The practice

The rules, set out first

A collection is a reflection of the person who assembles it. To advise one is to enter their private world. Better to say from the outset on what terms.

The first conversation

It commits you to nothing, and it serves me as much as you. We talk about what you already own, what you are looking for, and the horizon you are looking on. It sometimes ends on the conclusion that advice would bring you nothing. That is an acceptable answer.

The horizon

A collection is built over fifteen years, not over a season. On a one-year horizon, advice adds nothing the market does not already say, and I would rather state that at the outset than at the first disagreement.

Judgement

A work sits within its artist's trajectory: period, format, material, rarity, place in the exhibitions. Price is negotiable, quality is not. Part of the work is saying no, to a piece, to an artist, sometimes to a wish.

Fees

An annual fee for the ongoing care of a collection, a fee per file for a single acquisition or sale, a project budget for a brand collaboration. Agreed in writing before starting. No payment from a gallery, an auction house or an artist, at any point.

The wall

Advisory and consulting are two separate mandates. No work from a brand project enters a collection I advise, and no collection serves as a shop window for a brand. Without that wall, each practice damages the other.