A collection is more than the objects in it.

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KNOW WHAT YOU HOLD

Information is part of the collection.

A collection can grow faster than the systems created to manage it.

Works move between residences. Galleries close. Staff changes. Invoices become separated from objects. Condition reports sit in one file while provenance records sit in another. Previous appraisals become outdated. Important information remains in the memory of one person until that person is no longer available to explain it.

The artwork remains.

The knowledge surrounding it can disappear.

Ron Shipmon LLC helps clients bring the two back together.

COLLECTION INVENTORY & CATALOGING

Good records answer questions before they become problems.

A useful collection record should do more than identify an artist and title.

Depending on the collection and its purpose, documentation may include:

• Artist
• Title
• Date
• Medium
• Dimensions
• Edition information
• Photographs
• Acquisition information
• Provenance
• Exhibition history
• Published references
• Location
• Condition information
• Conservation history
• Prior appraisals
• Insurance information
• Related correspondence and documentation

The objective is not to create paperwork for its own sake.

It is to make sure the information connected to a work remains connected to the work.

COLLECTION REVIEW

Sometimes the most useful first step is simply to look again.

Collections evolve.

An artist who was relatively unknown when acquired may have become significant. A work considered important twenty years ago may now occupy a different position in the market. Documentation may need updating. Condition may have changed. Insurance values may no longer reflect current circumstances.

A collection review can help identify:

• Significant works requiring closer attention
• Missing or incomplete documentation
• Outdated appraisal information
• Provenance questions
• Condition or conservation concerns
• Works that may benefit from additional research
• Potential deaccessions
• Areas of strength within the collection
• Gaps worth considering
• Records that should be preserved or reorganized

Looking at the collection as a whole often reveals things that are difficult to see one object at a time.

CURATORIAL PLANNING

Arrangement changes meaning.

The same group of works can tell very different stories depending on how they are presented.

Curatorial planning considers the relationships among objects: artists, periods, ideas, geography, materials, identity, history, visual relationships, and the audience experiencing the work.

The objective is not simply to fill walls.

It is to create a coherent way of seeing the collection.

Ron Shipmon LLC develops curatorial concepts for private, corporate, institutional, and special-project settings.

CORPORATE & INSTITUTIONAL ART PROGRAMS

Art can shape how an organization sees itself.

A corporate collection is not simply decoration.

Done well, it can reflect culture, history, place, values, employees, clients, and the communities an organization serves.

Ron Shipmon’s corporate curatorial experience includes managing the GE Capital and Financial Guaranty Insurance Company collections and developing Colgate-Palmolive’s first in-house exhibition program with a focus on diversity.

That experience informs work with organizations seeking to build, refine, document, or reconsider an art program.

Define the objective

What should the collection or exhibition accomplish? Who will encounter it? What does the organization want the work to communicate?

Review the existing collection

Understand what is already owned, where it is located, what documentation exists, and whether the current holdings support the organization’s objectives.

Develop the program

Research artists and works, establish curatorial direction, consider acquisitions or deaccessions, and develop a framework for presentation.

Coordinate implementation

Where appropriate, coordinate framing, installation, transportation, photography, conservation, storage, and other specialist requirements.

COLLECTION STEWARDSHIP

Owning art creates responsibilities beyond acquisition.

Collections require care over time.

That may include:

• Updated inventories
• Appraisal review
• Provenance research
• Condition monitoring
• Conservation coordination
• Framing review
• Storage considerations
• Movement and location tracking
• Exhibition loans
• Photography
• Insurance documentation
• Estate planning coordination
• Records management

Not every collection requires a full-time collection manager.

Every serious collection benefits from knowing where its information resides and what needs attention.

ESTATES & INHERITED COLLECTIONS

Heirs frequently inherit objects before they inherit knowledge.

An estate may contain works acquired over decades by someone whose understanding of the collection was never fully documented.

Family members may recognize the paintings they grew up with while knowing little about works in storage.

A dealer may have handled purchases years ago. An invoice may identify a work differently from the way the family describes it. Some objects may have greater significance than anyone realizes. Others may carry strong sentimental value but limited market demand.

Before works are sold, distributed, donated, discarded, or placed into storage, it is useful to understand what the estate actually holds.

Ron Shipmon LLC can assist with inventory, documentation review, appraisal coordination, collection research, and broader art-related planning within the estate process.

DEACCESSION & COLLECTION EDITING

A collection does not have to remain frozen in time.

Collectors change. Interests change. Markets change. Homes change.

The strongest collection may sometimes be improved by removing something rather than adding something.

A thoughtful review can identify works that no longer fit the collection’s direction, duplicate ideas already represented more strongly elsewhere, or might be better placed with another collector or institution.

Deaccession decisions should be made with the same care as acquisitions.

The question is not simply: What can be sold?

It is: What belongs in the collection going forward?

INSTALLATION, FRAMING & SPECIALIST COORDINATION

The work does not end when the object is acquired.

Depending on the collection, Ron Shipmon LLC can help coordinate qualified specialists for:

• Framing
• Installation
• Conservation
• Transportation
• Photography
• Storage
• Packing
• Condition reporting
• Other collection-related needs

Where specialist expertise is required, the appropriate professional should be brought into the process rather than asking one discipline to do the work of another.

A COLLECTION SHOULD HAVE MEMORY

The strongest collections preserve both objects and knowledge.

A collection can survive without perfect documentation.

But every missing invoice, forgotten exhibition, unidentified photograph, lost conservation report, or undocumented ownership history makes the next person’s job more difficult.

Documentation protects value. It also protects history.

The goal is not simply to know what is in the room today.

It is to make sure the person responsible for the collection tomorrow can understand how it got there.

CONTACT

Bring the collection into focus.

Whether you are organizing an established collection, managing an estate, developing a corporate art program, or trying to understand what deserves attention first, Ron Shipmon LLC can help determine the appropriate next step.

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