Interview with Claire Marmion, Art Curator, Insurance Expert/Adjustor, Art Connector
We are lucky to have Claire Marmion, one of the great experts on the art market and art values, join us today for an interview. Claire manages art collections, helps people avoid art loss and provides art insurance adjustment.
Coco: Hi, Claire
Claire: Hello.
Coco: Thank you so much for joining us today.
Claire: Happy to be here.
Coco: Can you describe your profession?
Claire: Well, I have just started my own business called the Haven Art Group. We adjust art claims and also provide art management services to see if we can help people avoid having loss or damage to their art collection in the first place. You could call us curators for hire.
Coco: And why do you focus your career around art?
Claire: When I was struggling to decide what to read at University, I went to my mother for advice. I asked her why she had chosen to read Spanish, and I told her that I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living. Her answer was very simple. She said, "forget careers. Your job at University is to learn how to think. Just that. So you better study your favorite subject because if you don't, not only will you not learn how to think well, but you will be absolutely sick of whatever it is after three years." And I have not been able to stop thinking about art ever since.
Coco: What past jobs taught you the most and what did they teach you?
Claire: That is a tough question Coco. It is a very long time since my first job at Sotheby's in London, but I would say that the most important thing I got out of that experience was developing a good eye. That, and learning how to let people down gently - so many grizzly portraits found in English attics that, frankly, should have stayed buried because they will never be bought by anyone who is not directly related to the sitter. I am fiercely proud of being British, but we are not a beautiful people I'm afraid. And since then? I would say that I probably learnt the most in my most recent job as head of art services for the US and Europe for a large insurance company. We had to evacuate pictures as wildfires descended or save them in the aftermath of hurricane devastation. It was a terrifically steep learning curve for the first couple of years and tremendously rewarding to help people save entire collections for their families and for the future.
Coco: What 5 things can I do to protect my art?
Claire: Ok, one of the things my firm does is to map out the exposures surrounding a collection, and then suggest ways to close down the gaps in the protection program. And the first exposures we always rate are the top five causes of art loss - fire, water, theft, transit and bad curatorial management.
So here are five basic checks everyone can make for these five exposures:
1. Early fire detection is the key to avoiding a total, rather than a partial art loss. Do you have heat detectors in your kitchen, in your roof space, in your mechanical rooms and in your garage? These are the most common areas for a fire to start.
2. No art or fine furniture in the basement please. Not until Illinois and New York replace all of their Victorian drains.
3. Following any sort of major renovation or build out to your home, have the locks changed. It is unlikely your contractor will have had time to do background checks on every sub contractor he used.
4. If you are using an art shuttle to transport works you have recently purchased, check that there is no cross docking on route and ask for last on first off priority for your crate.
5. Check the traffic flows in your home. Are there fragile pieces in the same corridor that your deliveries come into or where your children play? Can you swap out three dimensional for two dimensional pieces, unframed contemporary canvases for those with a small slip frame protection? This will reduce surface scratching and gradual erosion at corners.
Coco: What 2 things must I do to protect my art?
Claire: First, put a transit protocol in place because most shipping losses are entirely preventable. A good transit protocol should have one person overseeing the shipment from nail to nail and testing arrangements for every step where a piece changes hands or they think a loss could occur. We have failed as custodians if a work is damaged in transit because it was cheaper to send it by UPS. They are not expecting you to use them for your fine and fragile works of art. Second, without proper documentation, pieces go missing over time; you can't secure insurance to the full value and provenance and authentication issues go unnoticed until the time of sale. Ask an art professional to assess your current papers and give you advice on getting an inventory because regardless of the physical protection in place it is critical to get independent, objective advice on the financial protection of your assets, and good documentation is the first step.
Coco: Who are your favorite artists?
Claire: Poussin, Ben Nicholson, Durer, Ken Price, and the fabulous Steffen Dam.
Coco: Your Website?
Claire: Is currently under construction. Great things come to those who wait.
Coco: Your contact info?
Claire: Keen bloggers are welcome to email questions to my Hotmail account at clairemarmion@hotmail.com. All other enquiries can be directed to the Haven Art Group at 312 375 3807.
