Corinna Durland has worked across the spectrum of the art world for over twenty years. Prior to joining Allan Schwartzman at Art Agency Partners in 2017, she was the Director of Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York for more than a decade, and helped to establish the gallery as one of the most influential and unique of its time. Corinna has also worked as an independent artist manager with artists such as Elizabeth Peyton. She began her career working with the Museum of Modern Art’s Contemporary Arts Council, where she developed programming and led fundraising efforts for the group.

Corinna earned her B.A. in Art History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and has served on the National Advisory Board at the University’s Ackland Art Museum. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the House Foundation for the Arts.

E-mail Corinna

Simon Preston heads artist advisory at Schwartzman&. His work is focused on advising artists and their galleries with innovative strategic planning, legacy and philanthropic initiatives and the commissioning of new work, offering precisely tailored advice, as well as implementation and management services in a broad range of endeavors. Prior to joining the team, Simon was the founder of Simon Preston Gallery, which ran from 2008 to 2019. Before establishing his own gallery, Simon was a partner of The Project, a gallery based in Harlem in the early 2000's and prior worked at Thomas Dane Gallery in London.

Simon lived in both Hong Kong and London before moving to New York and earned a B.A. (Hons) in Fine Art from St. Edmund Hall, Oxford.

E-mail Simon

Meredith Kirk oversees collector advisory and manages content strategy for Schwartzman&. She is also closely involved in a number of artist advisory projects. Meredith began her career in the Contemporary Art department at Sotheby’s New York, where she worked as a Specialist for the biannual evening sales. In that role, Meredith was instrumental in securing works of art for auction, extensive researching and writing, and collaborating with colleagues and external stakeholders around the world to ensure successful biannual evening sales. Meredith began working with Allan Schwartzman when she joined Art Agency Partners in 2017. As director at AAP, Meredith worked jointly on the ongoing strategic development of private art collections as well as the conception and planning of a number of large-scale special projects.

Meredith earned her B.A. in Art History from Columbia University.

E-mail Meredith

Elsa Leal Cruz has worked with Allan Schwartzman since 2012. As the Controller for Schwartzman&, Elsa plays a key role in ensuring that the financial decisions and goals are well aligned with the overall stability, growth, and strength of the company. She keeps a close focus on everyday financial transactions, oversees the overall economic well-being of the company, and monitors new business development and special projects, whilst providing essential guidance to the advisory team on all levels.  Previously, Elsa was part of the founding staff at Art Agency, Partners, which was acquired by Sotheby’s in 2016. 

Elsa earned her B.A. in Accounting and Management from Pace University.

E-mail Elsa

Ali Nemerov comes to Schwartzman& with over fifteen years of experience organizing exhibitions, publications, programming, and artist collaborations for leading institutions including Glenstone, MASS MoCA, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. During her seven-year tenure at Glenstone, Ali was a member of the team leading the museum’s expansion project and oversaw major exhibitions and publications on artists including Louise Bourgeois, Brice Marden, Cy Twombly, and Roni Horn. During her time at MASS MoCA, Ali organized exhibitions and curated a multi-year installation of the work of ten contemporary artists. For the Whitney Museum, Ali managed exhibition interpretation across wall labels, audio guides, and the video interview program.

Ali earned her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in Visual Studies and Communications and M.A. in Art History from Williams College. She is based in Los Angeles.

E-mail Ali

Jeesun Park joined Schwartzman& in 2023 based in Seoul, South Korea and is working with collectors across Asia. Jeesun has worked across the art and entertainment sectors for over 16 years, always with a commitment to Korean arts and culture. In addition to her role at Schwartzman&, she serves as the Art Basel VIP Representative of South Korea, focusing on connecting Korean collectors, galleries and institutions internationally. Previously, Jeesun worked as Director at Kukje Gallery in Seoul, where she represented multiple international blue-chip artists such as Julian Opie and Jenny Holzer; she also managed the gallery’s exhibitions and events program from 2009-2015. She currently serves as Board Director for Ilwoo Foundation and on the Advisory Committee at the Korea Craft & Design Foundation.

Jeesun graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA, and obtained her M.A. from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.

E-mail Jeesun

Michael has been working with Allan Schwartzman since 2012. At Schwartzman&, Michael advises a wide range of collectors whose focus spans Impressionist and Modern to Post-war and the art being made today. Michael has a strong network of relationships that enables him to access works of art that might not otherwise be known to be on the market. He was a founding staff member and Director at Art Agency Partners, which was purchased by Sotheby’s in 2016; there he worked in both collections development and management for prominent collectors and institutions. While working for AAP, Michael grew the reach of the firm’s advisory projects worldwide, developed new initiatives and partnerships, and expanded the scope of services AAP could provide its collectors. He was a contributing writer for In Other Words.

Michael earned his B.A. in Philosophy and Visual Art from Marlboro College, Vermont and his M.A. from Hunter College, New York.

E-mail Michael

Paola Saracino Fendi joined Schwartzman& in 2021 focusing on collector relationships and curation of new collections. She is a senior advisor and brings her expertise in the art market to all strategic development projects for both new and established prominent contemporary collections. Paola previously worked as a head of sale in the Post-war & Contemporary Department at Christie's, where she focused on securing works of art from around the world for auction and private sale, collection development, management, valuations and unique charity collaborations with artists and institutions. Paola currently works on collector and artist projects as well as legacy planning for large single-owner collections, private and public institutions. Paola is certified by the Appraisers Association of America to be Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) compliant. 

Paola has been involved as both patron and supporter of various art and cultural institutions in London and New York—such as the Tate, South London Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery, Camden Art Centre, the Brooklyn Museum, MoMA, and New York City Ballet—and has a passion for emerging talent and under-recognized artists. Having lived in New York, Paris, Lugano and London, Paola is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian and French.

Paola earned her B.A. in History of Art and Architecture and French from Boston University, and her M.A. in History of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Art Market.

E-mail Paola

Jules Hernandez joined Schwartzman& in January 2022 and works across the advisory practice including artist advisory, business development and administration as well as assisting production for the podcasts The Art World: What If…?! and Hope & Dread: Tectonic Shifts in Power in Art. She began her career in the art world at Sotheby’s where she served as Executive Assistant to the Chief Commercial Officer and worked with the Global Transaction team on major consignments as well as managed global incentives for specialists in Asia, Europe, and the US before joining the American Art department. Jules comes to Schwartzman& from an art law firm based in New York where she worked as Office Manager, assisting the three managing Partners and two contract Partners.

 Jules earned her B.A. in Art History and Gender Studies from Rutgers University and the Douglass Residential College. While there she mentored students and taught two undergraduate courses on Gender Studies and later Art History and Film Studies. She was also a Fulbright recipient.

E-mail Jules

Calvin Reedy joined Schwartzman& in 2021. He manages and oversees the firm’s artist advisory projects, working with artists, estates, foundations, as well as respective gallery partners. Calvin has a passion for supporting artists, especially emerging talent, and those from historically under-represented backgrounds. He also works with new and emerging collectors to build collections that align with their vision and goals.   

Prior to joining Schwartzman&, Calvin worked at Jack Shainman Gallery as Executive Assistant to the Director, managing sales and working as an artist liaison to coordinate exhibitions as well as the execution of commissions and other outside commitments.

Calvin earned his B.A. in Art & Visual Culture from Bates College, where he also worked for a semester as a Curatorial Assistant at the Bates College Museum of Art and was co-President of Bates Arts Society.

E-mail Calvin

Paige joined Schwartzman& in the Spring of 2021 to work directly with Allan Schwartzman, supporting his day to day, relationship management, and collector advisory. She also works closely with Claire Robertiello on business growth and client development. Paige has a background working in fine art auction houses and galleries with experience in research, writing, and client communication. She comes to the firm from David Zwirner Gallery and, before that, Christie’s. Paige is a Young Fellow of the Frick Collection.

Paige earned her B.A. in Art History and Corporate Strategy from Vanderbilt University.

E-mail Paige

Cat joined Schwartzman& in 2021 to assist with overall office management, and her role has since expanded to support cultural initiatives and artist advisory projects. She works closely with the advisor leads of these projects, providing research and support, project management, and relationship management between various artist and client teams. Additionally, Cat works closely on business and client development, focusing particularly on business development research, contact management, and the facilitation and planning of office events. Cat came to Schwartzman& from Smith College where she completed her undergraduate degree and partnered with the college’s museum, botanic garden, and art department on curatorial and research projects, two of which received departmental recognition. 

Cat is a member of the Young Leadership Committee for the Brooklyn Museum.

Cat earned her B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude) in Art History from Smith.

E-mail Cat

Tess Starshak joined Schwartzman& in 2020 and supports all aspects of collector advisory. Working closely with senior advisors to ensure collectors are well cared for, Tess provides artist and market research, support for acquisitions and deaccessions, and project management. Tess is also on the S& project team for a major artist foundation. In addition, Tess collaborates with senior project leads to conceptualize and tailor our proposals to the specific needs of each potential advisory client. Tess comes to Schwartzman& from Owen Dec Arts, a small art appraisal firm, where she aided the founder in establishing the company. Prior to her time at Owen Dec Arts, Tess spent three years at The Conservation Center in Chicago. At The Center, she began in Client Services, eventually progressing to work closely with the art conservation departments, acting as the liaison between the client team, conservators, and registrars.

 Tess earned her B.A. in Biology, with a minor in Art History, from College of the Holy Cross.

E-mail Tess

Claire works with Schwartzman& as an independent contractor partnering on multiple artists’ estates and collector projects. Claire joined Schwartzman& from Sotheby’s, where she held the position of Senior Vice President, Commercial Office, specializing in deal strategy.

Raised in Rome and educated in the US, Claire has worked internationally in both the fine art and financial industries for over twenty years, serving variously as: Head of the Bids Department at Christie’s Rome & Milan; Chief of Staff to the founder of one of the most successful and prestigious hedge funds in New York City; Business Director for the West Coast at Sotheby’s Los Angeles; and head of the Fiduciary Client Group at Sotheby’s New York. 

Claire earned her B.S. from Stern School of Business and her B.A. from the School of Fine Arts at New York University.