One of the driving forces behind New York galleries’ mass migration to Tribeca over the past decade has been the realtor and art collector Jonathan Travis, a partner at Redwood Property Group. Since sending a cold email to a dealer looking to move their gallery out of Chelsea in 2013, Travis has found Tribeca homes for around 40 galleries—many of which will be open late on 15 May for Tribeca Gallery Night—and found spaces elsewhere in Manhattan for around 20 others.
In 2021 Travis and his friend Ethan Rafii founded Wolf Hill, an artist residency in Chappaqua, New York, operating out of a jointly owned country house that also displays their art collections—which include works by Sasha Gordon, Jenna Gribbon, Arcmanoro Niles, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Jordan Kasey, Bony Ramirez and Dominique Fung. Before the spring fair season got under way, we spoke with Travis about his collecting process, his favourite dining destinations near the Shed and more.
Travis’s collection includes (clockwise from top left) Lenz Geerk, The Crab; Louis Eisner, Rising From the Plains (2021); and Vittorio Marella, Il nostro primo mare (2024) Photo: Arno Baetz
The Art Newspaper: What was the first work you ever bought?
Jonathan Travis: The first was a painting on paper by Nicole Eisenman, which I purchased from a Paddle8 charity auction about ten years ago.
What was the most recent work you bought?
The most recent was a painting by the Japanese artist Masanori Tomita.
How quickly do you decide to buy a work of art?
Oh, man, that varies a lot. If I can stand in front of the work physically, the decision is often immediate. I get strong gut reactions when I’m able to see a work in person. If not, more goes into the thought process. It also depends on whether it’s an artist I’ve been trying to buy from for a long time, or a new discovery someone presented to me out of the blue. If the latter, I will want to spend some time familiarising myself with their practice and entire oeuvre to ensure it’s the right example for me.
The New York-based artist Paree Rohera’s painting What Happens in Vivendi (2024) Photo: Arno Baetz
What do you regret not buying when you had the chance?
I discovered Louis Fratino’s work very early in his career and didn’t buy one right away. The work soon became very hard to access, and it never happened.
If you could have any work from any museum or historic site in the world, what would it be?
I would say The Calling of St Matthew (1599-1600) by Caravaggio from the San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. That work has everything I want in a painting.
Mexican American artist July Guzman’s painting Sunblink (2023) Photo: Arno Baetz
What are you most looking forward to seeing during the exhibitions, fairs and auctions in New York this spring?
I’m very excited for the Salvador Dalí show at Di Donna, I’m curious to see how the young, hot artists do in the May auctions, and the fairs are always a crapshoot. So I just enjoy seeing works in person that I’ve only seen images of.
What is your least favourite thing about art fairs?
The number of times you have to stop for forced small talk.
Where do you like to eat and drink near Chelsea and Hudson Yards?
I’m a big fan of Shukette for dinner, Mercado Little Spain for some truly tasty quick bites (the Txuleburger is tops), and it’s impossible to go wrong with a drink at the Hotel Chelsea.
