Oscar Graff and Lucas Ratton: A Special Collaboration for TEFAF
The two gallerists, who both hail from renowned families of art dealers, join forces for their participation at TEFAF Maastricht.
What inspired your vocation?
O.G. Eighteen years ago, I bought a breathtakingly beautiful Egyptian meridienne by Christopher Dresser in London. That was when I became aware of the inventiveness of the turn of the century, a time when codes were pushed aside in favor of a more assertive style that was open to the world.
L.R. When I was 19, I started out at the Saint-Ouen flea market, as my father had done forty years earlier, in the same Vernaison market. Working with collectors and family friends inspired me to make a career out of it.
What was your greatest challenge?
O.G. The first acquisition of one of my objects by a museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which marked the beginning of a long series.
L.R. Making a name for myself after Charles, Maurice and Philippe Ratton, all of whom left their mark. One of the milestones was my first participation in TEFAF in 2013, where I was the youngest exhibitor: a turning point in my career.
What’s your most recent “coup de cœur”?
O.G. An extraordinary gold, silver, enamel and ruby bowl by Armand Point, a long-ignored Symbolist artist. It’s always a great source of pride to rediscover objects that have been forgotten for a century.
L.R. A small Bembé sculpture, which I coveted for more than ten years from a Parisian collector and finally acquired. Its quality bears witness to its mythical provenance: the Stanoff Collection.
What artist or art object would you like to exhibit?
O.G. The furniture Mackintosh designed for Fritz Waerndorfer’s Music Salon in Vienna in 1902. If these pieces still exist, discovering them would be an immense privilege.
L.R. The Baule mask held by Kiki de Montparnasse in Man Ray’s mythical photo Noire et Blanche. We don’t know who owned it, but given the friendship between Man Ray and Charles Ratton, there’s a good chance it belonged to my great-uncle.
What is your professional mantra?
O.G. One of my first teachers, the dealer Santo Micali, used to say: “In life, it’s better to sell than not to sell!
L.R. As my grandfather Maurice Ratton used to say, “Sell and regret!”
What are your plans or upcoming highlights?
O.G. & LR. Our unprecedented collaboration at TEFAF this year is particularly dear to our hearts. After several exhibitions harmoniously blending our very different styles, we wanted to go even further in terms of the exacting standards of the pieces and exploring their museological dimension.
