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Nine Tips For Lending Art To MuseumsNine Tips For Lending Art To Museums

How to minimize client exposure and maximize the security and value of their art.

Azmina Jasani, Partner, Art and Cultural Property Law Group

May 26, 2017

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For private collectors, lending artwork to museums confers numerous advantages. These include: sharing the viewing and appreciation of art with the general public who may otherwise not have access to it; promoting the study and scholarship of art; enhancing an artwork’s provenance and, in turn, increasing its monetary value; enjoying potential tax benefits; and saving costs on storing and conserving the art. Likewise, museums profit considerably from art loans by private collectors, which afford them the opportunity to fulfill their mandates of increasing public access, education and enrichment, while simultaneously allowing them to increase their profiles and revenues. 

Lending artwork, especially to international museums, isn’t without risks. And although art loans should be encouraged, your clients must carefully weigh the costs and benefits involved before parting with their asset. Here are nine issues to consider to minimize client exposure and maximize the security and value of their artworks.

 

This is an adapted version of the author’s original article in the 2017 edition of Trusts & Estates’ annual “Art, Auctions and Antiques Report.”

About the Author

Azmina Jasani

Partner, Art and Cultural Property Law Group, Constantine Cannon

Azmina Jasani is a partner in Constantine Cannon's Art and Cultural Property Law Group, and concentrates her practice on all aspects of art law.  Azmina is dual qualified to practice law in New York and England & Wales. She has significant experience working with international collectors, large and small galleries, auction houses, professional advisers, dealers and financial institutions on contentious and non-contentious matters.

Azmina advises clients on the sale and purchase of important works of art bought and sold privately or at auction, on consigning works to auction houses and galleries, on using art as collateral for loans, on loaning artworks to museums or special exhibitions, on copyright and other intellectual property rights and on operating an e-commerce business, particularly online-only auctions. In addition to her transactional experience, Azmina has substantial litigation experience in the area of copyright infringement, authenticity, title disputes, consignment disputes, general contract and complex commercial disputes, including fraud, and World War II restitution.

Prior to joining Constantine Cannon, Azmina spent four years as an associate in the New York office of Withers Bergman LLP, where her primary focus was art litigation. She also spent two years as an associate in the New York Office of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, where she advocated on behalf of corporate and hedge fund clients on matters relating to securities fraud and contractual disputes.

Azmina received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Queens College, City University of New York.