Doug Woodham is the Managing Partner of Art Fiduciary Advisors, an advisory practice based in New York City that helps clients create legacy plans for their art collections. The firm offers comprehensive services, from clarifying family goals and evaluating alternative disposition strategies, through the execution of donation and sale agreements. The firm also advises collectors, artists, and institutions on the sale of art so they can be assured of maximizing sale proceeds in a very complex and opaque art marketplace. Art Fiduciary Advisors always acts as a fiduciary working on behalf of clients and works in partnership with a client’s existing team of tax, legal, and financial advisors.
Doug brings a unique perspective to the art market from his life-long interest in art, business, and finance. He most recently served as President of the Americas for Christie’s, where he was responsible for all aspects of the business and senior client relationships in North and South America. He was a member of the Global Transactions Management Committee that reviewed and approved all major consignment deals, including the economic terms offered to consignors.

Doug is the author of the best-selling book Art Collecting Today: Market Insights for Everyone Passionate about Art, published in April 2017. The book received outstanding reviews in the Economist, the London Financial Times and New York Times, among other publications.

William Pearlstein is a founding member of Pearlstein McCullough Lederman LLP. William’s art law practice is an outgrowth of his experience as a New York transactional lawyer, with broad experience in corporate and commercial law, including securities, private equity, mergers and acquisitions.

William has a background in technically demanding, document intensive transactions. This gives PML a competitive advantage in the art market, which is often under-documented and under-lawyered. He views fine and decorative art and collectibles as an asset class with characteristics distinct from traditional asset classes, such as real estate and securities. Art assets can suffer from infirmities in title, authenticity, attribution and regulatory compliance, due to the subjective judgment of experts and lack of documentation. This appreciation, confirmed over decades of experience in the art market, gives PML a superior analytical framework for transactional documentation, disputes and litigation.

William has presented papers at many international art business conferences and has researched the transactional motivators of art as an asset class. He will give the audience an overview of the potential legal risks and opportunities when buying art for investment purposes.

Mary Rozell is the Global Head of the UBS Art Collection. She is based in New York and liaises with the global team located in Zurich, London, New York and Hong Kong. She is the advisor to collectors, artists, and estates on all legal and strategic issues relating to the acquisition, management and relinquishment of private art collections. She is also art lawyer with a master’s degree in modern art. She was Director of Art Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art – New York. She is also the author of highly respected book, The Art Collector’s Handbook (Ashgate, 2014).

Mary oversaw the publication of a highly respected book on the 30,000-UBS Art collection. UBS started collecting in the 1960’s and the core of its collection is multifaceted in history and is deeply rooted within the company. Diversity is one of the distinguished hallmarks of the collection, which currently represents artists from 75 countries. This number continues to grow along with the expansion of the international art market, under the helm of the highly esteemed Mary Rozell. UBS are the proud sponsors of Art Basel Switzerland, Miami and Hong Kong. UBS and Art Basel co-publish the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, authored by renowned cultural economist Dr Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics based in Dublin.

Maura Kehoe Collins is the Managing Director of Artiphile, an independent art advisory that specialises in art collections management which was founded in 1991. Maura speaks Mandarin Chinese, and has studied Japanese and French. She is also a professional member of Art Resource Alliance, ArtTable, New York Chapter POWarts, New York Contemporary Art Council of the Brooklyn Museum (Chair 2004–2007, Co-Chair 2008-2009).

Artiphile delivers bespoke art collections management services with discretion. It’s method of inventory, assessment and administration aims to identify and address all physical and practical needs of a collection. No matter size, media or period—art collections require administration and thoughtful stewardship to maintain integrity and value.

With twenty-five years of experience in conservation and arts administration, Maura has applied her knowledge and experience by providing museum-quality art collections management services to private collectors, institutions, foundations and corporations.

Paul Collins is Head of Risk Services Ireland with Ecclesiastical Insurance. Ecclesiastical is a specialist Insurer providing insurance and risk management solutions in Ireland and the UK since 1887. Ecclesiastical offers home, heritage and charity insurance as well as financial products and services for individuals and organisations.

Paul Collins’s exceptional knowledge of Risk Assessments in Art & Antiquities enables him to logically cut through the most complex situations and provide insurance solutions tailored to Ecclesiastical client needs. Having a robust risk management strategy is essential in understanding who is responsible for one’s art collection when planning for future generations.

Reputational risk to an art collection is equally as important as the physical risks that a work of art may endure when proper collection management is not adhered to. Paul’s experience and responsibility for Enterprise Risk Management makes him an ideal panellist to discuss ways in which to protect the Legacy of Art & antiquities.

Ruth Cornett is the Director of Heritage & Taxation Advisory Service, Christie’s London. Prior to joining Christie’s, Ruth worked as a tax advisor in a number of professional firms in the City and the West End of London. After training as an art historian and working as a curator in the V&A, Ruth changed careers in 1992, studying law and qualifying as a Chartered Tax Advisor in 1998.

Ruth has advised a broad spectrum of clients on a range of tax matters with a particular emphasis on capital gains tax, inheritance tax and income tax. To consolidate her expertise in these areas, Ruth qualified as a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) in 2008. Ruth also serves as an Observer on the Historic Houses Association (HHA) Tax and Political Committee.

Ruth also produced the beautiful publication Saved for the Nation and is the Editor of Christie’s Bulletin for Professional Advisers. Ruth works closely with her Irish counterparts and is particularly interested in Succession Planning and Cultural Legacy.

Arnaud Cywie is a Lawyer for Borel & Barbey, a Swiss Law firm based in Geneva which was founded in 1907. Arnaud operates in the field of Swiss and international taxation to include tax planning, trusts and foundations, lump sum taxation, restructuring, profit-sharing plans. He advises and represents private and institutional clients, both in negotiations with tax authorities and in litigation.

He has expertise in art law and has dealt with complex high profile cross jurisdictional matters for high net worth individuals with regard to succession planning and trust formations. He is a member of the Swiss Lawyers Federation and the Geneva Bar Association. He has many national and international publications in the legal parameters of wealth management and tax planning.

He will speak about the importance of clear well-planned Trust Structures that will protect owners of Art & Antiquities into the future based upon the basic principles of international and domestic law.

Patricia Hunt is a self-employed Business Development Consultant and Director of the Hunt Museums Trust.

Patricia, her late husband John and the Hunt Family have first-hand experience in leaving an outstanding cultural legacy to Ireland.

Patricia has been immersed in her passion for art since meeting her late husband John in the 1980’s. John grew up surrounded by art. His parents restored Craggaunowen Castle and amassed a wonderful collection of cultural artefacts which the Hunt Family generously donated to the Irish people.

From the beginning of the nineties the Hunt family embarked on the Hunt Museum Project. The Hunt Museum is now an established feature in the national cultural landscape and is located in the wonderful Custom House in the heart of Limerick city. This award-winning museum was built from small beginnings and this national treasure attracts thousands of visitors annually. Craggaunowen Open-air Museum was also donated to the people of Ireland by the Hunt family.

John Hunt was given the Freedom of the City of Limerick in 1997 in recognition of the Hunt family’s munificence to the city and to the nation generally. John was awarded a Gold Medal for distinguished service to the arts by the Royal Hibernian Academy in 2001.

Patricia’s personal journey working beside her late husband John and their philanthropic work makes her an ideal moderator to discuss the importance of wise succession planning.

Rosanne McDonnell is an academic lawyer who specialises in art business. She is the founder of Art Agency Ireland and works with a network of art professionals, private consultants, collectors and academic scholars in providing research, consultancy and educational services across commercial and legal sectors within the Irish and international art market.

Rosanne’s interests also extend to the cultural importance of art. She is driven by the impact that art has on society and pursues a critical approach that looks at current art collection management practices.

She is passionate about engaging in the process of continuous learning by specialising in the hybridisation of business and art, both in Ireland and internationally.