In the best of times, art sales and finance present components of escalated risk in comparison to more conventional commercial transactions. The sources of this risk-differential include light industry regulation, perceived and actual market volatility, a lush history of fraud and forgery, inconsistent secured transaction laws and regulations and limited chain of title data.  In recent years, tax changes, AML compliance and credit tightening from COVID 19, have added to the complexity of art transactions.  Art Sales & Finance will provide a review of the transactional basics, as well as provide a few guidelines in managing transactions within the current environment.

He left Christie’s in 2009 to become a Director at the art advisory and appraisal firm Gurr Johns, where he advised collectors around the world. In 2014 he helped to set up a new art-financing company, Falcon Fine Art, where he served as Vice President from 2014-2018, providing loans against art assets throughout Europe.

He now runs his own art consultancy firm, Venator Fine Art, which he founded in 2014. He has a first-class honours degree in Modern History from Magdalen College, Oxford and a doctorate in Art History. He continues to publish articles and lectures around the world. He advises the government on the export of works of art and has regularly appeared on television news (including the BBC, SKY and ITN). He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and is based in London.