In conversation with Cynthia Valianti Corbett

“It's very important for me to support young talent and emerging artists, and I think generosity with your time, your expertise and curiosity about what artists are doing is so important…”

- Cynthia Valianti Corbett

Image: Cynthia Valianti Corbett. © Emma Pratte

Cynthia Valianti Corbett holds a BA in Political Science from UMASS Amherst and a MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She was the recipient of the 2020 Tufts University Alumni Award with a Career Service Citation in recognition of her achievements and contribution to the international art world. She trained as an art historian at Christie’s Education before establishing her gallery in 2004. Prior to this, she had a high-profile career as an international economist specialising in emerging markets, based in New York and London. Cynthia launched the Young Masters Art Prize in 2009, a unique not-for-profit initiative which celebrates artistic skill and innovation with awareness of the art from the past. The Young Masters Ceramics Prize was created in 2014 and 2017 saw the addition of the Young Masters Emerging Women Artist Award. Her most recent post-pandemic curatorial art project Focus on the Female was established in London in summer 2021, supporting women artists at a critical moment in art history. Young Masters returns in 2023 for its 6th edition, with exhibitions of shortlisted artists taking place in Marylebone, London in October 2023 during Frieze Week.

Could you share your background in the arts and provide insights into how you established The Cynthia Corbett Gallery in London?

Before I set up my gallery, I had a high-profile career as an international economist specialising in emerging markets. I was the principle architect of the debt conversion plans for most of Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s. I relocated from New York City to London in 1986, where I raised my family and still live now.

In 2000, I decided to follow my passion for art and art history, and embarked on a post- graduate programme to become an art historian at Christie’s Education before I established the gallery in 2004. Initially, I focused on curation, doing pop up shows, finding artists – many of the artists I found in those early years are still part of the gallery’s stable of artists now.

In your opinion, what does it mean to embody leadership within the art industry today?

I believe that embodying leadership involves setting trends and defining the conversations that need to be had now. With Young Masters, the idea came about in 2009, in the middle of incredibly uncertain times in terms of the economy. I just felt that looking back to the past had the answers, and that it felt urgent to support emerging artists and celebrate the ones who were looking back to the past.

It's very important for me to support young talent and emerging artists, and I think generosity with your time, your expertise and curiosity about what artists are doing is so important to seeing the bigger picture of trends in the art world and leading the way creatively and curatorially.

I also grasp every opportunity and I push myself to be the best that I can be. I think that makes a good leader, one who never gives up, and who always strives to be the best version of themselves.

What kind of experience do you aim to create for visitors at The Cynthia Corbett Gallery?

The Cynthia Corbett Gallery is a pop-up gallery, one of the very first of its kind! I started using my home as a base, which is still the base for staff, and visits by invitation (and the occasional party), but we do exhibitions in different venues across London and in the USA. We show at some of the world’s most prestigious art fairs, most recently at London Art Fair, Expo Chicago, Collect, and the British Art Fair.

Anyone visiting us at any of our shows can expect an inspiring, challenging experience. We want to show the best contemporary work by established and emerging artists, and this combination of work allows visitors to see new work all the time. We want to help collectors discover and support new talent, as well as buy work from artists who we’ve represented for years, such as Deborah Azzopardi, Klari Reis and Andy Burgess.

I hope they also get a sense of my personality and my passion for the work. I only show work by artists who I’m passionate about, who are unique and bold, as well as commercial.

Image: Cynthia Valianti Corbett admiring the installation of Amanda McCavour Poppies, at Collect 2022, Photo Courtesy PA Images

Have there been any artists, writers, curators, or other creative thinkers who have significantly influenced your journey?

I’m lucky to have worked with so many wonderful people over the years. One highlight was having Charles Saumarez-Smith, the then Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, on the Young Masters Judging Panel in 2014. He’s an incredible man with vast knowledge and such generosity. We also had the amazing Janice Blackburn, a former curator and educator at Sotheby’s, and an advisor for art at No10 Downing Street! She has an incredible wealth of knowledge, especially in ceramics and craft.

One of my favourite artists is Berthe Morisot, a female French impressionist who painted domestic scenes and contemporary life. She was a trailblazer of her time, a woman in a man’s world.

I also love the work of Langston Hughes, an African-American poet, activist, writer and playwright, and member of the Harlem Renaissance.

Can you provide some information about the establishment of the Young Masters Art Prize and its significance?

I really wanted to set up a prize that would support emerging artists and combine this with my interest in art history. By emerging, I mean artists who were not well known in the major art cities like London or New York, but who were maybe doing brilliant things in their home countries. We’ve supported artists from all over the world, working in any media. We added a Ceramics Prize in 2014, and that has really accelerated the Prize and its reach. It’s unique in highlighting ceramic artists and makers to a contemporary art audience.

We’ve launched some incredible artists’ careers. This includes Matt Smith, who won the inaugural Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize in 2014. Since then, Matt has gone on to be Artist in Residence at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2015 - 16. At Collect 2018, he was awarded "Object of the Show" by Ekow Eshun, and for Collect 2020, Matt Smith and I co-curated a site-specific installation featuring textiles and black parian works.

Matt was awarded the inaugural Brookfield Properties Crafts Council Collection Prize, which allowed the Crafts Council to purchase six artworks for the Council's collection. The V&A Museum's Design and Textiles department also acquired one of Matt's subversive embroideries. In June 2020 the Contemporary Art Society acquired twelve ceramic and tapestry works by Matt Smith. This acquisition became a central focus for the displays at the Hove Museum. 2021 and 2022 saw Matt Smith’s textile and ceramic artworks join the collection of National Museums Northern Ireland. And most recently in 2023, Matt’s work was acquired by the National Museums of Scotland.

What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of your work?

Juggling everything can be a challenge. There’s always more to do, more to see, more people to meet than you can manage. I’d also say, COVID was an enormous challenge for us, especially for Young Masters. The not-for-profit sector was hit really hard, and we had to really fight to keep it going.

Can you share some memorable highlights from your career so far?

There are so many! As I’ve mentioned, placing work into the world’s most prestigious institutions and collections has been a highlight.

For instance, in 2016 we supported Lluís Barba's first major institutional solo exhibition at the Museu d’Art Contemporanide Barcelona.

I’m really proud of the work we’ve done through Young Masters with artists from the African Diaspora, for example supporting Amartey Golding’s exhibition at the Attenborough Centre, and showing work by young South African 2019 shortlisted artist Kgole, among many others.

Most recently we have been working with Ukrainian artist Olga Morozova to promote her work and fundraise for humanitarian charities. Olga is based in Ukraine and is managing to make incredible work in the most adverse conditions. She sent us work to exhibit at London’s Garden Museum as part of a show Flowers on the Frontline in collaboration with jeweller Phoebe Walsh and film maker Carmela Corbett. As part of the Young Masters 2022 initiative, we also hosted a fundraising auction to help raise awareness and money to this important cause.

Throughout your career, what has been the most valuable lesson you've learned, whether it's about yourself, your abilities, or life in general?

I’ve learned that things work out. I’ve had times of real uncertainty, really being on the edge of being able to keep going, and I’ve hoped and prayed that something would happen, and then it did! So, I’d say self-belief, and the belief that the right opportunity and help always comes along. I’m a good manifester, and I’m passionate about what I want to do, so I think that attracts other people to the Gallery and Young Masters. They see what it’s about, and they buy into it.

We're always eager to discover new artists in our interviews. Could you recommend three artists whom you think our readers should keep an eye on this year?

Three wonderful artists who’ve been on my radar recently are:

Ashley January, an American painter, whose work looks at the African American experience of motherhood and the crisis in black maternal health care in the USA. Her work is technically brilliant, whilst also having a raw, political edge that confronts the viewer with a mix of power, beauty and tenderness. We debuted Ashley’s work at the 2023 London Art Fair as part of Ruth Millington’s curation ‘Reframing the Muse’. Follow Ashley on Instagram @ashleyjanuaryart

Miranda Boulton, a British painter, makes incredible still life paintings inspired directly by the Old Masters, using spray paint, thick impasto style oil paint in layers and layers to build up something really intriguing. We recently debuted her work in the USA at Expo Chicago and collectors really responded to it’s visceral beauty. You can find Miranda’s work on our gallery website here.

And, I love Kristen Stain’s work. Kristen is an American artist working across collage, clay and mixed media. Their work is a celebration of the African diaspora, memory, collective experience. The work is also so cool, a reinvention of ceramics for the here and now! I discovered the artist’s work only last week (June 2023) as part of the North American Pavilion at frieze No.9 Cork Street. Follow Kristen at @kristen.stain.

Image: Cynthia Valianti Corbett and Matt Smith's work showcased at 99 Bishopsgate in Sept 2020. Photo by Cristina Schek 

Do you have any advice for young individuals aspiring to pursue a career in the art industry?

I’d advise artists to practice their work, really develop a body of work that they believe in and represents them, and their view of the world. I’d advise them to be tenacious, resilient, and to keep going after every possible opportunity, even when they’ve been knocked back again and again.

The artists who are successful are great at building relationships, communicating what their work is about, bringing a unique vision to the world. And getting people and collectors interested in what they’re doing.

I also find lots of artists on Instagram, so a really beautifully curated profile can really help gallerists and curators find new artists.

You also need to have a sense of your work as a business, and that a gallery relationship is both a friendship and a commercial one, and to not be afraid to challenge each other to constantly improve and build something amazing together.

Who is Cynthia Corbett when she's not in the ‘office’?

Cynthia Valanti Corbett is a proud mother to my daughter, actress and film maker Carmela Corbett! I’m also a doting grandmom to Carmela’s gorgeous dog Claude, who I love to take for long walks on Wimbledon Common. I love travelling and visiting galleries and museums. Two of my favourite museums are the V&A where I am a proud Patron and the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum where I grew up in Boston Massachusetts. I also love the Wallace Collection, as it’s one of the places that sparked my passion for art history. My other passions are cooking Italian food, singing jazz, music theatre, having drinks with family and friends especially in two of my happy places the Isle of Wight and Cape Cod. The added benefit of exhibiting at art fairs in the USA means I can also frequently visit my beloved American family members.

Website: thecynthiacorbettgallery.com / young-masters.co.uk Instagram: @thecynthiacorbettgallery / @youngmastersartprize Facebook: / TheCynthiaCorbettGallery / /YoungMastersArtPrize Twitter: @corbettGALLERY / @corbettPROJECTS LinkedIn: Cynthia Corbett Gallery