Art & Cultural Property

36 Commercial’s premier art law practitioners provide clients with specialist expertise in all practical and legal issues associated with the ownership, sale, and movement of art across the world. We boast a market-leading capability at both silk and junior level in this niche area of practice.

Our Members are regularly instructed by collectors, galleries, museums and dealers, as well artists’ agents and auction houses. We also act for designers in the creative industries, as well as film makers, and clients in the architectural and interior design sectors.

36 Commercial’s art law team have considerable hands-on experience in the following areas:

Commercial transactions, including the purchase and sale of art and other cultural property
Litigation and ADR associated with art law, including actions for breach of contract, misrepresentation, and negligent misstatement
Disputes over ownership or value
Damage to goods
Liens over property
Issues relating to the export or import of goods, and associated regulatory issues
Artists and designers' rights
Intellectual property, branding and copyright
Moral rights and rights to resale royalties

Our art law team has extensive sector knowledge. Art law is a specialist area and our Members have immersed themselves in the arts and fully appreciate the needs and expectations of clients operating in this market.

With over 140 barristers, mediators and arbitrators (including 18 King's Counsel, 3 Senior Counsel from Ireland and South Africa, and a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India), as well as operations in Singapore and Hong Kong, The 36 Group a truly international multi-specialist set.

Services that we provide to our clients typically involve:

Art sales including transactions between dealers
Purchase loans or consignment to auction
Auction sales
Advice on legitimate ownership of an object, provenance and due diligence checks
Review and drafting of contracts covering exhibitions or loans or artist agent agreements for the representation of artists
Copyright and IP issues for artists and designers; including artists’ resale rights
Criminal matters, including theft, criminal damage, fakes and forgeries, and money laundering
Cultural heritage claims involving restitution
Import and export issues
Trading standards cases
Trusts, wills and probate issues concerning artwork
Tax issues