A nagging concern for many collectors is what to do with a collection passionately assembled over time, if or when their circumstances change. It’s a complicated question without a one-size-fits-all answer. One of my clients gave me permission to share (on a disguised basis) the integrated plan we created last year for their collection. It serves as an example of what’s involved in creating a pragmatic financial plan for a valuable art collection.

Earlier this year, the consignment of three Rothko paintings to Sotheby’s prompted us to build a model for predicting sale prices using artificial intelligence tools applied to historical Rothko sales data. How did the model perform when predicting the future and what do these results tell us about the market for paintings by Mark Rothko?

The founders of Miss Porter’s School, an all-girls high school located in Farmington, Connecticut, believed a stellar education can open a new world of opportunity for girls. To support this mission, a group of collectors and female artists came together to back the first-ever benefit auction of works exclusively by women.

One accurate cliché of the art world is that nothing matters more than relationships and information. High-end art dealers and auction houses know this better than anyone. How do they acquire these relationships and information? 

Some collectors have a secret when it comes to their art collection: Their adult children don't share their love of art. In fact, many like the monetary value of their parents' collections more than the objects themselves.

While Andy Warhol believed that “In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes,” the artist retains his fame today almost thirty years after his death. Warhol is, in fact, so relevant to contemporary culture that despite being a thoroughly American artist, laws in other countries increasingly categorize works by the artist as cultural property subject to export restrictions and limitations on sale.

Art fairs—especially the heavily attended events promoted by Frieze and Art Basel—have become laboratories where it’s possible to measure taste preferences for different types of art by analyzing the Instagram posts of fairgoers

Auction house guarantees have been an essential part of the top end of the art market for decades. But with more people than ever before clamouring to be third-party guarantors, auction houses increasingly simply structure the guarantee transaction and then sell off the risk to dealers, art advisors, or collectors who typically hail from the hedge fund, private equity, and real estate industries.

Collectors are sometimes terrified to sell works of art at auction—and not without reason. Maybe the object will fail to sell, becoming tainted or “burned” in the eyes of the marketplace. Maybe the estimates the consignor agrees to are too low, and the work sells for a song. But selling at auction also exposes the work to the largest number of potential buyers, increasing the odds it will sell for the best price possible.

For most investors, stocks and bonds are enough. But for some, the prospect of hanging something wonderful on their walls that may also produce great financial rewards leads them to consider putting a portion of their wealth into art.

David Rockefeller inherited many things: a storied name, unimaginable wealth, an inquisitive mind, and a profound compulsion to collect. Both his parents had the collecting gene. His father, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was the only son of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil and one of the richest individuals in American history.

Today’s casual art buyers may not fully appreciate the profound differences in how the art market functions compared with the market for stocks and bonds. Here’s a look at how those differences affect the risks and returns of being an art investor.

With so many works for sale, a recurring question for collectors is whether galleries or auction houses offer buyers a better deal. Based on my experiences as a collector, art advisor, and former President of the Americas for Christie’s, the answer depends on context and the type of work being sold.

When Yayoi Kusama moved to the United States in 1957 at the age of twenty-eight, she was an ambitious young artist tired of the conservatism and discrimination she faced in her native Japan.

Everyone loves Rene Magritte, the master of the surrealist image. Maybe the first time you saw something by him was when you noticed a poster of a train engine with a full head of steam inexplicably barreling out from the center of a fireplace in an ordinary living room.

Art museums in the United States live on the generosity of individuals. Most of the financial support they count on for their annual operating budgets come from individuals, or foundations and trusts set up by them. 

Art collectors are sometimes willing to share their hard-won wisdom and advice on how to be an effective collector. When I step back from all the conversations I have had over the years with collectors on this topic, seven important themes emerge: