Abby Smidt Opens Up About the Studio Visit That Made Her Want to Be a Collector

For Los Angeles–born, New York–based collector Abby Smidt, art’s purpose is to inspire new generations. Perhaps that’s because her own connection took hold as an elementary school student, when she won a national competition that landed her abstract, Paul Klee–inspired work-on-paper in the Smithsonian. “It’s still hanging in my parents’ house,” she shares. 

Following her undergraduate studies in contemporary art history at the University of Pennsylvania, Smidt moved to New York, where she worked at Sotheby’s and Artsy before starting her master’s in art business at the Sotheby’s Institute, which she’s currently completing.

Though she grew up surrounded by art, her own collecting began about three years ago and picked up speed after a studio visit with LA painter Gwen O’Neil. “Her work kicked off my interest in visiting artists’ studios and getting to know the artists,” says Smidt. “I know most of the artists I collect and I love their work, but I also love their stories and their processes. Gwen was one of the first I really connected with.” 

Since then, Smidt has acquired works by Grace Carney, who had her first New York solo show at PPOW earlier this year; Brice Guilbert, whose large-scale canvas has pride-of-place in Smidt’s NYC apartment; as well as Nicolas Shake, Lily Stockman, Angela Heisch, and Ed Ruscha. “I’m definitely attracted to light, pastel, happy colors, and artists I can relate to,” says Smidt. “I have to see a work in person to fall in love with it.”

Smidt interned at LACMA during high school, and is now on a young collectors committee there. She also sits on the Young Collectors Council at the Guggenheim and holds a special admiration for museum directors. “They help shape the city and bring everyone together,” she says.

In terms of the contribution she wants to make to the art world, Smidt is clear: “It’s so important to get young people to go to museums around the world and in the cities where they live. I would love to be involved in furthering that.” 

For more from the 2024 Young Collectors list, read conversations with Patrick Finnegan, Noora Raj Brown, and Jen Rubio