customer's love for a work arises. On top of that, they also make someone else very happy with their purchase. People don't realise it, but the artist who has put so much time and effort into it sometimes really does a dance of joy." 

"I also really like entrepreneurship. Because of that trait, I have become a kind of confidant for Coen over the past four-and-a-half years. He brims with ideas - 'I like this, I'm going to do that' - but in practice, implementing them comes down to us as a team. Fortunately, these days I know about it in time." 

"In the new gallery in Rotterdam, there is room for the experiment to be entrepreneurial. An exciting time, exactly as Coen once probably experienced himself when he started." 

www.project20.nl, www.degaleriedenhaag.nl and www.degalerierotterdam.nl