Reine Okuliar joins CORE as a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson. Before entering real estate, Reine co-founded Galerie E.G.P, a contemporary art gallery based in her native city Paris. Under her watch, Galerie E.G.P opened offices in London that Reine transferred to New York in September 2014.
A qualified lawyer in France and England, Reine’s keen understanding of clients’ needs and helping them navigate the modern and contemporary art market at an international level has helped her develop a great sense of living environments best suited for each client. Her proven taste for everything art and design matched with her keen negotiation skills, makes her the ideal person to find the perfect home for her clients.
Reine spends her spare time with her husband and two children. An art collector herself she has also been closely involved with non-profit organizations in New York. She is a member of the Children’s Aid Society Benefit Committee and a member of the Watermill Center Byrds Committee.
What do you do best?
Looking. My background is in contemporary art that I also eagerly collect. I have therefore developed a great ability to determine the potential of a space, the interior design features that would be best suited for it the same way I would with an artwork.
What makes you the best?
I am a native Parisian and I lived in London for six years before moving to New York. These international experiences and changes in cultures have made me very adaptable and capable of understanding the needs of all clients. Coupled with my legal background (I’m a qualified lawyer in France and in the United Kingdom, and studied at Columbia Law School), I can make the process of buying or selling extraordinarily smooth.
What are your aspirations?
Professionally, I want to continue helping people find not just a place to live but a home they love. Co-founding an art gallery is an incredibly helpful experience in this respect having helped people for years find personalized art for their living space.
Biggest Success?
To have found the right balance between being a mother and an active professional with a demanding job. How do I weigh this success? When my son tells me “Je t’aime Maman” when I tuck him in at night.
Most Challenging Moment?
I’ve been through lots of transitions all linked to my expatriations. Each of these transitions is quite challenging because you know what you’re leaving behind but have no idea of what’s truly coming next. Yet it is also exciting and has proved tremendously rewarding.
Favorite Motto?
Wherever you go, there you are.
Favorite People?
My family.
Favorite Places?
Being from Paris, having lived in London and now in New York I have three amazing cities that I can legitimately call home. Aside from these wonderful places, my husband and I love traveling so I have been to a great number of wonderful places including New Zealand, Bora Bora or Tanzania. But if I could tele-transport myself to a place right now it would either be my favorite pub, the Wells Tavern, in my London neighborhood of Hampstead or at Cip’s by the Grand Canal in Venice.
In New York City, I love going to see the art galleries in Chelsea and the Lower East Side and I love getting my bread at Eric Kayser for a little taste of home at home.
Favorite Products?
I am a big fan of all things stationery so one of my favorite products are notebooks. I particularly like the ones by Smythson.
Current Passions?
Contemporary art is my all-time passion that evolves with the various encounters that I make and the perpetual discoveries. My latest obsession was the Fountain Archives by Saâdane Afif and the ones we acquired for our collection are now going to be part of his museum exhibition in Berlin.