NAP VC: JOËLLE ROMBA – FROM SOTHEBY'S TO DOROTHEUM, THE ART SPECIALIST WHO BUILT A 200-WORK COLLECTION ON EYES, NOT EARS

For the next episode of Big Bets on Cheap Chairs, our host Mey sits down with Joëlle Romba, one of the most respected figures in the German art market. An art historian by training, Joëlle ran Sotheby's Berlin office and is now Senior Specialist for modern and contemporary art at Dorotheum. She curates the Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection and, together with her husband Eric, has built a collection of over 200 contemporary works through their ROCCA Foundation, opening their Berlin home as an exhibition space.Her rule is simple: "Collect with your eyes, not with your ears." Buy conviction, not consensus. She bought Wolfgang Tillmans at the very start of his career, long before the market caught up, and her biggest regret isn't a miss, it's not buying more when everyone else was still looking away. That is the same asymmetric bet early-stage investors make every day: unproven talent, no comparables, judgment against the market.Listen for insights on how the art world prices talent before there's a track record, what a specialist actually looks at in an artist's early work, and when to trust your eye over the crowd.Check out Joëlle ⬇️ Collector story: https://www.collectorsagenda.com/en/collector-stories/joelle-romba Romba Fine Arts: http://www.rombafinearts.de