In June, Eric Hanks flew from his adopted hometown of Los Angeles to his native Maryland. On a hot day at the zoo in Baltimore, as lions lazed in the sun and penguins plopped into their pool, he was hunting—for fascinating works of art.

Hanks ’79, one of the country’s preeminent experts on African American art, is an appraiser on “Antiques Roadshow,” which had rolled into town.

Hanks opened his art gallery in 1988 and since then has worked alongside some of the most important African American artists and sold works to some of the boldest names in Hollywood. But it’s his down-to-earth manner and desire to educate people on art, not just sell it to them, that makes him the perfect personality for “Antiques Roadshow” and one of the most successful art dealers in the United States.

Eric has the heart of a teacher … He doesn’t really think about or worry about a sale as much as he worries about, ‘What is it you’d like to learn and how can I help you get there?’

Phoebe Beasley, friend

“Eric has the heart of a teacher,” says Phoebe Beasley, whose collage artwork was part of two major touring museum exhibitions, including a group show mounted by the Smithsonian Institution entitled In the Spirit of Martin, honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hanks has sold her work in his gallery for decades.

“He doesn’t really think about or worry about a sale as much as he worries about, ‘What is it you’d like to learn and how can I help you get there?’”

Hanks, 70, has sold pieces to Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. Pretty heady stuff for a guy who grew up in Montgomery County a sports nut, not an artist.

“When I go into the gallery and there’s nobody in there but me, and I’m surrounded by all these works by wonderful artists, I feel very fortunate,” he says. “I never get tired of it. When I look at some of the works, I see something I’ve never seen before. I feel something I’ve never felt before.”

On that summer day at the Maryland Zoo, Hanks looked over dozens of pieces that their owners hoped were worth a small fortune. “Antiques Roadshow,” the captivating PBS program in which people bring paintings—or jewelry, posters, prints, toys and games, any kind of collectible, really—to be valued by experts is in its 29th season, and this was the first time it had ever filmed at a zoo.

Although thousands of people attended, only a hundred or so of the appraisals were recorded. Less than that will make it onto the episode when it airs next year. Hanks met a woman who bought three works—for $7(!)—by the painter, sculptor and author Faith Ringgold, who died in April.

“When she bought them, she didn’t even realize who Faith Ringgold was,” he says, almost giddily. “In fact, she thought they were done by a resident at a senior home. She just loved them because of the way they looked. I’m not allowed to say how much they’re worth because the show hasn’t aired yet, but it turns out they were worth a ton more than seven bucks.”

A life-altering decision

After decades in the art business, the beauty of the work, the excitement of the sale and the satisfaction of bringing art to the masses still thrills Hanks.

“Sometimes, even though I’m not the producer of the art, when something in my gallery sells, I feel like one of my children is leaving home.”

Born in Washington, D.C., Hanks moved to Montgomery County with his family when he was four. The third of four children, his father was a chemist who worked at the now shuttered Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and his mother ran a day care. His sister Rene was (and still is) the artist in the family; sports were Hanks’ passion as a kid. He played basketball and baseball and ran cross country.

After he stumbled during his initial attempt at college, Hanks followed a friend to TU. That decision, he says, changed his life. In one of his classes, he was tasked with writing to a famous historian. He chose John Hope Franklin, once the president of the American Historical Association. In 1995 Franklin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Hanks has sold pieces to Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. 

“At the time, he was at the University of Chicago,” Hanks says. “He actually wrote me back. I saved the letter, and I have it framed hanging in my office in my gallery. He answered my questions, and he gave me some publications that weren’t readily available. It was a hugely impactful class.”

Hanks graduated with a degree in history, which he says remains relevant in his career today.

“I'm an art dealer, but one aspect of it is historical,” he says. “Some of the artists I represent are contemporary, but many are no longer with us. They did things at a time when it was difficult to be a Black person in the U.S.”

Hanks became interested in the art world when his older sister Camille and her husband started collecting in the mid ‘60s. In his late 20s, he followed them to California. While working as a computer consultant, he decided he wanted to open his own gallery.

“I was going around interviewing gallery directors and owners, most of whom I didn't even know prior to that,” he says. “The good news was most of them were very receptive and generous with information and advice. Most of the advice I got was, ‘Don't do it,’ because as one of them told me, ‘Look, you need at least five years’ worth of survival money because you’re not going to make very many sales, and you’re definitely not making any profits for a long time.’”

Demystifying the Art World

Undeterred, he opened M. Hanks Gallery in Santa Monica in 1988 (M is the first initial of his oldest daughter, Monika).

He immediately got the attention of collectors by showing work by the Mexican-American sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, and, over the years, he gained a reputation for not only working with incredible artists, but for demystifying art for consumers. He held art appreciation courses at the gallery, and he hosts “Eric’s Perspective,” a podcast that delves into many aspects of the art world.

“He’s extremely knowledgeable about the whole area of art and collecting,” says Robert Davidson, a longtime client, friend and the chair of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s board of commissioners. “I’ve never seen him show a piece of art that wasn’t A-plus. The fact that he’s focused on quality is what makes him unique.     

Listen to Hanks talk about artists he loves, and you’ll yearn to experience art in the way that he does. The painter Charles White, whose work is displayed in museums across the country, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery, is among his favorites.

 

“I admire his ability to transform a two-dimensional piece of paper into something that looks three-dimensional when you look at the way he's drawn these figures,” he says. “That's one thing, technically speaking. But his whole approach was to display Black people in a dignified way. It was like he was answering the people that would be entertained by caricatures and negative stereotypes of Black people. He was doing it at a time when, generally speaking, if you wanted to make a lot of money as an artist, you would have to be more like an abstract expressionist. He stuck to this because he felt compelled to do it.”

I’ve never seen him show a piece of art that wasn’t A-plus. The fact that he’s focused on quality is what makes him unique.

Robert Davidson, chair of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s board of commissioners

By 1993 Hanks needed more space, so he moved his gallery to a larger building in Santa Monica. His first show there featured photos by the late Howard Bingham, who was known for photographing Muhammad Ali. Low and behold, The Greatest showed up to the opening, where he playfully squared off with another boxing legend, Ken Norton Sr. The line to get in looked like Disneyland, Hanks recalls. Actor Kelsey Grammer purchased several of Bingham’s prints that night.

In 2015, M. Hanks Gallery moved to Fullerton, in Orange County, where it is open today by appointment only. Hanks’ reputation and visibility has only grown since he joined “Antiques Roadshow,” which he was a fan of before he was a cast member.

“Oftentimes people come in thinking, ‘Oh, my goodness, I can retire and go to the south of France and swim in the Mediterranean,’” he says, laughing. “And it turns out what they have is a reproduction that's maybe worth less than 100 bucks. It's almost like a lottery ticket.”

At home in his gallery, surrounded by breathtakingly beautiful works of art, Hanks always feels like a very lucky man.