From Insurance ... To Art

The Age

Saturday January 20, 2007

VALERIE KHOO

When a painting caught his eye and he bought it, Richard Martin had little idea it would lead to a career change.

RICHARD Martin had a few false career starts before finally making a name for himself in reinsurance. He did six months of an economics degree before quitting to work in a bottle shop for 18 months.

Then he enrolled in a bachelor of arts before dropping out after two months. Real estate took his fancy, but because of a lull in the market at the time, he decided to accept an apprenticeship in a reinsurance company, intending to return to real estate when the market picked up."

One thing led to another and I started earning some money," says Mr Martin, 51, who ended up carving himself a successful career in the industry from 1976 to 2001. "I was involved in a lot of international reinsurance.

There was a lot of travel, I met many interesting people, we were doing big deals and the reinsurance market was going gangbusters for quite a time."

In 2002 Mr Martin decided to chuck it all in to open Richard Martin Art - an art gallery in Sydney's Paddington. His interest in art began 20 years ago when he went to a gallery and spotted a painting he liked. "I was moved to buy it and I became interested in looking at other art work," he says. "I think I have a good eye and I know what I like."

Mr Martin wanted to see if he could turn his passion into a business. "I think reinsurance became boring for me," he says."

I just wanted to get out of corporate life. I was lucky that I had done well out of reinsurance and that enabled me to go into art without much financial strain."

Martin says the gallery has been profitable since its first year and it moved to larger premises up the road in Woollahra in 2003. He deals in emerging and established artists including Brett Whiteley, Fred Williams, Jeffrey Smart and former Archibald winner Craig Ruddy."

Mind you, I certainly don't earn the sort of money that I used to in my reinsurance days, but that doesn't matter," he says.

While the gallery has been a success, Mr Martin says there are aspects of corporate life that he misses. "It's a solo existence.

So I do miss having a lot of people around to share ideas with."

Despite this, he is emphatic that he has made the right career move. "Someone asked me this morning if I would ever go back into reinsurance. I told them I would rather stack shelves at Woolies at night than do that."

Unlike the stops and starts of his early career, Mr Martin knows he's in for the long haul."

I have a spare block of land next to my beach house in Port Stephens. One day, I'd like to build an artists' retreat and have artists go up there to do some work and encourage them in a friendly environment. I'd also like to be known as a gallery of the highest quality and have a great reputation for buying and selling good art." -- VALERIE KHOO

richardmartinart.com.au

© 2007 The Age

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