Stunning paintings, lithographs, sculptures, and more command attention in saloons, staterooms, and foyers. There’s just one problem. These fine pieces are susceptible to humidity and temperature changes onboard, along with errant spills and other accidental damage. Yacht art management is therefore just as crucial as washing down the decks and tidying relaxation areas. This brings up yet another problem, though. Crew often lack related training. Therefore, two specialists in fine art have joined together to teach crew not just how to care properly for these piece, but also how to appreciate them.
The specialists are Pandora Art Services, based in the UK, and Yacht Art Management, based in Germany. Pandora Art Services’ partner Pandora Mather-Lees is an art historian and art market consultant. Her experience in educating art collectors’ support teams led her to realize superyacht crew needed training, too. Specifically, she partnered with ACREW Yachting to do so. (On a related subject, Mather-Lees penned “Protecting Art Aboard Superyachts” last year.) Meanwhile, Yacht Art Management’s owner, Tilman Kriesel, is an art advisor. He and his partner have seen first-hand the damage resulting from lack of crew knowledge.
Together, Pandora Art Services and Yacht Art Management will teach art handling, as well as climate and placement awareness. In addition, courses cover insurance, export sanctions risk, and even CITIES regulations. CITIES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement ensuring that global trade of wild animal and plant specimens doesn’t threaten their survival.
Overall, Yacht Art Management and Pandora Art Services want to ensure crew don’t just understand and appreciate the aesthetic and financial value. They want to underscore how a loss impacts both art history and culture.
Training is tailored to each crew, offered onboard, in a classroom, or on a one-to-one consultancy basis.
“My partner Astor and I have known Pandora for some time now and are very happy to welcome Pandora Art Services training as part of our offer,” Kriesel says. Mather-Lees adds, “I liked how Tilman was developing his very personal service and had respect for his work and background in the field of art.” She further says, “This additional collaboration offers me the opportunity to widen the scope of training.”
Yacht Art Management yachtartmanagement.com
Leave a Reply