Art and Cultural Property Law
UK Guide 2025 : UK-wide
Band 2
Email address
[email protected]Contact number
+44 20 7597 6364About
Provided by Withers LLP
Our global art law practice has decades of experience representing successful individuals, artists, collectors, dealers, galleries and museums. With specialist lawyers working across Europe, the US and Asia, our clients benefit from our network of international offices and we are ideally placed to provide cross-border solutions to deals or disputes.
Renowned in the art market for our industry knowledge and technical depth, we work on a full range of contentious and non-contentious art matters, from restitution, to disputes on title, through to contested provenance and contractual issues. In Europe we have a specialist team focusing on the recovery of art assets, as well as experts championing the use of arbitration in the art world. We also have a long-established reputation in tax and estate planning work, notably for owners of major art collections.
Chambers Review
Withers has a multidisciplinary art and cultural property practice and advises clients on a broad range of matters. Its work includes assisting with tax issues arising during purchases and disputes concerning provenance, title and contracts.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"Where there are art clients that have truly challenging cross-border issues to deal with, Withers is capable of dealing with any and most issues that may come up."
"It is not just a mathematical exercise; they have a team able to deal with the client's personality and the specifics of the situation."
"They have well-qualified specialists able to address a case with things coming in from all sorts of jurisdictions. They have the language skills and the legal nimbleness to cover every base."
"Where there are art clients that have truly challenging cross-border issues to deal with, Withers is capable of dealing with any and most issues that may come up."
"It is not just a mathematical exercise; they have a team able to deal with the client's personality and the specifics of the situation."
"They have well-qualified specialists able to address a case with things coming in from all sorts of jurisdictions. They have the language skills and the legal nimbleness to cover every base."
Notable Practitioners
Sarah Barker advises luxury brands, as well as collectors, galleries and artists. Her art practice includes transactional matters, such as loans, acquisitions and disposals.
"Sarah Barker is a great lawyer who is really good at understanding the strategy and tactics of the case."
"She knows an infinite amount about art and can uniquely marry industry knowledge and the legal side."
"Sarah is an art expert. She can deliver the technical capability, but every client is different, and her capacity to deal with the underlying client is also key."
Eleni Polycarpou's practice includes litigation and matters such as title disputes and international restitution matters.
"She is great from a strategy point of view. Eleni asks the right questions and sees from a client perspective what the next steps should be."
"Eleni is one of the leading lights in the field and has good relationships with auction houses. She is also nice to work with, very hard-working and good with clients."
Ranked Lawyers at
Withers LLP
UK-wide