Collecting Pre-Contemporary Art Online: New ways to Look, Learn and Buy
11.00 - 11.45, 27 JUNE 2020
The coronavirus lockdown hit has forced us all to recalibrate how we view, collect and sell art as exhibitions, auctions and even art fairs have been forced online-and fast. It's a steep learning curve for both buyers and sellers in all fields, but particularly for those in the traditionally analogue world of pre-contemporary art, where issues of provenance, authenticity and trust are all the more complex. Our panel of experts will discuss the challenge of becoming "digital connoisseurs", taking in the latest developments, good and bad, in the shift to online, the questions to ask and pitfalls to avoid when buying historical art via jpegs, and the big question of whether you should you ever buy a work sight unseen, even now?
Anna has reported on the art and antiques industry for over 10 years. She was previously features editor at Harper's Bazaar Art and Interiors magazines in Dubai, and before that wrote for the weekly Antiques Trade Gazette. Anna has also written for Apollo, Wallpaper, BOAT International, House & Garden and World of Interiors among others.
Katrin began collecting in 1985 in parallel to her career as a dealer in Old Master drawings. Fascinated by the artistic process and the mystique surrounding it, she chose to focus on one theme: the artist at work. Since then the collection has expanded considerably and now includes over 1000 examples in a range of media - drawings, paintings, prints, photographs and sculpture - from the Renaissance to the present day. Katrin dealt in Old Master drawings for 30 years and was a partner at Colnaghi until the Gallery was sold in 2015. She is a Trustee of The National Gallery and sits on the Board of the Tate.
Philip has been Chairman of Masterpiece London since 2012, has also chaired the fair's vetting committee since the first edition. Philip is an independent art consultant advising private collectors, museums and designers on the acquisition of a wide range of paintings, furniture and works of art. He is a Trustee of the Bard Graduate Center in New York and Chair of the arts charity ArtHouse Jersey. Philip sits on two advisory panels - the Development Committee of the National Gallery and the Economic Council in Jersey.
Philip started his career at Sotheby's in 1972 specialising in 19th-century furniture and works of art. He subsequently concentrated on 18th century French and English furniture before developing the auction house's client advisory services department. He launched his pioneering consultancy business in 1982 with the aim of providing totally independent advice to new collectors keen to acquire works of art.
Philip has been a West End art dealer for thirty-five years specialising in five centuries of British painting. He is the author of two books on art discoveries. His award-winning BBC1 programme Fake or Fortune? reaches up to five million viewers in the UK and greater numbers abroad, making it the most-watched arts programme on television. He is President of Kids in Museums, President and formerly Chairman of Plantlife, an ex-trustee of the English Heritage Foundation, and a patron of Fight for Sight.
Orlando joined Christie's in 1990 as a graduate trainee with first-class Honours in History from the University of Bristol. An architectural enthusiast and country house 'junky' inspired by Chrissie Gibbs, Orlando worked in the furniture department in London and New York, before establishing the dedicated Private Collections team in London, playing a key part in historic collection sales from Houghton, Longleat, Champalimaud, the Bute Collection, the Viennese Rothschilds, HRH The Princess Margaret, Dumfries House, Spencer House and The Rothschilds in London - as well as the Alexander and Riahi Collections in New York, amongst others. An inveterate hoarder of everything from Japanese lacquer and Islamic tiles, to broken nosed marbles and chairs, Orlando and his wife Miranda are lucky enough to be custodians of Burghley House in Lincolnshire, with its historic Grand Tour and Asian collections.