New book coming out on legal dimensions of art collecting

The Art Collecting Legal Handbook, edited by Bruno Boesch and Massimo Sterpi, has just been published by Sweet & Maxwell.  Art & Artifice looks forward to reviewing this title in due course, not least since this blogger is a great admirer of Jacobacci Avvocati partner Massimo Sterpi -- a tireless visionary and enthusiast who currently serves on the Council of MARQUES, the European trade mark organisation. In this venture Massimo teams up with Bruno Boesch, a partner in the Swiss law practice of Froriep Renggli and an expert in the highly specialist area of long-term art collection care. The editors have put together an impressive team spanning the best part of 30 countries, including both those in which famous collections are built up and those from which many collectables originate.

This is what the publishers say about this work, which is published at the end of May:

Collecting, preserving and promoting cultural goods, whether fine art, archaeological objects or decorative arts, is now global. Oddly, rules and practices have remained very local, save for ICOM’s efforts at the institutional level and UNESCO’s endeavours to help preserve national cultural heritage and combat illicit trafficking.

This book is designed to help the collector and their advisers navigate the maze on an international level. Each chapter of The Art Collecting Manual addresses a number of issues from the perspective of a different jurisdiction to help collectors making errors that could be potenitally illegal. The format of the chapters follow a question and answer style thus enabling readers to make quick and accurate comparisons in multiple jurisdictions covering property law, insurance, customs, tax, inheritance, intellectual property and more.

A collectable in itself, this title crosses the line between highly functional and aesthetically pleasing, the perfect addition for anyone who works in international art dealings".

Apart from this, there's some further information as to what the book covers:

• Cultural Heritage and Art Market: regulations; legislation features and treaties; data about art and cultural property market: trade volume; dealers 

• Purchase and Export: due diligence, local law features; remedies in case of fake, forgery or counterfeit; VAT/sales tax; artist’s resale right; export restrictions; “free ports” 

• Peaceful Enjoyment: import customs; protection against claims; restitution assistance; repatriation of illegally exported cultural property; anti-seizure guarantee 

• Sale: due diligence; temporary import for sale; remedies against a defaulting buyer 

• Art Philanthropy: rules and practices; private foundations and museums 

• Tax: wealth tax; capital gain tax; inheritance tax; tax breaks; taxation of private foundations and private museums 

• Practical information/references

Bibliographic details: hardback, ISBN 9780414026933.  Price: £80. Book's web page here.

Exciting news: our very own Angela Saltarelli has co-authored the Italian chapter of this book together with Massimo Sterpi.