Top art advisor and mother of two, Kate Bellin, shares her expert tips on buying art for children. Read Kate's favorite works for little ones and discover fun ways to engage your children with art.
1. Kate Schelter’s prints are some of my favorite baby presents. I visited Kate in her studio right around the time our second little one, Georgie, was born. I spotted her personal Liberty bunny (in red and pink) and thought how perfect a first piece it would make for Georgie’s collection. Since then I have commissioned two bunnies and three cars for clients, and a portrait of Kermit the Green Porsche for my husband Andy’s 45th birthday. Her impeccable choice of subject matter — such as Sophie the Giraffe, which is part of the universal language of first-time moms — and her unique ability to paint a wash of color and a delicate spot equally well make her one of my all-time favorites. She is also super chic and a wonderful friend.
2. Bill Wegman has an enduring and expansive artistic career; his beautiful sense of humor comes through in his drawings and especially in the photographs of his sweet weimeraners —for which he’s world-renowned. Precocious, mischievous, and happy.
3. My favorite thing about this Caitlin McGauley print is that (I think, as a cupcake connoisseur) I’m able to match each cupcake with its New York bakery. Caitlin lives in New Jersey now but has a deep connection to New York City. Her career as an illustrator for Domino magazine and for Ralph Lauren, among many others, make her a coveted artist for many of my collectors; her cityscape of our New York apartment is a daily reminder of the beautiful life we had there.
4. I’m finding more than I want to admit that certain pillars of my childhood, things like Inspector Gadget and Jem, don’t translate to the iPad generation. You can’t really blame them if you see the modern animation of Paw Patrol or Dora. There is, however, one piece of indelible nostalgia of which my children can't get enough — Babar. Elephants in hats and crowns and slippers…Laurent de Brunhoff and his father Jean de Brunhoff are a big investment with a big return.
Kate Bellin is the Founder and Principal of Kate Bellin Contemporary, an art consulting firm based in New York and Houston. She has worked for institutions such as Acquavella Galleries and Blain di Donna Gallery in New York City, as well as the Parrish Museum in Southampton, New York. She has also contributed several years of research to the Jasper Johns Catalogue Raisonné of Painting and Sculpture. Kate is a founding member of MoMA’s Family Council, a member of the Guggenheim Museum’s Learning Through Art Leadership Committee, and a Contributing Editor at Domino magazine.
From 2002-2007 she worked at Harper’s Bazaar, beginning as the assistant to the Editor-in-Chief and leaving as Accessories Editor.
She received her MA in Modern Art, Connoisseurship and the History of the Art Market at Christie’s New York where she was Valedictorian of her class. She graduated cum laude from Princeton.
