Dealer gets strokes from different folks.

• Position: People - Jeffrey Chase of Wilmington's Chase Gallery

You won't find any of Jeffrey Chase's pieces on display in his art galleries. He dabbles in painting and photography, sometimes mixing the two. But he's too critical of his work to show it at his Chase Gallery in Boston and one he opened in Wilmington earlier this year. "I don't think I've ever really felt driven enough or talented enough to make the art myself. My talent is more in recognizing good work."

Proof is in his galleries. One of his artists, Joseph Piccillo, has shown at the Museum of Modem Art in New York. Another, John Evans, has shown at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. Chase's Boston gallery, started in 1990, brings in annual revenue of $1 million.

His eye for art comes mostly from informal and on-the-job training. His mom, an interior designer, made jewelry. His grandmother made a living painting portraits and landscapes. They took him to galleries and museums as a kid. And he took an art-history class before getting bachelor's degrees in business and political science from the University of Connecticut in 1980.

After that, he began selling art, starting J.S. Chase & Co., an art, framing and home-goods retailer, in Santa Rosa, Calif. He built it into a profitable $250,000-a-year business, but he didn't see much room for growth. He sold it for $50,000 in 1983 and moved back to Connecticut to become a commercial real-estate broker with Hartford Development Group. After two years, he became director of acquisitions. "The...