The function and value of management

The collection manager ensures the orderly management over time of a collection that has already been formed. The owner is thus always in a position to know precisely the extent, location, condition and documentary record of their holdings. It is the ideal figure for those who do not wish, or are unable, to manage the complex day-to-day administration of a collection, or for those who have received one by inheritance.

Areas of work and key activities

The work is organised into continuous, rigorous processes:

  • Inventory and cataloguing: standardised records, photographic documentation, sequential numbering and constant tracking of locations.
  • Document archive: a file for each work (invoices, certificates, correspondence with artists' archives, exhibition history and bibliography), with secure back-up copies.
  • Condition monitoring (condition reports): periodic checks on the state of each work, monitoring of environmental parameters and condition surveys at every movement.
  • Logistics and movements: management of loans, storage and transfers, with the relevant guarantees defined on departure and on arrival.
  • Coordination of specialists: selection and direction of restorers, shippers, insurers, photographers and artists' archives, preserving the historical memory of the collection.

Independence and separation from the roles of advisor and appraiser

Independence from the market is the cornerstone of this profession. The collection manager also defines their role through precise operational limits:

  • Does not buy and does not sell: negotiation and transactions are the province of the art advisor.
  • Does not issue estimates or appraisals: the determination of economic value falls to the appraiser under a separate engagement, even where the appraiser and collection manager are the same person. Where the inventory requires updated values for insurance policies, accounts or divisions, the collection manager asks the appraiser to prepare them and enters the figures in the records.

Fee structure

The fee structure reflects the neutrality of the function: the professional is paid on an hourly, per-project or periodic-retainer basis. The fee is never linked to the value of the works or to the outcome of commercial transactions.

Who it is for

The service is designed for collectors with complex holdings spread across several locations, companies with corporate collections, and families facing generational transfer or division of an estate. The process begins with the Collection Health Check: a survey to assess the state of the collection, identify any gaps in documentation or conservation records, and define the actual plan of work.