Working With Interior Designers and Architects on Art

The most common mistake is involving the art advisor after the design is fixed. By then walls are placed, lighting is wired and the chance to plan for particular works has passed. Early involvement costs little and prevents expensive changes.

Light and humidity are the main risks to most works in a home. Conservation guidance, such as that published by the American Institute for Conservation, stresses limiting light exposure and avoiding rapid swings in temperature and humidity. Many of those conditions are set by architectural decisions long before any art arrives.

Decisions where the advisor's input is most useful include:

• Wall positions and dimensions for significant or large works
• Window placement, glazing and ultraviolet filtering
• Picture lighting, circuits and fixture positions
• Structural reinforcement for heavy works and sculpture
• Access routes for large works through doors, stairs and lifts
• Heating, cooling and humidity control
• Security and alarm coverage

The clearest arrangements set out categories in writing. A common division has the advisor sourcing original works and editions intended as part of the collection, and the designer sourcing decorative objects, mirrors, textiles and furnishing accessories. The grey areas need an owner too: collectible design, photography, murals and site-specific commissions.

The order of decisions matters. Where significant works are involved, it generally works better for the design to respond to the art than for art to be chosen to match a scheme; a painting will usually outlast several redecorations. The designer's eye for scale and palette is still valuable, and good advisors seek it.

Existing relationships deserve a word. Designers and advisors each tend to have galleries and makers they work with regularly. That is often a strength, since trusted suppliers know the brief, but it can narrow the field. It is reasonable for the client to ask that options come from more than one source, and to know when a recommendation comes from a regular supplier.

The client should remain the decision-maker for every work, with the advisor and designer each giving a view and neither presenting a purchase as settled before the client has agreed to it.

Art budgets are best kept separate from the furniture and furnishings budget. Mixing them hides what is being spent on art and makes it easy for one to be cut quietly to fund the other.

Several costs fall between budgets and should be assigned early: framing, hanging hardware, installation, picture lighting, shipping, crating and transit insurance. If nobody owns them, they tend to appear late and unplanned.

Schedules differ as well. Construction runs to a programme; art acquisition does not. A work may be found early and need storage, or not found until after the family has moved in. Temporary hangs, loans or staging while the permanent collection is built can prevent rushed purchases made simply to fill walls by a deadline.

Each professional may be paid differently on art. Some interior designers buy through trade accounts and mark up items for clients; some advisors receive commissions from galleries; architects are usually fee-based. None of this is improper if it is disclosed, and codes of ethics such as that of the Association of Professional Art Advisors place weight on disclosure. The client should know how each person is paid on every art purchase.

Paperwork follows from that. Invoices for art should be issued by the seller in the client's name where possible, with provenance documents and certificates passed to the client rather than held in a designer's or advisor's file. That record is what insurers, heirs and future buyers will rely on.

Three questions are worth asking each party at the start. Will you receive a commission, discount or referral fee on any art purchase? Will invoices come from the seller or from you? Who keeps the documents? Clear answers early prevent awkward ones later.

Installation is where responsibilities most often blur. Significant works should be hung by experienced art handlers rather than general contractors, with condition checked on arrival and again once the work is in place. The advisor usually coordinates this for collection works; the designer for decorative pieces.

At handover, the collection record should capture each work's location, the hanging hardware used, lighting specifications and any conditions the installation imposes, such as works that must not be moved without handlers. That information is easily lost when the project team disbands.

Designers and architects often want to photograph finished projects for their portfolios. Where art is visible, the client's privacy and the artists' copyright both come into play, so permission to publish images should be agreed rather than assumed.