Do you have to have an art collection to become a client of Observe Art™?
No. While most of our clients have advanced art collections and are quite knowledgeable about what they buy, other clients are first-time or infrequent art buyers seeking to begin a collection but need some assistance purchasing verified art that has intrinsic and financial staying power. Many of these “new” art collectors are in the financial industry, own successful start-ups, are athletes and celebrities, and own other business.
Often people retain an art consultant to act as a “personal curator” to help them take their existing works of art and develop an art collection by editing and adding to their existing pieces to form a consistent and cohesive group of artwork. If you use a financial advisor, why wouldn’t you use an art advisor to build that aspect of your portfolio that has a little more aesthetic appeal than an upward graph or prospectus?
Who are your clients?
We work with private and corporate collectors who are in various stages of building, managing and divesting of their collections of fine art. Taking into account the financial, tax and legal consequences of art collecting, a large part of our practice consists of working with our clients’ CPA’s, lawyers, trust companies, wealth managers and family offices. We also work with insurance companies on the management of their clients’ collections.
Most clients either know what they specifically want (ex., a Twombly from the 1970s or a Picasso from his blue period) or they are a newer collector looking to establish a collection. In the later case we frequently obtain advance previews at art fairs or art showings for clients, show them a multitude of artworks to help them discover and develop their tastes, after which we start sourcing artworks for them. In other cases they are estates and family members who have inherited specific works wishing to divest them for top dollar.
Of course legal agreements prohibit our sharing of any specific clients nor would we ever.
What is the process for hiring an art consultant?
After contacting Observe Art™ and explaining your needs, we generally have an initial in-person or phone meeting with potential clients to determine taste, areas of interest and to see what kind of art a client enjoys and wishes to purchase. Observe Art™ then enters into confidential art advisory contracts with clients. It is meant to be a catered and exciting process.
Do you represent specific artists?
No. Observe Art™ represents art buyers and collectors rather than specific artists. We do not have any inventory and do not direct art buyers to specific works of art or artists with whom we have business arrangements. My clients collect a variety of different things from European and American paintings to contemporary art and even sculpture.
Appraisals – if I sent you information on my art, can you give me a free appraisal?
Fair market value estimates are available for clients only. An appraisal is the act or process of developing an opinion of value, using characteristics of the art, provenance and authentication, prior sales history of the piece as well as comparable sales of the artist in the recent past, and other factors. As you can imagine, the art market is highly diversified, complex, and multimodal. It can sometime take a significant amount of time and cost to evaluate the authenticity of a piece of art first, and then estimating it’s market value.
In other cases we provide appraisals for a fee.
Art Authentication – Can you “authenticate” my work of art in my collection or that I want to purchase?
We do not directly authenticate any works of art, but instead offer our opinions as to their likely origins after consulting with numerous experts in the field/artist specific to your piece. Authentication is the scholarly determination of qualitative or extrinsic opinion. Authentication is rarely definitive or absolute and even experts and museums like the Louvre get it wrong sometimes. We do facilitate expert authentication services whenever possible to match a work with the artist’s catalogue raisonné. While not all works of art from an artist may be in their catalogue, even authenticated works may have their marketable value reduced by 25% or more if they are not. Likewise, the more complete the provenance of the piece is the easier it is to authenticate a work.
What are your Fees?
Our fees depend upon the specific circumstances of each request. Typically a commission is charged on the purchase price for buyers and sellers, and an hourly or flat fee arrangement is used for other services. For more information please contact us to discuss your art consulting needs, and we can discuss our service offerings.
Financing – Can Observe Art™ assist in locating financing options to purchase high priced art, or using art as a security interest?
Yes. There are many institutions that offer specific financing for art investors and collectors. We are happy to make introductions to facilitate any financial arrangements of interest.
Corporate Clients: Do you do corporate as well as private art collectors?
Yes. Observe Art™ welcomes new corporate clients wishing to establish, add to or sell pieces from an arts collection. In these cases we work with the entirety of the collection, whether large scale installations, sculpture or paintings.
Privacy & Confidentiality – what information gets passed to third parties?
No information about your identity is ever shared with any third party without written consent otherwise. When you are selling a piece of art only information on the work of art is passed to third parties. We can also facilitate blind trusts to protect payments at the time of sale. We document agreements to protect all parties involved. In an international and increasingly litigious marketplace it is paramount that expectations are managed and documented.
I am an artist. Are you able to sell works on my behalf?
No. At this time we are unable to review or accept artist portfolios for consignment or representation in almost all circumstances. We may be able to refer you to local galleries for established artists seeking new representation or venues.
Is it best to hire a local art consultant?
You should hire the best art consultant for you and your interests rather than focusing on hiring a particular geographic market. As we all know, art transcends borders and finding the right piece is about finding the person with connections worldwide.
What is an art adviser?
This question was placed last in our list for an important reason, because most people think of it as an afterthought. They are merely introduced to ‘so and so’ who calls themselves an art advisor. A true art advisor is an established expert in the field (they may know all about Impressionist art but not contemporary art or Old Masters), whose sole goal is to reduce transactional risk to clients, save them money, protect their interests, and guide them through a world of forgeries, fakes, and opaque practices that may not have their true interests at heart. Increasingly, therefore, as clients view their art as an asset, they expect professionalism, independence and price transparency from their art advisors. Art advisory is highly technical and time-consuming. It requires experience, an outstanding eye for art and an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the international art market.
We can’t tell you how many times we have had to tell a new buyer or estate seller that the work was likely “not by so-and-so,” or that it may have inaccurate provenance, or an “expert opinion/report” doesn’t really address the questions it needs to. The mistakes range from minor paperwork omissions to major gaffs that could’ve cost them millions.
Likewise, our independence from auction houses and galleries means that we only provide advice that serves our clients’ best interests. The guiding principle for clients is that we assist them to acquire high quality art, whether investment-grade Masters or emerging art, at the correct price. Our due diligence process ensures that our clients avoid buying works with title problems (i.e. was the work looted in WWII), authenticity or condition issues, and we do our price research so that our clients do not overpay.
If you have any other questions that are not answered here please EMAIL or call us.