Art law | Fieldfisher
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Clients turn to our art, heritage and cultural property law specialists for support with transactions involving art and collectible items, from fine art to classic cars, wine collections and skeletons of prehistoric animals. Our clients are seasoned collectors, family offices, artists and their estates, galleries, art dealers, advisers and auction houses. hey operate internationally. They ask us to help them assess risk, and we find solutions to minimise those risks. We structure, document, negotiate and oversee sales of art, consignments to auction (often with an auction guarantee), loans to museums around the world, art finance transactions and a plethora of other commercial arrangements.

We are routinely called upon to help clients navigate challenges in a multitude of areas including intellectual property right, new technology, export controls, taxation, anti-money laundering, estate and tax planning, consumer protection and many more. We strive to simplify the complex, and to convey convoluted legal doctrines in simple language. 

When clients turn to us to resolve a dispute, we aim to find a solution promptly, resolutely, and confidentially. We do our best to avoid legal proceedings. When they are inevitable, we work strategically and cost efficiently. We have an excellent track-record in successfully resolving disputes for our clients.

In the art world, unlike other sectors, our clients are rarely other lawyers. They are business owners, entrepreneurs, investors, collectors and creatives. They are not interested in the law, they are looking for solutions.

Clients value working with us because we understand their business and empathise with their passion for art and collectibles. They appreciate our focus on objectives. Our role is to help them achieve those objectives. We do this through active listening, mapping the options, assessing the risks of each option, then supporting the client in finding the best path open to them to reach their objectives.

To achieve their objectives, our clients typically require expert knowledge of different areas of the law including contracts, intellectual property, tax, regulatory compliance and increasingly, technology. At Fieldfisher, clients find that expert knowledge under one roof. We pull that knowledge together behind the scene, and provide each client with an integrated solution. 

Most of our clients operate internationally. At Fieldfisher, we work with our colleagues across Europe and further afield to create solutions compliant with multiple legal traditions. 

Why choose our Art lawyers?

Clients like to work with us because we share their passion for art, heritage and cultural property. Our lawyers are immersed in the art world, not just as lawyers but as entrepreneurs and academics. Examples of organisations the work of which our lawyers have contributed to include the International Catalogue Raisonné Association, the Court of Arbitration for Art, the Artist's Collecting Society, World Monuments Fund, Professional Advisors to the International Art Market, Artistate, Sotheby's Institute, Christie's Education and the London School of Economics. 

The excellence of our lawyers is a given. We stand out because we live and breathe the art world, we understand that speed is often mission-critical, and we strive to offer superlative client service. 

Members of our Art Heritage and Cultural Property Team have been acknowledged year on year by the Legal Directories as leaders in their field.

Testimonials
Private Client: Art and Cultural Property Law
"The team is friendly, collaborative and client focused. They are very commercial and strive to achieve the best outcomes possible for their clients." The Legal 500 2024
Private Client: Art and Cultural Property Law
"They are very commercial. They listen to their clients." The Legal 500 2024
Private Client: Art and Cultural Property Law
"The team is growing and becoming a centre of excellence." The Legal 500 2024
Our practice experience:
Finance
  • Acting for a leading investment bank in respect of a £150 million loan granted to a Swiss entity, secured on a portfolio of artwork. The loan was also guaranteed by two further Swiss entities in the group.
  • Acting for a leading investment bank in respect of a US$60 million revolving loan with accordion option granted to a Jersey trust, secured on a portfolio of artworks. The loan was backed by personal guarantees from the UBOs.
  • Acting for a leading investment bank on amending and restating an existing credit facility to a Cayman SPV by increasing the facility to £80 million, adding to the portfolio of secured art, permitting some art to go on loan to a New York gallery and permitting certain art works to be held in the UBO's UK residence
  • Acting for a leading investment bank on re-documenting an existing credit facility of up to US$200 million to Bahamian entities secured over a portfolio of art mainly located in the US.
  • Acting for a bridge lender in taking security by way of pledge over an artwork held in the UK, dealing with the CPS and obtaining variations to a restraint order, and arranging for the artwork to be sold as part of an enforcement process.
Technology, Outsourcing and Privacy
  • Advising on and negotiating long-term contractual arrangements between an artist's studio and a central London gallery in relation to the creation, installation and sale of digital, interactive, and technology-based artworks.
  • Advising the owner of a work by a world-renowned artist in relation to arrangements with the artist's studio for the repair, care and maintenance of the artwork.
  • Acting for a creative agency and technology provider in relation to the provision of augmented and virtual reality solutions to galleries and exhibitions, including Art Basel and the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
  • Advising an industry-leading VR, AR and MR development studio on the creation of a 360-degree virtual reality experience in support of a United Nations project to combat climate change.
Dispute Resolution
  • Advising a collector in a dispute with a gallery over jointly-owned works of art.
  • Representing an offshore trust and obtaining a freezing order against an art adviser in relation to a collection that was stolen.
  • Advising a collector in a dispute with a leading auction house.
  • Advising an artist in connection with a dispute with his former gallery.
  • Acting for a leading international auction house in a dispute with the Netherlands Government.
  • Acting for a large cinema group in the Netherlands regarding its interaction with Pathos and the European Commission.
  • Advising galleries on their insurance cover.
Private Client
Advising Artists and their personal representatives on the artistic estate particularly:
  • estate planning, including the ongoing arrangements for their artistic or literary estate;
  • available tax and other reliefs such as Business Property Relief on the value of the artist's business, the cultural gift scheme and transferring works of art to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax, including liaising with the Arts Council and HMRC; and
  • maintaining their artistic legacy after death.

Advising Owners of Art on

  • Creating and managing their art collections, including legal and tax considerations when:
    • purchasing art
    • using art as collateral;
    • holding art through trusts and other structures (such as Foundations or special purpose vehicles);
    • relocating art to other jurisdictions for storage or display;
    • lending art for exhibiting;
    • investing in cryptoassets and NFTs;
    • passing art to the next generation; or
    • putting in place consultancy and other agreements
  • UK tax implications of owning and structuring art;
  • Keeping collections together after death; and
  • Transferring artworks to other family members or family structures
We advise individual collectors and investors as well as the family office or trustees of family trusts.
Intellectual Property
  • Acting for a high-profile London-based art studio in relation to copyright advice in the context of its relationships with printers and distributors.
  • Advising a gallery on the use of copyright-protected images and trade marks in artworks.
  • Advising a Rotterdam art museum in connection with various IP and privacy issues.
  • Advising Amsterdam-based creative guidance agency ENitsua on its terms and conditions.
Commercial
  • Preparing and negotiating loan agreements on behalf of a major UK charity with the V&A and the University of Kent relating to the loan of certain artwork.
  • Advising a US alcoholic beverage company in relation to the loan of certain historical artefacts relating to the history of the company.
Corporate
  • Restructuring an artist's business and setting up a holding company.
  • Advising a US musical artist on the sale of their business to a UK media company.
Real Estate
  • Advising a top UK gallery on various property matters.
  • Advising a national UK museum on its acquisition of a London property to provide additonal storage and office space.
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