Buying and owning art can be one of life's greatest joys. But while the drive to own art is often fuelled by an emotional connection with a piece or the prospect of holding a lucrative investment, it is important for buyers and owners of art to keep their wits about them, from both a legal and practical perspective.
- Acquiring and selling art
- Transporting art
- Maintaining your collection
- Passing on your art collection to the next generation
- Art and philanthropy
Part 3 - Maintaining Your Collection
This part of the mini-series is designed to equip you with practical tips on how to maintain, insure, and keep track of the works of art in your collection.
Insurance
Insurance values should be reviewed regularly to avoid either underinsuring your collection or paying premiums that are too high. Generally, we recommend updating insurance values every 5 years or so. Depending on the nature of your collection, you may want to consider a specialist art insurer.
If you would like to discuss a valuation, please get in touch with Sotheby's.
Inventories
If you have a large collection, you might want to consider managing it using collection management software such as 'Collector Systems'. This is a useful way to monitor your collection as it enables you to store information regarding the purchase (invoices etc.), insurance and valuations, as well as up-to-date records on the condition and maintenance of works. Reviewing the collection every few years is important to keep track of works that are damaged, lost, or stolen, especially if any of the works are conditionally exempt from inheritance tax (where their loss would trigger a substantial charge).
Environment
Although it is often impossible to try to replicate museum-like environments in your home, there are some simple things to consider to keep your collection in good condition.
Ideally, you should try to maintain a stable temperature and humidity in the rooms housing your collection. Some items, such as watercolours, are particularly sensitive to light, so you should try to reduce the amount of direct sunlight these works get and consider either rotating your displays and/or protecting works with UV resistant glass.
As part of a collections review or valuation, Sotheby's would be delighted to discuss any concerns you might have about how your collection is being maintained and displayed. General guidance can also be obtained from the English Heritage website.
If a work of art is particularly difficult to display in your home, you may want to think about keeping it in specialised fine art storage or lending the work to a museum.
Loans
You may wish to consider lending pieces from your collection to a museum, either for an exhibition or on a long-term basis. A loan to an important museum has the potential to increase a work's value: its display is testament to its art-historical significance and can bring the work to wider international attention. Sotheby's is able to draw on its global network of museum contacts to help you find the most suitable museum in which to display your work of art.
Regardless of the duration of the loan, it should always be underpinned by a loan agreement. In particular, this agreement should set out which party is responsible for insurance, the costs of transport, and any other conditions for display. Usually, under the terms of a loan agreement the museum will be responsible for insuring the work, whether that is with a commercial insurer, or more commonly, with the government backed Government Indemnity Scheme (GIS), which provides owners with 'nail to nail cover', including when the work is being transported to and from the museum. Forsters can assist you with negotiating the terms of a loan agreement.
Holding vehicle
If an individual is
If the intention is to hold art in an offshore structure (be it a company and/or a trust), then the tax implications of the transfer to the structure need to be considered (for this reason, and as outlined in Part 1, it is preferable to think about the asset's use and future before going ahead with the original purchase, so that the structure is right from the outset). There are also other considerations that come into play here, which relate to the ongoing management and use of the offshore structure. If you would like advice on the most effective way to hold your artwork, both from a tax and succession perspective, please contact Forsters.
In the next part of the mini-series, we will be looking at the implications of passing on your art to the next generation.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
Ms
Forsters
W1J 5LS
Tel: 20863 8333
E-mail: Helen.brewgerlach@forsters.co.uk
URL: www.forsters.co.uk
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