Andrew Bruce

Andrew has a particular interest and expertise in matters relating to art. He is described as a “go-to counsel for detailed legal analysis in complex art matters” who “provides clear and reasoned advice that is easily digestible for a client. He is aware of the commercial nuances of the art market and feeds this seamlessly into his advice.” Many of the cases on which Andrew works, whether they concern artworks by Modigliani, Picasso, Richter, or Henry Moore, religious artefacts, collections of wine, or priceless frescoes, are sensitive and confidential.

Recent Cases

• Hulcote Trading Inc v Bury Art Investment Ltd – Andrew represents the Claimant in ongoing proceedings to recover various Spanish Old Master sculptures and paintings around the world.
• Andrew acted for the claimed owner of a rare Anatolian Qur’an scroll, which had been consigned to Christie’s in 2010, and in respect of which there was a title dispute. The claim settled in 2022/2023.
• Andrew represented an antiques dealer in respect of a claim arising out of his acquisition of a Kirman ‘Vase’ Rug Fragment. The claim settled in 2020/2021, following which the rug was sold for over £0.5m.
• Thwaytes v Sotheby’s [2015] EWHC 36 (Ch) – Andrew was junior counsel in (probably the most important art case to come to trial in the last decade), which the Court held that Sotheby’s was not professionally negligent in its research and advice in respect of a painting of ‘The Cardsharps’ in 2006. The painting was subsequently sold as a 17th-Century copy, but later exhibited as and attributed to the hand of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (known as Caravaggio).
• Andrew represented the Claimants in a claim against a leading auction house for negligence and breach of duty as to the research carried out and advice provided in relation to a painting now thought to be by Titian. The painting was sold by the Claimants through the Defendant in 1994 for £8,000, but was offered for sale at auction in January 2009 with an estimate of $4-6 million. The proceedings were issued in 2007, settling the day before trial (four years later), and the dispute attracted extensive media interest based on the Court papers. (Instructed by Boodle Hatfield LLP).