Handle With Care: the art world’s unsung heroes take on industry giants

In the art industry, those who hold the most money in their hands go home with the least in their pockets. Packing, shipping, delivering, and installing for auction houses, art fairs, art collectors, museums, galleries, and estates requires finesse and sensitivity so acute that it is considered by some to be an art of its own.

Art handlers—or preparators, as museums call them—may be overlooked and sometimes underpaid, but they are not victims. Surrounded daily by the masterpiece of art history, art handlers have developed a remarkable pride in their work.

“I’ve seen every frickin’ celebrity I’ve wanted to see,” Dave Martinez, an art handler of 20 years, says. “I work next to the richest people in the world. I work for a highly profitable company. It’s a good working-class job.”

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