Tania Buckrell Pos Advises on Fine Art

Tania Buckrell Pos regards art as essential to the human experience. As she points out, art is everywhere, seen in everything from an iPhone to an automobile to a house. In her immediate family, including among husband Michael and sons Theo and Oscar, an oft-repeated motto is, “Art is life, and life is art.” She adds, “Life is rather dull without it.”

Buckrell Pos started out as an artist herself, studying art history at York University in Ontario, Canada, where her undergraduate work included painting. Many of her large abstract creations have been on exhibit, and a few are on permanent display in Canada’s capital city.

“One day I quit [painting] cold turkey,” she says, when she moved to the United Kingdom to study for her master’s degree in fine and decorative arts. “I realized I did not need to paint anymore.” Instead, Buckrell Pos spent her spare time in London studying art, as well as many weekends traveling to see more art in nearby European cities. “You observe so much of life through art,” she says. “I began to realize how interconnected it is to everyday life and how trends often start because of art.”

In the early 2000s, when internet-based companies were burgeoning, Buckrell Pos settled in London and worked for an online art company, where she became well-acquainted with the commercial side of the industry. During those dot-com years, Buckrell Pos witnessed the art world becoming, in her words, properly global. Ultra-high-net-worth individuals from Russia, the Middle East, and Asia were seeking to purchase trophy pieces.

Buckrell Pos recognized she was perfectly positioned to start her own consulting business within the world of buying and selling art. She carved out a niche with her London-based company, Arts & Management International LLP, educating and advising private clients on the newly emerging global art market. To avoid any partiality, she does not hold inventory, unlike dealers who historically own and sell their own stock.

In an industry where authenticity, condition, and provenance drive price, her job requires copious amounts of research confirming the title and exhibit history of artwork clients might be interested in. Understanding market indicators and trusting her business instincts, Buckrell Pos has brokered many multimillion-dollar deals, often through auction.

In 2008, Buckrell Pos stunned the art world when she placed the winning bid of $80.4 million for French painter Claude Monet’s Le Bassin aux Nymphéas (1919) at an Impressionist & Modern Art sale at Christie’s in London. It was a world record. Buckrell Pos quickly made headlines for purchasing the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction on behalf of an anonymous client, far exceeding the expected selling price. The underbidder for the rare signed and completed Monet—whose companion piece hangs in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York—was Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.

As further proof of her status as a major player in the art world, Buckrell Pos was the first to be offered a work by Leonardo da Vinci following the authentication process. That sale of Salvator Mundi at Christie’s auction house in New York shattered records, selling for $450.3 million. The oil painting on a walnut panel, believed to be completed around 1500, is likely the last work done by da Vinci. Despite not closing the deal due to pricing, she was able to gain access for a client who, “would have never otherwise been offered the work,” she says. “Opening doors is an important aspect of what I do.”

Using that skill is how Buckrell Pos helped some Dutch Canadian clients, who own a home in South Florida, build their art collection. The couple were on a waitlist to purchase a work by then-emerging artist Michael Armitage. As waitlists for such artists can be lengthy, Buckrell Pos suggested her clients purchase two of Armitage’s pieces, gifting one to the National Gallery of Canada. While it helped expedite their purchase, Buckrell Pos says “It was a feel-good donation that increased the artist’s exposure.”

About their experience working with Buckrell Pos, Chantal Voorbraak recounts her late husband’s time with the art expert as an “amazing joy,” recalling how she helped develop his interest in art, as well as their travels to fairs and museums together. Voorbraak explains that when he had the funds to invest in art and became seriously interested in it, Buckrell Pos was their “rubber stamp” for purchases. Art turned out to be a great investment—long term—for them. When it came time for the family to downsize their estate, Buckrell Pos assisted with the sale of some of their collection. She points out there are three reasons people sell art: disaster, divorce, or death. “You can’t carve up a masterpiece,” she quips. It turns out the Armitage was the best performing piece in the family’s portfolio, securing a massive equity multiple in price when it sold. “It’s a good beginning and ending story,” she says.

As a trusted advisor for RBC, one of the largest banks in the world with branches in Southwest Florida, Buckrell Pos regularly visits her parents, who own a vacation home in the area, as well as clients. She was recently hired as the art advisor for a couple who are building a “stunning home in a beautiful neighborhood in Naples,” she reports. She will help them source the art for their new residence, which is expected to be completed within the next two years. Buckrell Pos is excited to take her new Naples clients on a journey of education and discovery as they assemble their collection.

While she would be honored to set another record-breaking sale within the art world, for Buckrell Pos, authentic success is helping someone acquire a piece of art they simply cannot live without.

So You Want to Start Collecting …

An art advisor for 35 years, Tania Buckrell Pos helps clients who are often intimidated by the process of collecting art to navigate what she considers a largely unregulated and opaque industry. When you decide to buy art, Buckrell Pos says, “you position yourself on a never-ending learning curve.”

She suggests beginning by training your eye. Visit nearby museums, art galleries, and exhibitions. “The more you see, the more you will want to see,” she says. When traveling, visit local art museums and galleries or even travel solely for the purpose of seeing art. “Go to Art Basel in Miami—the whole world descends on this fair,” she points out.

The highly esteemed international art fair founded in Basel, Switzerland, in 1970 brings together prominent artists, galleries, curators, and collectors, offering a platform for innovative and groundbreaking works. Besides Miami Beach, there are Art Basel events in Hong Kong and Paris. From these larger fairs, others are spawned. Miami hosts numerous satellite art fairs happening concurrently with Art Basel. Buckrell Pos recommends visiting them as well.

Other advice: Read about art. Subscribe to artnet.com and The Art Newspaper, resources that cover the international art world. When ready to make a purchase, Buckrell Pos is adamant about one thing: “Buy what you love—because you might live with it for years to come.”

Story Credits:

Shot on location at the home of Chantal Voorbraak, Weston.

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