Art and Luxury

For artists, collectors and families with significant art and luxury assets, every piece tells a story – of creativity, heritage, passion and personal meaning.  But valuable collections and creative works also carry legal and practical complexities that require careful navigation.

Whether you’re an artist, collector, or curator, our Art & Luxury team is here to help you protect, manage, and enjoy your collection with confidence and care – from paintings and sculptures to classic cars, jewellery, musical instruments, watches and fine wine.

Led by internationally recognised art lawyers Tim Maxwell and Rudy Capildeo, our Art & Luxury team is dedicated to protecting your artistic legacy, safeguarding your assets and ensuring your wishes are honoured now and for generations to come.  We combine deep sector knowledge with a personal, discreet approach tailored to the unique circumstances of our clients.

We are trusted on some of the most significant and sensitive matters in the market. We’ve helped clients achieve world-record auction results, resolve complex disputes, and preserve collections for future generations.

Art and luxury markets are truly international, and so are many of our clients’ lives. Whether dealing with cross-border transactions, multi-jurisdictional estates, or heritage property located worldwide, we work seamlessly alongside trusted advisors in other jurisdictions who, like us, are best in class in their fields. This ensures our clients benefit from consistent, expert advice wherever their assets, businesses, or families are based — without sacrificing the personal service and discretion they expect.

Our clients

We advise a diverse community of private clients across the art and luxury worlds, including:

• Private collectors: Supporting acquisitions, sales and the stewardship of art, cars, jewellery, watches, wine and other valuable collectibles.
• Family offices and trustees: Advising on governance, asset protection, philanthropic and cultural engagement, succession planning and cross-border considerations relating to luxury assets and landed estates as part of broader wealth strategies.
• Artists and their estates/heirs: Protecting creative rights, managing posthumous estates and advising on succession and legacy planning.

Recent experience

• Advising heirs in a sensitive restitution claim involving a long-lost portrait. The painting reappeared at auction, selling for a record-breaking sum.
• Acting in a cross-border sale of a significant painting by a leading impressionist artist, involving complex negotiations, export licensing, and catalogue inclusion.
• Advising a collector in a dispute with a leading auction house regarding the sale of a high-value painting.
• Ongoing advice to an artist on legacy planning, charitable governance, IP rights, and international exhibition arrangements.
• Representing individuals in disputes against galleries where claims involve misrepresentation, consumer law breaches, and potential regulatory implications.
• Facilitating the extension of a long-term loan of artworks from a prominent estate to a foundation, ensuring continued public access and preservation of the artist’s legacy.