The Art of Advising

What draws you to the work you do?

My grandfather, who was a collector, sold his collection at Christie’s, and it became both a legacy for my family and important for museums such as the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

I meet clients every day who have built businesses, who are entrepreneurs and do the work necessary to make intelligent decisions around their financial assets. But when it comes to acquiring art and collectibles, all due diligence goes out the window. I love to educate these clients to prevent others from taking advantage of them in acquisition or sale.

What do you think makes art appealing as an investment?

We have learned that if there is true intelligence and careful investment, in periods of recession and inflation, art takes longer to depreciate and rebounds faster. It is a semi-uncorrelated asset.

Are there differences in the types of clients who want to invest versus those to whom you lend art?

Clients who want to invest are looking for a diversification of their portfolio. They are also looking for assets that are uncorrelated. The reasons for using art as collateral are varied. Many clients who have art, jewelry, or watches that have increased in value may want liquidity.

To sell these assets, one would have to pay high capital gains. Therefore, why not use the art as collateral and pull out some liquidity? Other clients leverage their art to buy more art. We will also provide an advance on a work a client wants to buy. We have seen clients use their art to pay their taxes and as a bridge loan for real estate.

How has the art world changed in the time you have been working in this field? Do you see differences in the types of people who buy art (for instance, in demographics)? The art world has changed dramatically over the last fifty years. When my grandfather collected, there were tight connections between a dealer and the collector. The auction house was secondary. What changed the art world dramatically was technology, the buyer, and the reason for buying.

Once a client could bid on an artwork on his laptop, that revolutionized the art market. You did not need to be in NYC or London. You could be in Brazil, Dubai, or Delhi. All you needed was a laptop, a way to bid online, and a bank account. At the same time, we saw immense wealth emerging in China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and other nations. The center of the art world shifted to these new areas of wealth.

In addition, the reasons for buying changed somewhat. New wealth wanted nonverbal ways of communicating power. A bottle of Chateau Lafite, a Warhol Mao, a Cartier Deco Bracelet all told the world that you were wealthy.

Lastly, the art freeports opened in places like Geneva, Luxembourg, and Delaware, and this became a place where wealthy international buyers could buy art and store it in tax-free locations. The art became a hedge against economic, military, and political instability. Today these facilities store billions and billions of dollars’ worth of art.

Do you have favorite works of art?

I am a huge fan of German Expressionists, especially Gabriele Münter, as well as David Hockney’s landscapes and Wayne Thiebaud’s landscapes. However, in my own house, my husband and I love naïve landscapes and folk art.

Anita Heriot ’88 is president of the North American division of the Fine Art Group, a global firm with locations in London, Hong Kong, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Dubai, and Philadelphia. After earning degrees in art history, history, and Chinese from Bowdoin and advanced degrees from the University of London and NYU, she began her career at Sotheby’s in New York and later worked in auction and art advisory and appraisal firms.

For more from this interview, visit bowdoin.edu/magazine.