Single-owner collections

What is a single-owner collection?

It is an auction devoted entirely to the collection of one single, usually respected collector. Instead of a varied mixture of works from different owners, the sale concentrates on what one person gathered over a lifetime. The result is an offering with a shared hand and a shared story.

How does it work?

The auction house brings together works from one collection under a common heading and offers them as a whole with a story of their own. That shared “pedigree” and the collector's name then affect the entire sale, because the buyer is not only buying a particular work but a piece of the curatorial taste of whoever assembled the collection. And that tends to be the driving force of the whole auction.

Why does it matter to a collector?

Because the shared origin and story of a collection can pull the prices of all the lots upwards. A work from a respected collection carries the additional mark of having passed an experienced collector's eye. With the work, the buyer thus also acquires a credible origin and a piece of the taste that shaped the collection. That is a value a work offered on its own can hardly match.

What should you watch out for?

Bear in mind that the prestige of a collection and its story can drive prices above the usual market level: you are paying for the shared pedigree too, not only for the work itself. It is worth considering how much of the price is the work and how much the lustre of a famous name. Otherwise, a documented origin in an important collection is an advantage rather than a risk.

— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club