People often say that going into business with your buddies isn’t the best idea, but Sophie Merrell and Isabella Rothman, the duo behind the affordable-art venture Wondering People, make a convincing argument to the contrary. The two had been friends for a while before they ended up moving to Amsterdam. “We both had jobs in post-production,” explains Sophie. “And we both didn’t want jobs in post-production,” follows Isabella, deadpan. “We talked a lot about doing our own thing. And then one day, Sophie had her appendix out and… that was it!” It’s not necessarily the catalyst for a new business one might expect, but then Wondering People is full of the unexpected.
The internet platform they founded provides emerging artists with the opportunity to sell their work – originals mainly, with a few editions – without the debilitating fees often charged by conventional galleries. “We thought really hard about how we’d want to be treated if we were artists, which is why the commission isn’t obscene,” Isabella says. “It’s friendly,” adds Sophie. She knows about galleries, her teenage holiday job having been at her mother, Rosanna Wilson Stephen’s, WSJ Gallery. (Wondering People operates from Rosanna’s own home too.) The difference between hers and Isabella’s idea and those more traditional, bricks-and-mortar joints? Much of the art for sale at Wondering People costs less than £150 – hardly a king’s ransom, given the quality and originality of the pieces for sale. “We want it to be as accessible as possible,” Sophie says.
