Collecting
Comprehensive guidance and support for individual collectors, families, and their advisors across each stage of the collecting journey - from building a collection with vision and purpose to planning thoughtfully for its future.
FOR INDIVIDUAL COLLECTORS, FAMILIES, AND THEIR ADVISORS
What We Offer
Lauren works with individual collectors, families, and their advisors to provide comprehensive guidance and support at each stage (or across every stage/phase) of the collecting journey - from building a collection with vision and purpose to planning thoughtfully for its future.
Lauren works with individual collectors, families, and their advisors to build extraordinary postwar and contemporary art collections.
She provides comprehensive guidance and support at every phase of the collecting journey, from building a collection with vision and purpose to planning thoughtfully for its future.
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Single point of contact and continuity across range of collecting activities where expertise offers substantial value. Strategic collection building, acquisitions, private sales,
Moment of decision | Unconflicted |
Single point of continuity - clients make one call, Lauren handles the rest.
Advisors, gallerists, auction house and other specialists may be conflicted.
Relationships cultivated over 20+ years
Not solitary endeavour - requires specialist.
Uniquely collaborative approach
Finding the right who to ge the how done.
Don’t pretend to be an expert in everything.
Art market is global, your team should be too? Balancing local/global dynamics - local market expertise and relationships within global market context…
Relationships in London, US, and Canada to assembling the right specialists for unique needs of clients, with significant experience in each domain and regional strength. Some handled in-house, others outsourced; more of a “quarterback”. Specialising in
BUYINGCOLLECTION BUILDING & ACQUISITIONS
Collections come together through strategy and curation, rather than relying on what happens to fit over time. Lauren works with collectors to clarify a curatorial direction and narrative based on individual goals and values, sources works across market channels, and executes acquisitions with complete independence. Aligned with the collector’s interests, not someone else’s agenda.
Lauren works with collectors to clarify their intentions and vision for the collection, defining a North Star that guides all collecting activities. This brings focus and clarity to what can be a noisy and confusing landscape, particularly in the earlier stages of defining a collection strategy (that aligns with client’s intentions and objections) and curatorial direction.
Collections come together through curation and strategy, rather than what happens over time.
rather than “random acts of acquisitions” that happen over time.
Lauren works closely with collectors to:
Clarify a curatorial direction and narrative based on individual goals and values, defining a North Star that guides collecting activities. This brings focus and ease to critical decisions at the early stages of collecting and or when refining, deciding what to release and what no longer resonates.
Sources work across market channels - artist studios, galleries, dealers, private sales, auctions - to find the right piece at the right price, not just what is available.
Negotiates favourable prices and terms with sellers, executes due diligence, and auction bidding with independence, aligned to the client’s interests. She says “No” often.
Coordinates post-sale logistics - shipping, installation, insurance, import/export, and assembles key documents to protect the future value of art holdings
Delivers market reporting and offers private connoisseurship experiences for clients who wish to develop their taste, train their eye, and build market intelligence
Known for her collaborative, transparent, and personal approach, clients trust her as an ally in their corner (some have called her their “sherpa”). She operates with complete independence, offering unconflicted, expert-led advice not tied to someone else’s sales quota or institutional agenda.
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People collect for a variety of reasons, including passion and joy, as part of philanthropic pursuits, and for investment. Clarifying each collector’s unique intentions, values, and vision results in a North Star document that guides collecting activities. This brings focus, clarity, and narrative cohesion that saves time and energy in the earlier phase of collection building, and when refining a collection to release pieces that no longer resonate.
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A comprehensive approach to sourcing specific work across all available channels - dealers, galleries, auctions, studios, and institutions - to find the right piece at the right price, not just what is available.
Discrete and expert guidance aligned solely with the collector’s interests, not someone else’s sales cycles. Expert-led evaluation of what is worth pursuing and what to pass on, and we say “No” often.
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Creating a collection strategy and narrative
Sourcing artworks or other high-value items available privately or at public auction
Negotiating private transactions to acquire works
Conducting pre-sale vetting and due diligence
Bidding at auction
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Private gatherings and global experiences for those who wish to participate in the art world actively. Cultivate your taste, eye for quality, and market intelligence. Connect with artists, industry experts, and like-minded collectors.
OWNING: COLLECTION GROWTH & PRESERVATION
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Support administrative and operational needs, from framing, shipping, storage, and insurance, to conservation, art law, and art financing, in collaboration with a network of trusted professionals across the US, Canada, and the UK
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Valuations affect fairness among heirs, estate planning, tax reporting, insurance, and sales strategy. Selecting qualified independent appraisers for the appropriate purpose (insurance, estate, gift, or sale) and provides in-house research for fair market value and market context so clients understand where each work sits.
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Evaluating exhibition requests and coordinating museum loans to raise the cultural, scholarly, and institutional visibility of works in the collection.
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Collecting often ebbs and flows, times of greater activity and times that are quieter when collectors are focused in other areas.
Our clients stay informed of developments relevant to their collection and identify emerging opportunities worth considering through ongoing research, analysis, and briefings on artists and art market data.
SELLING & GIVING: COLLECTION LEGACY & TRANSITIONS
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Collection Strategy & Legacy Planning Before appraisals, auction proposals, or specialists are engaged, we start with the collector's intentions for the collection and what role it may play in the family’s legacy. Establishing the intention, vision, and values guides the strategic decisions that follow, whether made now or years from now.
Before any appraisals, auction proposals, or specialists are engaged, we start by clarifying the collector’s intention for the collection or individual works. Clarifying what role the collection and what role it may play in the family’s legacy. Gauge family interest in the collection as a whole, individual works, or collecting pursuits.
Establish guiding principles across the four pathways: Keep / Donate / Sell / Pass down
Clarify the four key pathways: Keep / Donate / Sell / Pass Down, along with a written North Star document that captures those intentions and vision, establishes the guiding principles that inform the decisions that follow, whether made now or years from now
When the time comes to release individual works or entire collections, the first step is to understand the client’s intentions for the collection. This includes identifying how art may play a role in a family legacy, along with gauging family interest in the collection as a whole, individual works, or collecting pursuits. The client’s intentions and vision, articulated in a North Star document, then establishes clear guiding principles for every decision that follows, inform the strategy on what to pass down, gift, or donate whether now or years from now by family members, trustees, or advisors.
Before any appraisals, auction house proposals, or specialists are brought in, a discussion around the collector’s intention and vision for the collection comes first and informs the strategy around which pathways to pursue: Keep, Sell, Donate, or Pass Down.
clarifying the intentions and vision for the collect informs the strategy for what to do with works in the collection.
on the int x, - idea of bespoke plan based on/generated from the intentions of the collector and the role of art as an important and relevant part of legacy….] We help clarify the collector’s intentions for the collection and how it may play a relevant role in family legacy, philanthropy, or future wealth planning. This includes helping families consider whether the collection itself, or the collecting pursuits, should be handed down, and what path forward best honors the collector’s wishes.
Guide collectors to make decisions on the best pathways:
Keep within the family
Works with strong sentimental or legacy significance may be best retained — whether transferred directly to heirs, held in trust, or structured through a family limited partnership. We collaborate with estate attorneys and financial advisors to ensure the transfer is structured in the way that best serves the family's overall wealth plan.
Donate to an institution
For significant works, a charitable donation to a museum, cultural institution, university, or hospital can be the most meaningful and often the most tax-efficient outcome. We identify appropriate recipients [aligned with the collector's wishes and values] and coordinate the donation process collaboratively with legal and tax advisors]
Establishing a foundation or charity
[build this out as separate section - draw on Bessemer own docs] For collections with a philanthropic dimension, we can also explore the potential for a private foundation benefits… .
Sell
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Accurate valuations underpin every decision that follows, from equitable distribution among heirs to tax planning, insurance, donations, and sales strategy. We coordinate appraisals and consolidate all relevant records into a comprehensive catalogue, saving time and cost by calling the right appraiser for the right reason at the right moment.
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Discreetly executing private sales on behalf of clients, negotiating favourable price and terms, across a global network of collectors, dealers and galleries.
For works where discretion, timing, or value make private sales preferable, qualified buyers are identified and approached directly across a global network of collectors, dealers, and galleries. Transactions are handled confidentially, with price and terms negotiated solely in the seller's interest.
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Rather than a one-size fits all, selecting which auction house, region, sale, best protects seller’s interests and maximizes the opportunity to realize value. Consignment agreements, sales strategies, guarantees, and terms negotiated with the world's leading auction houses.
OR Consignment agreements, guarantees, and sales strategies are negotiated with the world's leading houses to protect the seller's interests and maximise the opportunity to realise value.
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For collectors with philanthropic intentions, art can be one of the most meaningful and tax-efficient tools available. Identifying appropriate recipient institutions, coordinating donations and gifting programmes, and supporting the establishment of private foundations when appropriate. Executed in collaboration with private wealth teams, cultural institutions and gifting organisations.
Our Process
Plan with Purpose
Together, we outline a path forward that’s realistic, strategic, and tailored to your specific needs.
Collaborate Openly
You’re part of the process. We keep communication open and decisions shared—no black boxes or surprises.
Plan with Purpose
Every project is different. We stay flexible and responsive to make sure the process fits your flow—not the other way around.
Plan with Purpose
When we deliver, it’s not just a finished product—it’s a solution you can trust, backed by real care and effort.