Willem Speerstra

bio

co-founder of the Speerstra Gallery
graffiti and street art collector

For willem Speerstra, his work as a art collector and galerist, is characterized by a genuine bond of trust and friendship between him and his artists. He dedicates his entire professional life towards the diffusion of graffiti and street art and it's integration into the art market and therefore in the History of Art.

"I discovered Graffiti Art at the age of 11, while living in Amsterdam. My father who is an art collector bought a lot of early New York Graffiti canvases. In 1984 he opened the first Speerstra Gallery in Monaco entirely dedicated to Graffiti Art. 1984 was also the turning point in my life with the release of Subway Art by NY photographers Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper, i discovered that trains were painted since the early 70's in New York.

I started my own Graffiti art collection in the early 90's while in paris working as 1st assistant in a gallery situated near the Eiffel Tower."

Today the Gallery and the Speerstra Collection own works from internationally renowned artists from the early 70's and from todays younger generations.