London, April 2018
LECTURE ART LOGISTICS DUE DILIGENCE: Case studies including the Luxury Yacht Environment:
Pandora Mather-Lees was delighted to conduct a morning’s seminar for Masters students on Sotheby’s Institute MA in Art Business, Artworld Logistics and Operations Unit.
This was the final lecture of the programme attended by 22 students who were taken through various aspects and pitfalls of logistics. The topic was centred around best practice in moving and caring for valuable paintings and design objects on Superyachts.
Pandora recently convened a symposium with the National Maritime Museum on the Protection of Art at Sea and many of the hazards were shared for the first time with the students who have to study the important aspects of logistics and how it underpins the art world.
Logistics is an area which is so critical to the art world, where participants get to see what is moving where, what is selling and to work with objects first hand. Few realise the importance of certain issues such as being alert to confidentiality, constant changes in cross-border regulation, potential theft and consignment fraud, plus the need to provide continuity in aspects of condition so as to avoid liability. This facet of art trading and its hazards from attempting to move objects bearing endangered species – materials such as ivory, crocodile and rosewood – to seizures of masterpieces from superyachts worth millions. Many of the problems can be avoided through training and education; simply making those with the burden of handling the objects, aware of what can go wrong.