Sotheby's Institute of Art, London

Evolving from a small connoisseurship program begun by Sotheby's Auction House in 1969 Sotheby's Institute is now the leader in art business education and object based learning. Our faculty represent the best of the art world helping students master the unique forces at play at the intersection of art and commerce. Sotheby’s Institute of Art offers a unique academic approach to studying the global art market and also provides exposure to specialized topics that are central to the history and ongoing development of the international art world. Our faculty members are leading scholars and art world professionals who are experts in these subjects.

At Sotheby’s Institute, courses that cover the art market and the history of modern and contemporary art look at the fair as a phenomenon that has accompanied art's commercial rise over the past 150 years. In the last 20 years, the rise of the art fair has gone hand in hand with the rise of the international biennial - two platforms that have substantially increased the visibility and reach of contemporary art and artists. Indeed, the biennial and the fair have much to do with our understanding of what makes art 'contemporary.

Art Law is a key component of the teaching in the Art Business MA programs in London, New York and Los Angeles and is part of the Core Curriculum offered across all of the Master’s programs. Instructors are dynamic practitioners in the field, bringing up-to-the-minute, real-life examples and experience directly into the classroom. Courses are taught not with the traditional rote case-study approach, but with a focus on essential legal principals and their applications to current issues. With our instructors’ standing within the Bar and other professional associations, Sotheby’s Institute students also attend exclusive professional symposia as well as courtroom discussions, which introduce them into the field within the course of their studies. Prominent speakers from the legal and art spheres are invited to guest lecture at the Institute, providing students with exposure to lawyers, gallerists, government officials and museum directors involved with art law. We believe this foundation within the context of the developing global art market equips students with vital knowledge for successful careers in the art world.

We study the markets of countries in Asia, South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe that previously belonged to the so-called ‘second’ or ‘third’ world – places that have experienced significant wealth creation in recent years leading to high-growth economies. Many of these countries have seen a surge in art collecting as their nouveaux riches acquire art—for reasons ranging from a passion for visual culture to social prestige, philanthropy and investment.

We deal with these emerging markets across a number of disciplines: institutional, economic, financial, legal and ethical. In addition to organizing field study trips to important new centers—such as Hong Kong, Mexico City and Dubai—SIA offers specialized electives on new and emerging art markets and incorporates into its curricula the most up-to-date research on the global art market as well as guest lecturers from all over the world.

Object-based study involves close and immersive investigation of the physical characteristics of an object - its form, structure, size, weight, subject matter. It entails detailed consideration of materials, techniques and methods of production, the condition of the art work and possible alteration over time. The specificity and materiality of the individual object is key to understanding the art work; who made it and when, why it was made, and what has happened subsequently in its history. First-hand experience of art works is crucial to this approach, hence the emphasis placed at Sotheby’s Institute of Art on handling sessions and also study visits to museums, galleries, fairs, the auction houses, artists’ studios and other venues, to see (and where possible touch) objects. The experience gained from this art work focused approach speaks powerfully to vital art world skills such as object-led research, cataloging, attribution and authentication.