Build Beautiful

She Put Art Prices Online When Every Gallery Said Don't. | Sophie Vander

Linda Habak Season 2 Episode 14

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When Sophie Vander launched her online art gallery from a Singapore apartment at 3am, she broke the most sacred rule in the art world: she put the prices online. Galleries didn't do that. It wasn't how things were done. She did it anyway — because she believed that transparency was the only way to make art accessible to real people, not just collectors. That single decision became the foundation of everything that followed.

Sophie Vander is the founder of Curatorial & Co, a contemporary art gallery she built from an online platform in 2015 into one of Sydney's largest gallery spaces — with an international art consultancy practice, four daughters, and a philosophy that has consistently put emerging artists and human connection before institutional convention.

This is a conversation about what happens when you build something around a principle rather than a playbook — about transparency, motherhood, ambition, and the quiet power of doing things differently when the industry says you can't. About opening a gallery in March 2020. About what it means to build beautiful in a world that is often anything but.


About Sophie Vander
Sophie Vander is the founder of Curatorial & Co., a Sydney-based contemporary art gallery that began as an online art platform in 2015. Today, Curatorial & Co. operates one of Sydney’s largest gallery spaces and supports emerging and mid-career Australian artists through exhibitions, art consultancy, and international art fairs.

Her work sits at the intersection of curation, entrepreneurship, and motherhood — building a business while raising four daughters and redefining accessibility in the art world.


Connect with Sophie & Curatorial & Co.

Website: https://curatorialandco.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curatorialandco/

Location: 80 William Street, Woolloomooloo, Sydney


Connect with Build Beautiful

Instagram: @buildbeautiful_podcast

Website: buildbeautifulpodcast.com


If you’re interested in contemporary art, Sydney art galleries, emerging Australian artists, art consultancy, women in business, or creative entrepreneurship — this episode is for you.

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