Through this first blog I would like to take you through my ‘career journey’, and what my life was like before Raechell. That brings us back to 2014. The year in which I graduated Cum Laude (without having blackmailed anyone), from the Master of Arts, at the University of Leuven. A real milestone in my life, since I have had a great interest in history from a very young age (from the Romans to Empress Sisi and everything in between)…
Chasing my dream
But what was I going to do now that I finally had that famous piece of paper in my hands? It was simple: I went after my dream job. And it was my dream to work at TEFAF in Maastricht; The European Fine Art Fair. This is seen as the leading art and antiques fair in the world!
So said so done. I took the plunge, delved into various galleries, and emailed the galleries I had the most affinity with to ask if I could work for them as an assistant.
French & Company
My assertiveness was rewarded, and in 2015 I started working as a ‘Gallery Assistant’ at the New York gallery French & Company. The first day I was shaking around my legs, the nerves screamed through my body. But I was well prepared with a whole wardrobe of new, chic dresses. So what could go wrong?
In the end, I survived that first day and it even resulted in a 4-year career (from 2015 to 2018), at TEFAF. I had to deal with masterpieces by great artists, such as Segantini, Jacob van Ruisdael, Willem Claesz. Heda, Gustave Courbet and Eugene Delacroix. Sometimes there were works of 15 million euro’s! (Luckily, these all survived…)
Blisters, friendship and parties
These four years at TEFAF are certainly some of the most interesting and educational experiences of my life. Despite the fact that my feet had to be re-taped every year by lovely volunteers from the first aid (standing on heels all day is anything but comfortable…), I had a great time.
Nice friendships were formed, lively parties were organized in the Bonnefanten Museum (by the cheerful Robbert van Ham, owner of Jasky Gallery Amsterdam), and every evening I went out for dinner with different galleries in Maastricht. I was living in a daze, as it were! But a very nice one…
Pushing boundaries in Amsterdam
In between jobs at TEFAF (the fair only takes place once a year in March), my life did not stand still. In 2015 I decided to move to our beautiful capital Amsterdam, and to push my boundaries in the field of work. Here I worked at a cool antique shop in the center, where I once again gained a lot of experience.
Through the eyes of a visitor
After 4 great years I decided it had been nice at TEFAF. I had achieved what I wanted, and I also thought it would be wonderful to admire the fair through the eyes of a visitor (in sneakers).
During my last year, as the icing on the cake, I was surprised by the newspaper ‘De Limburger’, with the question if they could interview me. So I got a nice article in this magazine, written by Ronald Collée. The perfect ending to a challenging new beginning!
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TEFAF; How it all started…
Through this first blog I would like to take you through my ‘career journey’, and what my life was like before Raechell. That brings us back to 2014. The year in which I graduated Cum Laude (without having blackmailed anyone), from the Master of Arts, at the University of Leuven. A real milestone in my life, since I have had a great interest in history from a very young age (from the Romans to Empress Sisi and everything in between)…
Chasing my dream
But what was I going to do now that I finally had that famous piece of paper in my hands? It was simple: I went after my dream job. And it was my dream to work at TEFAF in Maastricht; The European Fine Art Fair. This is seen as the leading art and antiques fair in the world!
So said so done. I took the plunge, delved into various galleries, and emailed the galleries I had the most affinity with to ask if I could work for them as an assistant.
French & Company
My assertiveness was rewarded, and in 2015 I started working as a ‘Gallery Assistant’ at the New York gallery French & Company. The first day I was shaking around my legs, the nerves screamed through my body. But I was well prepared with a whole wardrobe of new, chic dresses. So what could go wrong?
In the end, I survived that first day and it even resulted in a 4-year career (from 2015 to 2018), at TEFAF. I had to deal with masterpieces by great artists, such as Segantini, Jacob van Ruisdael, Willem Claesz. Heda, Gustave Courbet and Eugene Delacroix. Sometimes there were works of 15 million euro’s! (Luckily, these all survived…)
Blisters, friendship and parties
These four years at TEFAF are certainly some of the most interesting and educational experiences of my life. Despite the fact that my feet had to be re-taped every year by lovely volunteers from the first aid (standing on heels all day is anything but comfortable…), I had a great time.
Nice friendships were formed, lively parties were organized in the Bonnefanten Museum (by the cheerful Robbert van Ham, owner of Jasky Gallery Amsterdam), and every evening I went out for dinner with different galleries in Maastricht. I was living in a daze, as it were! But a very nice one…
Pushing boundaries in Amsterdam
In between jobs at TEFAF (the fair only takes place once a year in March), my life did not stand still. In 2015 I decided to move to our beautiful capital Amsterdam, and to push my boundaries in the field of work. Here I worked at a cool antique shop in the center, where I once again gained a lot of experience.
Through the eyes of a visitor
After 4 great years I decided it had been nice at TEFAF. I had achieved what I wanted, and I also thought it would be wonderful to admire the fair through the eyes of a visitor (in sneakers).
During my last year, as the icing on the cake, I was surprised by the newspaper ‘De Limburger’, with the question if they could interview me. So I got a nice article in this magazine, written by Ronald Collée. The perfect ending to a challenging new beginning!
Photo: Harry Heuts