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About Gainsborough's

Old Masters - Modern Markets 

Independent Family Art Office

Gainsborough’s was established to provide specialist fine art expertise to collectors and advisers who require a rigorous, market-led understanding of value.

Unlike generalist art advisory models, the approach is analytical rather than promotional. Each collection is assessed through detailed examination of the underlying artists, media, historical trading patterns, and current market supply and demand. Particular attention is paid to how and where value is realised, recognising that pricing outcomes vary materially by geography, sale format, and timing.

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This bottom-up methodology allows clients and their advisers to understand:

  • which artists’ markets are tightening or expanding

  • how different media perform within the same artist’s market

  • where international demand is strongest

  • when divestment, consolidation, or reallocation may be prudent

 

Gainsborough’s regularly supports clients with auction consignments and acquisitions, including sale selection, market positioning, and negotiation support, as well as coordination with trusted third-party specialists such as logistics providers, insurers, conservators, and valuers.

 

The role is deliberately discreet and advisory in nature, designed to complement, not replace, the work of wealth managers, accountants, family offices, and legal advisers.

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At all times, the emphasis remains on stewardship, preservation of value, and informed engagement with the fine art market across generations.

Bottom-Up Market Analysis

Each collection is analysed from the bottom up. Individual artists are assessed independently, examining historic auction performance, current market supply, depth of secondary demand, and long-term pricing behaviour.

 

Material attention is given to:​

  • whether an artist’s available stock is expanding or diminishing

  • how demand differs by geography and medium

  • which markets consistently deliver the strongest pricing outcomes

 

This enables clients to understand intrinsic value rather than headline estimates.

Medium and Geographic Weighting

Pricing outcomes in fine art are often driven by where and how a work is sold rather than by the work alone. Medium-specific and country-level demand is therefore treated as a core analytical variable.

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For example:

  • British portraiture typically achieves optimal results in London

  • European ceramics may outperform in domestic markets

  • prints, multiples, and works on paper often behave differently across jurisdictions

 

These dynamics inform both acquisition and disposal strategy.

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