Three decades ago, a gallery opened on the second floor of the Orchard Hotel. With an initial focus on French artists, Opera Gallery’s first exhibitions included works by Raya Sorkine, Camille Corot and Georges Rochegrosse.
Over the years, Opera’s focus expanded to include modern, postwar and contemporary art. As its offerings grew, so did its base of operations; it first moved to a space at Ngee Ann City, where it stayed for over a decade before settling in its current home at ION Orchard. In between, the gallery also expanded overseas, reaching 16 locations across three continents.
For veteran art dealer Gilles Dyan, who founded Opera back in 1994, the gallery’s story is one of “fortuitous encounters and opportunities”. The current chairman of Opera is quick to acknowledge the role that various others have played in building it up. “In essence,” he tells Options, “Opera Gallery’s success has been shaped by numerous experiences and opportunities, but perhaps most notably through my encounters with people.”
Picture: Nicolas Brasseur
Journey around the world
Dyan’s love for art was sparked at a young age, by his environment growing up in Paris. “I found solace and inspiration in the city’s art museums,” he says. Without any formal training in art, he started out as a door-to-door salesman, selling prints and paintings by local artists in the city. That experience, he says, showed him “art’s unique ability to transcend social and cultural boundaries, connecting people on a profound level”.
In 1993, Dyan was invited to operate a booth at the Tresors fine art and antiques fair in Singapore. The fair was the first of its kind in the city-state, with more than 23,000 visitors attending. “The fair’s owner had enough faith in me to give me a free booth,” Dyan recounts, “and I set my sights on a part of the world that I knew relatively little about.”
The overwhelming response Dyan received at the fair helped him secure the financial backing to open the first Opera Gallery here just a few months later, followed by a second location in Paris. Today, Opera’s locations around the world include venues in New York, Dubai, and most recently an expanded space in London’s Mayfair.
See also: How Dennis Ouyang is curating culture for a more approachable art world
Picture: Eva Herzog Photography
Since its debut in 1994, Opera has held a number of notable exhibitions in Singapore, including public showings of works by renowned masters. In 2006, for instance, the gallery launched “Dalí in Singapore” as part of its annual Masters Collection series of exhibitions; 10 works by Salvador Dalí were displayed in prominent locations around the city, including Ngee Ann City and Capital Tower.
Such exhibitions are part of Opera’s mission to make art more accessible to the public. Through his initial forays into the art world, Dyan noticed that many people were “intimidated” by traditional art galleries. He thus sought to shape Opera as a “space for everyone, showcasing masterpieces by established artists alongside works by young, emerging talents”. “It’s important to me that people from all walks of life feel welcome and encouraged to engage with art,” he adds.
Strength in the struggle
The art world is no doubt a tough nut to crack. In a market that’s sensitive to changes in just about everything — economics, social norms, and even politics — it is no wonder galleries come and go.
Even a post-pandemic bump in 2021 and 2022 was not enough to keep things going, for some. Simon Lee Gallery in London entered into administration last year, with debts amounting to some GBP10 million ($17.2 million); more recently, in April, art stalwart Marlborough Gallery announced it would be closing, with no more exhibitions to be held at its locations in Barcelona, London, Madrid and New York from June.
For more lifestyle, arts and fashion trends, click here for Options Section
Set against this dreary backdrop, Opera’s staying power and global growth feels all the more like a feat of strength. While Dyan notes the gallery has faced its fair share of hardships, he attributes its resilience to “perseverance, teamwork, attention to detail, and open-mindedness”.
Asked about the specific strategies Opera has employed to stay relevant, Dyan says it has been a careful balance of “thinking locally and acting globally”. “We have successfully navigated [challenges] by fostering strong relationships with collectors, curating exhibitions that balance global trends with local talent, and consistently prioritising quality and excellence.”
This approach has allowed Opera Gallery to build a “robust” global network; it now represents over 30 artists from around the world, comprising both established masters like Manolo Valdés and Fernando Botero, as well as emerging talents such as Andy Denzler. “The gallery’s roster and collector base have grown exponentially to reflect our international footprint,” says Dyan. “This has allowed us to push boundaries, consistently giving artists their first shows in new cities as well as staging museum-scale modern and contemporary exhibitions.”
Changes abound
With three decades of experience under his belt, Dyan has borne witness to a host of changes in the art world. Alongside these changes, Opera has had to evolve to keep pace, he says. “I believe that embracing change has been crucial to our success.”
Chief among recent developments is the advent of the internet and social media. “These advancements have democratised art, enabling artists to present their work to a global audience and making art more accessible and diverse,” Dyan says. At the same time, he adds, technology has transformed the way art is created, viewed and experienced.
Though some feared at the start of the digital revolution that galleries would be negatively impacted, footfall continued to rise steadily before the sudden drop during the pandemic years. Among members of the Museum Roundtable — a group of over 50 private and public museums and galleries in Singapore, which does not include Opera — visitorship grew from 6.85 million in 2011 to 9.59 million in 2019.
Isabelle de La Bruyère, who joined Opera as its first CEO last September, believes that it is important for galleries to maintain a strong digital presence to keep up with the changes brought about by technology.
Picture: Erik Lasalle Studio
“We feel it’s very important to stay on the cutting edge and embrace all the tools available to us in order to constantly improve the storytelling around our artists,” she tells Options, adding that Opera is prioritising video in its content development. “At the end of the day, our priority is to provide each of our artists with a strong platform so that they can showcase their unique narrative.”
Dyan points out that, despite the growing influence of technology on the art world and market, “galleries remain crucial for advising collectors and providing expert guidance”. Indeed, galleries remain important touchpoints for collectors to discover emerging talents; on the other hand, young artists benefit from the brand recognition of galleries to reach a wider audience.
A fresh perspective
After more than two decades at luxury auction house Christie’s, where she last headed the chairman’s office and client advisory for the Europe, Middle East and Africa, de La Bruyère notes that the gallery world is a “very different” space, though she has benefited from having an “amazing team” behind her.
“It has been an immense pleasure for me to be a part of Opera Gallery this past year,” she says. Already, she has found a close synergy with Dyan: “He’s always had a very personal, hands-on approach and he has built a very loyal clientele who appreciate this approach, as do I. We both have a very client-centric approach to the business and are complementary with different fields of expertise.”
Picture: Courtesy of Opera Gallery
Since joining Opera, de La Bruyère’s focus has been on organising “more curated shows internationally”, and partnering with leading curators to deliver exhibitions that highlight both cultural context and historical significance.
Among Opera’s upcoming offerings is a show featuring one of her favourite young artists of the moment, Gustavo Nazareno. Set to open at the gallery’s London location from Oct 8, this will be the São Paulo-based artist’s largest solo exhibition to date.
“To me, the most exciting artists are the ones that draw on a complex web of influences, from the recognisable to the obscure, to create a new and distinctive visual language,” says de La Bruyère. “Gustavo Nazareno does exactly this, incorporating elements from Afro-Brazilian religions, fashion photography and Renaissance paintings into his work.”
Picture: GUSN Studio
Celebrating a milestone
Closer to home, to mark its 30th anniversary, Opera is holding a special exhibition at its ION Orchard location for a month from Sept 20. “The Collector 1994” will see the venue transformed to emulate the home of an art collector from the gallery’s founding year. This peek into a private space, like many of Opera’s other exhibitions, appears to peel back the veneer of secrecy that often shrouds the world of art collection.
René Magritte, Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir are just some of the heavyweight names whose works will be on display. “The exhibition aims to delve into the personal and singular relationship that an art collector has with his collection,” says Dyan, adding that the idea is to have the art “in a setting removed from the traditional museum context”.
With callbacks to Opera’s history and growth, the anniversary celebration is in many ways a mini-retrospective on Dyan’s career. “Reflecting on these three decades … I see now the dot-to-dot of choices made and paths taken that add up to where we are now,” he says.
Ultimately, for Dyan, people remain squarely at the centre of his journey in the art world. “When I travelled to Singapore in 1994, it was with a suitcase full of works by French artists — many of them my contemporaries and friends … As we enter our fourth decade, set to be the most exciting yet, I look forward to sharing Opera Gallery and our artists with new audiences, building an authentic connection with each and every one.”
