.svg){kind=icon}
.jpg)
.svg)
.png)
Art can hold significant personal, cultural, and financial value.
It can be collected over generations, acquired for enjoyment, or purchased with the expectation of a future return.
But understanding what an artwork is worth, and whether it can eventually be sold, requires a different kind of expertise from evaluating traditional financial assets.
In this episode of the Wealth Insider podcast, host Christian Lindvall speaks with Nicholas Robin and Jeppe Curth, Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Nordic Art Partners, about understanding, acquiring, and managing art as part of wider private wealth.
Drawing on their backgrounds in the international art market and collecting, Nicholas and Jeppe explain how specialist knowledge and market data can bring greater discipline to art acquisitions.
The conversation offers a firsthand perspective on the relationship between passion and investment, the risks buyers can overlook, and what wealth managers and family offices need to understand when art represents a meaningful part of a client’s wealth.
Bringing Investment Discipline to Art Buying
Nicholas and Jeppe arrived in the art world through different paths.
For Nicholas, the starting point was an interest in history, literature, and culture. Studying art history led to a career spanning galleries and international markets, including many years working in New York.
There, he encountered collectors who applied the same analytical approach to buying art that they brought to their other investments.
They wanted to understand what they were buying, why it mattered, and how it compared with the alternatives.
Jeppe’s interest developed through his own experience as a buyer.
After encountering an artwork with a substantial price tag, he searched for information that could explain its value. The lack of accessible information prompted a deeper interest in the data and transparency behind the market.
Their experiences led to a shared objective.
Nordic Art Partners would bring a more structured approach to art buying, combining an understanding of artistic quality with analysis of the market surrounding each acquisition.
Why the Purpose of Buying Matters
Before recommending an artwork, Nicholas and Jeppe start by understanding what the buyer wants to achieve.
Some clients want a collection they can enjoy at home and eventually pass on to their children.
Others are primarily interested in financial returns. Many sit somewhere between the two.
Those motivations influence what to buy, how long to hold it, and what expectations are reasonable.
An artwork acquired for personal enjoyment may be a worthwhile purchase even if its prospects for resale are limited. Buying with an investment objective requires closer attention to the market and potential exit.
The distinction can also be less clear than buyers initially expect.
Nicholas recalls a client who said financial returns were the only priority and that the artwork would remain in storage. When presented with a suitable option, the client rejected it because they did not like how it looked.
Even an investment-led decision can have a personal dimension.
For Nicholas and Jeppe, the important starting point is clarity about those preferences and the trade-offs involved.
Combining Art Expertise with Market Data
Evaluating art involves more than recognizing an artist’s name or appreciating the quality of a painting.
Nordic Art Partners considers trading history, liquidity, price development, and the wider network supporting an artist’s career.
Gallery representation, museum recognition, and collector interest can all help explain an artist’s position in the market.
Two artists may produce work of comparable quality but have very different commercial prospects because of the institutions and galleries supporting them.
Understanding that context forms part of the due diligence.
For Nicholas, who came from a traditional art history background, the value of data was not immediately obvious.
“Initially I was sceptical as to the role data could play.” - Nicholas Robin, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Nordic Art Partners
Over time, he came to see how analysis could substantiate judgments developed through years of looking at and evaluating art.
The combination allows the team to assess both the work itself and the market evidence behind it.
For wealth managers and family offices accustomed to evaluating other assets through data, that analysis also provides a more familiar basis for understanding an acquisition.
Choosing the Right Artist Is Only Part of the Decision
An artist’s reputation does not make every work equally desirable.
Different periods, styles, and bodies of work can carry different levels of historical importance and market demand.
For established artists with long careers, auction records and institutional recognition can help identify which works have attracted sustained interest.
With younger artists, that assessment can be more uncertain.
A buyer might acquire work from an artist who later becomes successful, only to find that collectors favor a different period of that artist’s practice.
“You chose the right artist but the wrong works.” - Jeppe Curth, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Nordic Art Partners
Nicholas and Jeppe also describe the risks associated with rapid price increases in the contemporary market.
An artist’s growing visibility can create opportunities, but a sharp rise in demand does not necessarily translate into lasting value.
Understanding the individual artwork, its place within an artist’s career, and the depth of its market is therefore central to the buying decision.
Buying Art Is Easier Than Selling It
One of the clearest themes in the conversation is the importance of liquidity.
An artwork may have an established market and a credible valuation without having a buyer ready to purchase it at that price.
Finding that buyer can take time.
“It’s easy to go out and buy. The difficult is to resell it.” - Jeppe Curth, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Nordic Art Partners
For an investment-led acquisition, Nicholas and Jeppe consider the potential resale channels from the outset.
That includes understanding who might buy the work, where it could be sold, and how broad the market is.
A work with international demand may offer access to a wider pool of buyers than one whose appeal is concentrated in a small local market.
Even then, the timing of a sale remains uncertain.
For wealth managers, this has practical implications. An estimated value does not mean that the same amount can be accessed within a predictable time frame.
The ability to hold an artwork while waiting for an appropriate opportunity to sell is part of the investment decision.
Building a Collection Around Risk and Time Horizon
Can the principles of portfolio construction be applied to art?
According to Nicholas and Jeppe, they can, provided the collection is built around clear objectives.
A budget can be divided across different artists, price points, and holding periods, with each acquisition serving a particular purpose.
Some works might be purchased with a potential sale in mind within a few years. Others may be intended as longer-term holdings.
The balance depends on the buyer’s appetite for risk, financial expectations, and personal interests.
This approach can differ from building a collection around a narrowly defined artistic theme.
A collection may have considerable cultural or historical significance without offering the resale opportunities an investment-focused buyer requires.
For Nordic Art Partners, the task is to understand which considerations matter most to each client and make recommendations accordingly.
What Wealth Managers Can Overlook
When art forms part of a client’s wealth, its purchase price is only one part of the picture.
Nicholas highlights the practical and administrative responsibilities that come with ownership.
Shipping, storage, specialist packing, and insurance can all add to the cost of holding a work.
Provenance, condition, and authenticity also require careful attention. Depending on the artist and the work, this may involve certificates, foundations, or an artist’s estate.
These details can affect both the ownership experience and a future sale.
Alongside those responsibilities sits the uncertainty around timing.
A client may own a valuable collection while having limited ability to turn it into cash quickly.
For financial professionals seeking a fuller understanding of a client’s wealth, these considerations make specialist input valuable.
The relationship extends beyond identifying an acquisition. It can also support ongoing valuation discussions, insurance arrangements, and decisions about when and how to sell.
Working with Collectors and Their Advisors
Nordic Art Partners typically begins with a conversation involving the client and their wealth manager or family office.
The team considers the client’s existing collection, experience, objectives, and intended use of the artworks.
Some acquisitions are destined for storage. Others will hang in a home or a business.
The process can move quickly, but finding the right first work can also take much longer.
“Sometimes it takes a week, sometimes it takes years to find the first piece.” - Jeppe Curth, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Nordic Art Partners
Over time, the relationship may include gallery visits, art fairs, and opportunities to learn more about the market.
For some clients, an initial financial interest develops into a broader personal interest in collecting.
The collaboration with financial advisors can continue through periodic reporting, education, and support with the practical aspects of ownership.
The result is an ongoing relationship shaped by the client’s circumstances and the role art plays within their wider wealth.
Topics Covered in This Episode
- Why Nordic Art Partners was established
- The relationship between collecting, passion, and investment
- How market data supports art evaluation
- The influence of galleries, museums, and collector demand
- Why individual artworks by the same artist can have different prospects
- Liquidity, resale channels, and the importance of an exit strategy
- Applying portfolio construction principles to an art collection
- Ownership costs, provenance, condition, and authenticity
- How specialist art advisors work with wealth managers and family offices
Watch the Full Episode
Watch the full conversation with Nicholas Robin and Jeppe Curth to explore how art can be evaluated as an asset, why liquidity matters, and how specialist expertise can support a broader understanding of private wealth.
About the Guests
Nicholas Robin and Jeppe Curth are Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Nordic Art Partners, advising collectors and working with family offices and financial institutions on the acquisition and management of art.
Nicholas brings decades of international art market experience, including running a gallery in New York. Jeppe’s background as a professional footballer, entrepreneur, and collector shaped his interest in making the art market more transparent and accessible. Together, they combine art expertise with market analysis to help clients make informed acquisition and ownership decisions.
About Wealth Insider
Wealth Insider is a podcast by Performativ exploring the strategies, technology, and people shaping the future of wealth management. Each episode features candid conversations with leaders across investment management, private banking, fintech, and financial regulation.
