Alexis de Bernede and Marius Jacob-Gismondi are childhood friends who have had a long-time love affair with art and art collecting. During their early years they started to notice a problem within the art community, “There is, in fact, a lag in time between an artist’s early career and their entrance into the roster of an established gallery. They don’t have a solid network to sell and cannot live on their art; they need somebody whom they trust to help them get started.” Alexis states. Thus, combining their love of art and desire to support and uplift artists, they founded Darmo in 2018. Darmo is a company that advises, supports, and exhibits carefully selected artists’ work on their site and unconventional exhibit locations. “Darmo promotes a deliberately limited number of talents for which they have at heart to make their name and practice emerge.” their website states. The proceeds from exhibitions go directly back to the reinvestment of new pieces. Another interesting aspect of the company is that they do not put their focus on any one particular style but welcome modern, contemporary, and ancient works of art.

These two entrepreneurs took a stale and seemingly archaic business and dusted off the cobwebs of traditional art collecting to create an avenue that feels new and fresh. Their mission and story help to add value and allows them to differentiate themselves from others in the same market. All of this ultimately makes it easier for new talent to emerge and for the art business to truly flourish.