Ask a New Yorker: Where am I? What’s going on here? Who are you?
Natasha: My name is Natasha Schoonbroodt at Collectrium headquarters. We provide beautiful technology for the art world. So when it comes to online catalogues, IPhone applications, nifty IPhone applications that recognize a picture of art work and pulls the information up onto your IPhone or on your smart phone, that’s what we do. Of course we help with your website or anything that touches upon technology within the art world. We try to innovate and be cutting edge.
Ask a New Yorker: What’s your job title?
Natasha: Customer Experience Manager.
Ask a New Yorker: What kind of education do you need to do such things?
Natasha: I have a background completely in art history. I have a Masters in Art history form Christies in London where I spent four amazing years. I studied prehistory dawn of man art work, Cycladic figurines and the etchings of the caves in France all the way up to 1960’s pop art and nouveau art deco. That was pretty much what I covered. Also I met my Belgian husband when I was there and ended up coming back to New York.
Ask a New Yorker: Let’s test that Christies education. Name this artist.
Natasha: That’s a portrait of Adele Bloch-Baurer by Gustav Klimt Klimpt. I believe he painted her three separate times. This is the second portrait, which is a very famous painting which was reconstituted because it was taken by the Nazi’s and then given back to her descendant who then sold it for great loads of money. It’s owned now by Ronald Lauder who then put it in his gallery called the Neue Galerie.
Ask a New Yorker: I’ve never been.
Natasha: I absolutely love this place. It’s maybe not as well known amongst the contemporary circles but I studied Ancient art. It’s a beautiful brown stone located at 1048 Fifth Ave on the corner of 86th Street. They have a fantastic café there too called Café Sabarsky.
Ask a New Yorker: You have great teeth.
Natasha 🙁 laughter) Well thank you. I’ve got a great Dad who spent lots of money on my orthodontist. That’s how I got great teeth. That and I brushed my teeth everyday as a young child.
Ask a New Yorker: What kind of work does your father do?
Natasha: He works for J.P Morgan Chase. He is the head of career services and human resources. He is a psychologist who works for a bank. He uses psychology to improve performance and increase minority retention which is a nice way of saying making sure that all the women and minorities do not quit in the first year.
Ask a New Yorker: On the psychology front do you have any interesting or peculiar personality traits?
Natasha: I have lotion at all times, ever since I was a kid I’ve had to have lotion for my hands. I cannot stand washing my hands and then not having lotion. I probably have a bazillion bottles. I have my favorites and certain scents that I love. It can’t be too strong. In my purse right now I have a Neutrogena bottle. If it’s missing I freak out. (Laughter)
Ask a New Yorker: Do you need much sleep?
Natasha: Good question. I should need more sleep then I get. No, I’m pretty good not having too much sleep. I’m very good at being awake at night. I’m a bit of a night owl. I’m not so great early in the morning but night time I’m rearing to go. 5-6 hours, I can usually get by, which is bad I know – it’s not so healthy.
Ask a New Yorker: I need a solid 8 hr. What are you reading?
Natasha: I’m reading Gun, Germs and Steel. It’s a fantastic book all about why the worlds wealth got separated in the way it did. Why the West ended up colonizing parts of Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world. And why it wasn’t the other way around and how it’s probably all based upon land distribution and how certain cattle grew in certain places.
Ask a New Yorker: You have a very international look.
Natasha: People called it ethnically androgynous, I believe now days, like a Benetton commercial is where I belong. My mother was born in Haiti and she is half Caribbean native and half French and a little bit of Dutch thrown in as well. Her parents were two mixed people. She came to the US when she was around 8 and went to Lychee François here. She’s been a New Yorker most of her life. My father was born in Chicago. His parents are from a little town in Russia. They were Germans who were living in Russia. This is how I ended up with a German Maiden name and a Russian first name and a French middle name and now I’m married to a Belgian who is from the French side but has a Dutch last name so now I have a Dutch last name. So there you go.
Ask a New Yorker: Can’t wait to transcribe that. Are you bi lingual?
Natasha: I speak French.
Ask a New Yorker: Do you own a car?
Natasha: Yes I do. I own my absolutely adorable Volkswagon gulf which I love. It’s a little four door and a hatchback. Unfortunately it got towed yesterday. But that’s a New York experience. You know you’re a real New Yorker when you have your car towed more than once (laughter)
Ask a New Yorker: Last question, Bill O’Riley said recently on The View that something like 70% of Americans thinks the Mosque down town should be moved. He went as far as saying blankly that Muslims were responsible for the attacks on 9-11.
Natasha: So, I’ll preface my answer with I was raised Jewish. So I identify being Jewish and I feel that it is absolutely essential for us as New Yorkers as Americans to support the community center which they already had any way at this particular location. It’s not even in front of the actual site of 9-11. Even if it were, we are not against other people’s religions here. We understand those terrorists are individuals who are warped. Just as I would hope they would never ban a Jewish community center in New York City, I would hope they would never band an Islamic or Muslim community center.
Ask a New Yorker: I’m digging the red shoes.
Natasha: I love my red Gant shoes. They are the most comfortable shoes ever. So I totally recommend them to everybody.
