Princess Eugenie has become known as a royal who has trodden her own path. She chose to attend Newcastle over a more traditional university, and has taken several jobs in the art world, including working at Paddle 8 and, currently, at super-gallery Hauser & Wirth, where she is associate director.
Now, the Princess has given a rare interview to Harper’s Bazaar, shedding light on her daily life working at the London branch of the blue chip gallery.
Princess Eugenie starts the day going to the gym, getting ready for the day ahead. She then arrives to Hauser & Wirth in Mayfair, where she deals with the artists the gallery represents, including Pipilotti Rist and estates of Mike Kelley and Philip Guston.
“I’ve loved art since I was very little,” Princess Eugenie told Harper’s Bazaar. “I knew I definitely wouldn’t be a painter [laughs], but I knew this was the industry for me. I love being able to share my passion for art with people. If someone doesn’t understand something, you have the ability to suggest, ‘Maybe you can look at it this way.’ That’s what I find most thrilling about working in a gallery. A seminal moment for me, at age 16, was when I saw a Jean-Michel Basquiat show in New York. Basquiat is my hero. I did a study on him at school, and learned to paint like him. I’d never done anything like that! But art is all around us—sculpture, architecture, fashion…”
At around 11 am, she catches up on the arts news, and mentions artnet News as a daily source (of course!), as well the New York Times arts section, Contemporary Art Daily, and the Financial Times before checking out what’s happening on social media.
“I don’t get newspapers delivered; I read news online,” explained the Princess. “I also follow some incredible Instagram accounts, like other galleries’, Christie’s, Sotheby’s, also Klaus Biesenbach from MoMA PS1. He recently posted artist Katharina Grosse, who spray-painted a house in the Rockaways [New York] that was ruined during [Hurricane] Sandy. It’s an amazing artwork.”
The Princess attending the 2016 Serpentine Summer Party. Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images.
Princess Eugenie discussed how at Hauser & Wirth they are currently planning some of their next big projects, such as the participation in 2017 Venice Biennale of two of their represented artists: Phyllida Barlow, who will be representing the UK, and Mark Bradford, who will be representing the US.
The Princess also spoke of her sense of duty as a member of the Royal Family and her commitment to “helping out Granny and Grandpa” by attending royal appointments and looking after charities with her sister “Bea.” Crucially, she revealed that Hauser & Wirth lets her leave work at five to attend royal commitments (if only we had such a good excuse to leave work early).
Here at artnet News, we applaud her work ethic, sense of duty, and, particularly, her choice in reading matter!