Permanent capital
Every work preserved, insured and often shared with the public through museum loans. No exit timetable forces a resale.
Strategy
A discreet alternative to the auction room.
For collectors, estates, advisors and galleries: a private, professional buyer that decides with its own permanent capital, pays promptly and holds for the long term.
01The asset class
Cultural capital, held with discipline.
We believe the finest art and collectibles belong in a long-term portfolio for the same reason they belong in a museum: they are scarce, they are irreplaceable, and their significance compounds over time.
Art and collectibles can serve as a store of value with low correlation to public markets, and as a tangible store of wealth that is not tied to any one currency. They also carry what collectors call the aesthetic dividend: the return of living with, lending and sharing great objects.
We bring to this asset class the same rigor we bring to private equity. Every acquisition is underwritten on four questions: is it significant, is it authentic, is its history clean, and will there be a deep market for it when the time comes to sell? Taste matters, but it never substitutes for evidence.
Our capital is permanent. No outside investor is waiting for a distribution, and no fixed fund lives force us to sell in a soft season. That lets us buy the best examples when they become available and sell, when we choose to, on our own timetable and through the channel that serves the work best.
02The provenance standard
We do not compromise on history.
A work’s history is part of its value. A gap in that history is a risk we decline to price.
We conduct rigorous due diligence on title history to confirm that every work is free of restitution claims, liens and authenticity doubts. We require an unbroken chain of title, fully documented, including literature and exhibition history, and a certificate of authenticity from a recognized foundation or expert.
Title and ownership
We trace ownership from the artist or maker to the present, check stolen-art and loss registries, and confirm there are no liens, security interests or competing claims.
Restitution and cultural property
We review the ownership history with particular care across the years of wartime and postwar displacement, and confirm that cultural property was exported and imported lawfully.
Authenticity
We rely on the recognized foundation, catalogue raisonné committee or acknowledged expert for the artist or maker, and on scientific analysis where it adds certainty.
Condition
We require a condition report for every acquisition and look for museum quality: original surfaces, original components and honest, reversible conservation.
03Discretion
Private by design.
We respect the privacy of families selling heirlooms and transact privately. A private treaty sale lets an owner set the terms of the conversation rather than leave them to a salesroom.
No public headlines
A private treaty sale is not announced, and the price is not published.
No “burned” lots
A work that fails to sell at auction can be harder to sell again for some time; a private conversation carries no such risk.
No exposure
If a deal isn’t reached, nobody needs to know the work was offered.
No financing contingencies
We buy with our own capital, so an agreed price is not subject to a buyer arranging financing.
04How we buy
Three routes to a decision.
Our criteria apply to secondary-market acquisitions of $250K–$10M+ per work or item.
Private treaty
Our primary route. We negotiate directly with the owner or their advisor, agree a price and pay promptly, as principal.
Auction guarantees
For owners who prefer the salesroom, we can support a consignment with a guarantee, giving the seller certainty of outcome before the sale.
Estate liquidations
We work with executors, trustees and their advisors to place a collection, in whole or in part, with discretion and a clear timetable.
05Stewardship
A collection is managed, not stored.
We handle the full operational stack ourselves, so that every work and object is preserved, documented and, where it serves the work, seen.
Care and conservation
Climate-controlled storage, specialist conservation that respects originality, and condition records updated over time.
Insurance and logistics
Insurance structured for each category, and insured, professional transport whenever a work moves.
Museum lending
We coordinate museum loans and exhibitions to broaden public access to culture, and keep the exhibition history complete.
Deliberate sales
When we refine the collection, we time sales and select channels deliberately, in step with tax, estate and philanthropic planning.
Collectibles in use
We keep collectibles in operating condition, as temporary custodians of craft and engineering history. A collector automobile is driven and maintained; a watch is serviced by specialists; a cellar is kept at a constant temperature and recorded.
06Emerging patronage
Supporting the future.
We allocate a portion of our capital to identifying and supporting the next generation of artists who are challenging conventions and creating new visual languages.
Our emerging-artist patronage acquires directly from primary galleries and degree shows and is not subject to these thresholds.
Buying early supports an artist’s career at the moment it matters most, and offers meaningful upside if the work later enters the secondary market. We buy for the long term, and we do not resell a young artist’s work quickly.
Living artists under 40
We look for artists who are challenging conventions and creating new visual languages, and we acquire from their galleries on the galleries’ terms.
07Why Caldrion
Why sellers choose Caldrion.
Sellers often care where a work goes. We hold for the long term, commit to the highest standard of care, and give owners a buyer who can say yes without asking anyone else.
Certainty of close
Acting as principal, we buy with our own capital and pay promptly, with no financing contingencies or long settlement periods.
Direct decision-makers
You deal directly with the people who decide. Decisions are made by a small internal investment committee that meets weekly. We need no outside approvals and no fundraising to close.
Art & Collectibles
Placing a work privately?
Tell us about the work, its provenance and its condition. We aim to give initial feedback within 72 hours of receiving a complete package.