A collection should reflect judgment, not simply access.

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BEFORE THE TRANSACTION

Finding art is easy. Deciding what deserves attention is harder.

Collectors have more access to art than ever before.

Galleries, auctions, art fairs, private dealers, online platforms, artists, advisors, and social media can place thousands of works in front of a buyer.

Access is not the same thing as judgment.

Before recommending an acquisition, we consider the work itself, its relationship to the artist’s career, condition, documentation, provenance, market context, asking price, comparable evidence, and—most importantly—the reason it belongs in this particular collection.

Sometimes the right advice is to buy.

Sometimes it is to negotiate.

Sometimes it is to keep looking.

ACQUISITIONS

The artist’s name gets you into the conversation. The individual work determines what happens next.

Two works by the same artist may differ substantially in quality, period, importance, condition, provenance, rarity, and market demand.

A thoughtful acquisition process asks more than: Do I like it?

It also asks:

Why this work?

Why this period?

Why this example?

How does it relate to the artist’s strongest work?

Is the attribution secure?

What is known about its history?

What is its condition?

Is the asking price supported by relevant evidence?

Are the proposed comparables actually comparable?

How does it fit the collection already being built?

What might be overlooked because the artist’s name or the presentation is persuasive?

Our role is to help clients answer those questions before the transaction becomes the collection’s history.

RESEARCH & DUE DILIGENCE

Attractive presentation is not evidence.

A polished catalogue entry, recognizable signature, prestigious gallery label, compelling ownership story, or strong auction result can create confidence very quickly.

Each may be meaningful. Each still needs context.

Depending on the proposed acquisition, advisory research may include:

• Artist and career context
• Attribution
• Provenance
• Exhibition history
• Published references
• Catalogue raisonné information
• Condition information
• Prior market appearances
• Comparable transactions
• Gallery and auction history
• Edition information
• Market positioning
• Relevant specialist opinions

The objective is not to make every acquisition unnecessarily complicated.

It is to recognize when the available information deserves closer examination.

PRICE & MARKET CONTEXT

Price tells you what someone is asking. It does not tell you whether the number makes sense.

Art markets contain many different numbers:

An asking price. A gallery retail price. An auction estimate. A hammer price. A result including buyer’s premium. A private-sale price. A previous purchase price. An insurance value. An appraisal conclusion.

They are not interchangeable.

When advising on a purchase or sale, we consider what the available market evidence actually tells us about the particular work rather than allowing the most impressive number to dominate the analysis.

One spectacular result can be important. It does not automatically establish a new market for every work by the artist.

PRIVATE SALES & NEGOTIATIONS

Discretion is often part of the transaction.

Important art does not always reach the public market.

Works may be offered privately through dealers, galleries, advisors, collectors, estates, or other market relationships.

Ron Shipmon LLC can assist clients in evaluating privately offered works, developing negotiation strategy, communicating with counterparties, and reviewing the commercial context of a proposed transaction.

The objective is not simply to obtain a lower price.

Terms, documentation, provenance, timing, payment, access, condition, and the identity of the work itself can be as important as the number being negotiated.

AUCTION ADVISORY

An auction creates urgency. Good judgment should survive it.

Auctions compress decisions into a highly visible moment.

The catalogue is persuasive. The estimate creates an anchor. Competition can make a work appear more desirable with every bid.

Before the sale, we can help clients research prospective lots, evaluate relevant market evidence, identify issues requiring further inquiry, and establish bidding considerations.

During the sale, representation may be arranged where appropriate.

The objective is to make the decision before the emotional pressure of bidding begins.

SALES & DEACCESSION

Owning a work does not obligate you to own it forever.

Collections change.

Interests evolve. Homes change. Heirs have different priorities. An artist’s market develops. A work that once made sense may no longer fit the direction of the collection.

Selling well begins before choosing an auction house or accepting a dealer’s proposal.

We consider:

• Why the work is being sold
• Attribution and documentation
• Condition
• Provenance
• Current market demand
• Recent comparable evidence
• Timing
• Private-sale possibilities
• Auction strategy
• Appropriate market venue
• Costs and transaction structure
• The effect of the sale on the remaining collection

The most public venue is not automatically the best venue.

The highest estimate is not automatically the best proposal.

The objective is to understand the options before committing the work to the market.

Discuss a Proposed Sale →

COLLECTION STRATEGY

A collection becomes more interesting when the works begin speaking to one another.

Strong collections are not necessarily the largest or most expensive.

They tend to develop a point of view.

That point of view may emerge through artists, generations, geography, identity, medium, social history, abstraction, photography, technology, or simply an unusually perceptive collector following a personal line of inquiry.

Our advisory work helps collectors recognize and develop those relationships.

For a new collector

Buying the first few works can be exciting and disorienting.

We help establish a framework for looking, learning, comparing, and purchasing without imposing a prefabricated collecting identity.

The goal is to develop the collector’s judgment—not replace it.

For an established collector

As collections mature, different questions emerge.

Where are the strengths? Where are the repetitions? Are there gaps worth addressing? Have some artists become more significant within the collection than initially understood? Does new scholarship change the context? Should certain works be documented, appraised, conserved, loaned, sold, or researched more closely?

A collection benefits from occasionally being looked at as a whole rather than simply as a sequence of purchases.

CONTEMPORARY, EMERGING & DIGITAL ART

Markets evolve. So should the way we look at them.

Ron Shipmon LLC has longstanding experience in contemporary and emerging art and an active interest in the changing structures surrounding digital art.

Emerging markets require a particular kind of judgment because extensive auction history or institutional consensus may not yet exist.

That makes other evidence increasingly important:

• The quality and consistency of the work
• Gallery representation
• Institutional attention
• Exhibition history
• Collector base
• Critical and curatorial context
• Supply
• Pricing discipline
• Career trajectory
• The relationship between primary and secondary markets

Digital art introduces additional considerations surrounding format, editioning, ownership records, custody, display, platform dependence, and evolving market practices.

New markets do not eliminate the need for judgment. They make it more important.

COMMISSIONS

Commissioning art begins with expectations.

A successful commission requires more than choosing an artist whose work you admire.

Questions of concept, scale, site, timing, budget, materials, installation, approvals, payment structure, and artistic independence should be understood before production begins.

Ron Shipmon LLC can assist in identifying appropriate artists, structuring the process, coordinating communications, and helping client and artist enter the commission with a clear understanding of the project.

A COLLECTION SHOULD STILL BELONG TO THE COLLECTOR

Advice should sharpen your eye—not substitute for it.

An advisor can provide access, research, market knowledge, negotiation experience, and another perspective.

The collector still has to live with the art.

For that reason, our role is not to assemble a collection that looks like somebody else’s idea of sophistication.

It is to help clients make informed choices while developing confidence in their own judgment.

Over time, the most successful advisory relationship should make the collector more knowledgeable, not more dependent.

HOW WE WORK

A considered process.

01 · Understand the objective

What are you considering? What interests you? What already exists in the collection? What decision needs to be made?

02 · Research & evaluate

Examine the work, artist, available documentation, condition information, provenance, market context, and other evidence relevant to the decision.

03 · Advise

Present the considerations that matter, including strengths, questions, alternatives, and where appropriate a recommended course of action.

04 · Execute

When requested, assist with negotiation, auction representation, transaction coordination, specialist referrals, shipping, framing, installation, or other practical requirements.

PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENCE

Advisory and appraisal answer different questions.

An advisory opinion about whether a client should purchase a work is not the same thing as an independent appraisal prepared for insurance, estate, tax, donation, or another defined use.

Where a formal appraisal is required, the assignment should be structured appropriately for that purpose.

Clarity about the role protects the client and the integrity of the work.

CONTACT

What are you considering?

Whether you are looking at a first acquisition, evaluating a significant purchase, considering a sale, or reassessing the direction of an established collection, begin with the decision in front of you.

Discuss Your Collection →