Art Finance and Lending

In financial matters, knowing the true value of what you are borrowing or lending against is crucial. If raising funds against your collection, having the proof required to show the value of your collection can help you facilitate the process of obtaining a loan. Equally, we are able to provide fact-based evidence to support art lending decisions, working with appraisers or advisors to obtain more accurate knowledge of the value of a piece or a collection in order to de-risk the transaction.

Wassily Kandinsky

A few years ago, a newly discovered painting thought to be by Wassily Kandinsky was brought to our lab by its owner who was looking to have it assessed by the Kandinsky Society and hoping it would be included in the catalogue raisonné. After conducting material analysis, we found the painting, a portrait of a woman, to be consistent with Kandinsky’s materials. With technical imaging, we were able to decipher another composition, over which the portrait was painted, a scene depicting a couple walking along a harbour. Archival research by Kandinsky scholars later revealed that the overpainted composition matched a sketch done by the artist in one of his authenticated sketchbooks and, thanks in part to these discoveries, the painting was recognised as a portrait of the artist’s wife and accepted into the catalogue raisonné. Needless to say, its value increased enormously. This is just one example of the power and value of embracing new ways to investigate artworks.