The Art of Looking Again: Diane de Mascarel on Connoisseurship, Custodianship and the Wider Life of an Artwork.
An artwork can remain still for centuries and yet lead a remarkably peripatetic life.
It can pass between countries, collections and generations, gather histories along the way and arrive somewhere entirely different from where it began. There is the obvious history - who made it, when and where - and then the less visible one: Who recognised its significance, who preserved it, who questioned its provenance, who carried it across an ocean and who decided that its story was worth continuing.
Much of what determines an artwork's life happens beyond the frame.
This is the less romantic, and perhaps more revealing, side of the art world.
Diane de Mascarel has spent more than two decades in this territory, moving between galleries, auction houses and museums in Paris, London and Melbourne. Her academic training at the École du Louvre and the Sorbonne gave her a grounding in European art history before a career spanning collection management, exhibitions, logistics, artist relations and gallery operations. Since joining D Lan Galleries in 2022, she has become closely involved in the gallery's expanding international presence, taking on the role of Managing Director in 2024.
There is something almost unfashionably patient about the knowledge this work demands.
Art's contemporary vocabulary is increasingly concerned with visibility, reach and circulation, yet the things themselves still require something rather older: Attention. Not the quick glance of recognition, but the slower act of looking again.
That distinction becomes particularly interesting when the object cannot be separated from the knowledge, Country, community and cultural relationships from which it emerges. It complicates some of the assumptions on which the Western art market has traditionally been built, where categories can make complicated histories appear conveniently legible.
D Lan Galleries, founded in Melbourne in 2016, now operates across Melbourne, Sydney and New York, with connoisseurship, scholarship, education, provenance and ethics among the principles underpinning its practice. Its international programme has brought Australian First Nations art into increasingly broad conversations with collectors, museums and institutions beyond Australia.
But international attention brings its own questions. What happens when an artwork travels further than the story surrounding it? What constitutes ownership when cultural knowledge cannot be owned in the same way as an object? And can a market place a monetary value on something whose significance was never designed to be measured in monetary terms?
These are not questions with particularly tidy answers. Perhaps that is precisely what makes them worth asking.
We spoke with Diane de Mascarel about what it means to look closely, to act responsibly and to understand an artwork as something with a life considerably larger than the wall on which it hangs.
You trained in the European tradition of art history at the École du Louvre and the Sorbonne, before working across auction houses, museums and galleries. First Nations art asks some very different questions of the person looking at it. Has your understanding of connoisseurship changed through your work at D Lan Galleries - perhaps becoming less about recognising an object than understanding the world that produced it?
Diane de Mascarel: Absolutely. My training in mostly European art history gave me a strong foundation in looking closely at an object - its material, technique, provenance, condition, historical context and place within an artist's oeuvre. Working with First Nations art has profoundly expanded that understanding.
With First Nations art, you cannot separate the work from the context in which it was created - the knowledge, Country, community and cultural systems from which it emerges.
So connoisseurship has become less about simply recognising whether something is a great object and more about developing the knowledge and humility to understand why it is significant. It has taught me that listening and learning are just as important as expertise.
There is a curious tension in D Lan Galleries' international ambitions. The work is increasingly entering museums, galleries and collections around the world, yet its meaning remains profoundly connected to Country, community and cultural authority. How do you take something global without making it culturally generic?
Diane de Mascarel: I think the answer lies in preserving, rather than simplifying, cultural specificity. As these works travel internationally, our responsibility is to provide the context that allows people to encounter the work on its own terms.
That means being rigorous about provenance, artist biography, Country, cultural authority and the relationships surrounding a work.
When we take an artwork to New York, London or Maastricht, we are not trying to make it a generic example of contemporary art. We are asking an international audience to come into the world of that artist and to spend time understanding it.
The Western art market has historically been very good at turning complexity into categories - modern, contemporary, primitive, ethnographic, collectible. Do you think First Nations art is forcing the market to reconsider some of those assumptions, rather than simply finding a new place within them?
Diane de Mascarel: I think it may be. Many art market categories were developed through a Western understanding of art and history, and First Nations art doesn't always fit neatly within them. For a long time, Australian First Nations art was placed into categories such as primitive or ethnographic art, which could inadvertently position it outside the mainstream story of contemporary art.
First Nations art can encompass contemporary artistic practice, cultural knowledge, history, ceremony, Country and collective memory all at once. That complexity invites a broader way of thinking about how art is understood.
I think we are now seeing a shift, with Australian First Nations artworks being included in contemporary art auctions.
D Lan Galleries places provenance at the centre of its practice, extending it beyond a chain of ownership to questions of artist, community and art-centre relationships. Has working this way changed your own understanding of ownership? Can an artwork ever really be understood as something that is simply owned?
Diane de Mascarel: Yes. Provenance, in this context, extends beyond a chain of ownership and includes the artist, art centre, community and cultural relationships surrounding a work. It has made me think more about the idea of custodianship.
I think there is an important distinction between owning an artwork and being its custodian. A collector may own an artwork, but the knowledge and culture embodied within it remain part of a much larger story.
Your career has moved between institutions, museums, auction houses and the commercial art world. What does the gallery see that the museum sometimes cannot, and what does the museum understand that the market sometimes forgets?
Diane de Mascarel: They play different but complementary roles. Museums provide scholarship, preservation and historical context. They can place an artist within a much longer art-historical narrative and give a work an enduring institutional home.
Galleries often work more closely with artists, communities and collectors in the present. We are working directly with artists, art centres, communities, collectors and institutions, and we see how an artist's practice develops in real time.
Both perspectives are important. I think museums and the market can work hand in hand.
Museums help us understand the cultural and historical importance of the work, while the market can help bring it to new audiences and provide support for artists and their practices.
There is an interesting contradiction in the word value. The market wants to quantify it; culture often resists quantification. When you are working with artists whose practices carry generations of knowledge, how do you think about the difference between an artwork's market value and its cultural value?
Diane de Mascarel: They are quite different things. Market value reflects factors such as rarity, demand and provenance, while cultural value can relate to knowledge, history, Country and community.
Our role is to understand both forms of value without allowing one to eclipse the other. The commercial market is important as it supports artists, art centres and communities, but price shouldn't become the primary language through which First Nations art is understood.
D Lan Galleries has made an unusually explicit commitment to directing a proportion of its profits towards artists, projects and communities. Do you see this as an ethical obligation of a commercial gallery, a new model of patronage, or simply a more honest acknowledgement of where value originates?
Diane de Mascarel: For me, it is an acknowledgement that the value of these works originates with artists, communities and the cultural systems that support them. A commercial gallery is part of a much larger ecosystem, and contributing back feels like an important part of that relationship.
Our commitment to direct 30 per cent of annual net profits towards artists, artist projects and communities is one expression of that responsibility. I don't see it as philanthropy in the traditional sense. It is part of creating a more sustainable and equitable market for Australian First Nations art.
If the market benefits from these artists and their work, then the people and communities who create and sustain that value should benefit from it too.
International recognition can be a powerful form of visibility, but visibility also changes things. When an artist such as Emily Kam Kngwarray moves from being deeply understood within a particular cultural context to being exhibited before audiences in New York, London or Paris, what responsibilities come with that new audience?
Diane de Mascarel: Visibility is important, but context matters just as much. When works are seen in places like New York, London or Paris, there is an opportunity to encourage a deeper understanding of the artist, their practice and its connection to Country. The aim is not simply greater exposure, but more meaningful engagement.
Over the past four years, we have increased our presence at art fairs internationally, including Frieze Masters in London and TEFAF Maastricht. These platforms give us an opportunity to introduce Australian First Nations art to new audiences, but we feel a responsibility to do that with substance, through scholarly research, education and context around the artists and their practices.
Ultimately, we see our role as contributing to the broader art world by elevating the visibility of Australian First Nations art and encouraging greater understanding and appreciation of it internationally.
You have described art centres as fundamental to the history and continuing vitality of First Nations art. What do you wish collectors understood about the art-centre model that they might otherwise miss when they encounter an individual painting on a gallery wall?
Diane de Mascarel: I think the art-centre model in Australia is quite unique, and it is something that many people outside the sector are not familiar with. An art centre is much more than a place where artists make and sell paintings. Art centres support artists in many different ways, providing materials, studio support, documentation, administration and logistics, while also helping to maintain important relationships with artists, families and communities.
Art centres provide economic and social benefits to their communities and play an important role in promoting cultural maintenance. In many First Nations communities, art sales are the main opportunity for a source of income.
For anyone beginning a collecting journey, understanding this model is really important. It gives you a much better sense of where a work comes from, how it was made and the network of people and relationships behind it.
Collecting First Nations art is not simply about understanding an individual painting; it is also about understanding the system and cultural context that supports the artist. The more collectors understand that, the more meaningful their engagement with the work can become.
After more than two decades in the art world, you now occupy a rather unusual position between artists, communities, collectors, institutions and the market. What do you think the international art world still fundamentally misunderstands about Australian First Nations art - and what would you like it to understand ten years from now?
Diane de Mascarel: Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding is seeing it as a single category. There are hundreds of distinct language groups and cultural traditions across Australia, and each artist has their own story, practice and relationship to Country. I think there is still more work to do in understanding those distinctions.
At the same time, I think we are seeing a significant shift in how First Nations art is being understood internationally. Archie Moore's Golden Lion at Venice, Emily Kam Kngwarray's survey at Tate Modern and Fondation Opale, and the major NGV travelling exhibition The Stars We Do Not See touring North America, all point to that change.
For me, it is encouraging to see First Nations artists increasingly being considered within the broader story of international art, rather than being treated as a separate category. I hope that, over time, international audiences continue to recognise both the individuality of these artists and the depth and complexity of the practices they represent.
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Words and questions by AW.
Answers courtesy of Diane de Mascarel.
Photo courtesy of D Lan Galleries.
