By Anna Siegismund, Senior Asset Manager
How do I select art for Timeless? And what happens behind the scenes after a work joins our platform? My trip to Hamburg and Cologne offers a glimpse: two art fairs, three auction houses and plenty of opportunities to discover art, maintain relationships and explore potential sales partnerships.
At the Affordable Art Fair, I met a potential photography supplier at his stand. There, I took a closer look at two works by Elliott Erwitt: Marilyn Monroe in the 16 × 20-inch format and Dog Legs in the larger 20 × 24-inch format.
A closer look: Marilyn Monroe (16 × 20 inches) and Dog Legs (20 × 24 inches).
I assess print quality, condition, edition details, signature and provenance. I then compare the asking prices with comparable works. Only when the work, quality and price convince me do I decide whether a photograph is worth considering for our Timeless users.
To see more from our visit to the Affordable Art Fair in Hamburg, check out our Instagram reel.
A visit to Auktionshaus Stahl. Founded in 1978, this family-run Hamburg auction house near the Outer Alster specialises in modern and contemporary art, among other fields. My visit was also about relationships and potential sales channels for our portfolio: which works would suit the house and its buyers?
About the house: Auktionshaus Stahl, Hamburg.
At Van Ham and Art Cologne: viewing originals and comparing the market.
The comparisons continued at Van Ham and Art Cologne. Seeing an original offers a different understanding of its surface, colour and scale from viewing it on a screen. I want to know whether a work still holds my attention on a second look: how distinctive is its visual language? How has it been made? Where does it sit within the artist’s practice?
For Timeless, I assess provenance, condition and price alongside artistic quality. I also consider which buyers might be interested in a work in the future, and which sales channel could suit it.
That is why networking was an important part of this trip. My conversations with the auction houses also explored potential exit partnerships for our existing portfolio. Personal relationships can help us place works thoughtfully and identify suitable opportunities to sell.
To close the trip: the Sotheby’s reception at Palais Oppenheim.
The reception at Sotheby’s brought my trip to a close, offering time to strengthen relationships and explore potential collaborations further. For me, discovering art, assessing works carefully and developing routes to sale belong together.
The following works are part of our existing selection. They illustrate what I look for across different artistic practices.
Unique work · Water-based paint and acrylic on canvas
Pop culture with painterly substance
What I like about Crumbsuckers is the tension between its familiar imagery and its painterly execution. What initially looks like a collection of stickers is entirely hand-painted on canvas. The work combines pop-cultural imagery with a visual language shaped by Foss’ connections to New York’s skateboarding, music and underground scenes.
The investment rationale: This unique work offers the opportunity to participate in an early example from Foss’ Sticker Paintings. For me, its appeal lies in the combination of immediately accessible imagery and a distinctive body of work. If this series becomes more significant within his practice, that could also strengthen interest in early examples. That is why I consider the development of the series alongside his exhibition activity when selecting a work.
I also continue to follow Foss’ artistic development. His recent exhibitions include the solo show Dream a Little Dream at Future FWD in New York. Presentations like this give me a reason to keep looking at his new work and the evolution of his visual language.
Supplier: M&A Arts. Work details and exhibition: M&A Arts, Erik Foss Current Offering. Artwork image: M&A Arts. Selection and commentary: Anna Siegismund.
Unique work · Acrylic on canvas · 213.5 × 162.5 cm
Looking at an artist afresh
What particularly interests me about Clyde Hopkins is the renewed attention being paid to an already substantial body of work. Tree Painting No. 2 combines gestural freedom with a carefully structured composition. This large-scale unique painting from 1981 makes the tension between movement and order immediately tangible.
The investment rationale: The opportunity here lies in the potential reappraisal of an existing body of work. This large-scale unique painting offers a way into Hopkins’ work of the early 1980s. Renewed curatorial attention can encourage collectors to look at the artist afresh. I selected this painting because it combines that perspective with compelling painterly quality. The key question remains whether this interest translates into actual demand for his work.
Upsilon Gallery in London is currently showing Hopkins alongside John Hoyland in The wind blows high in space. Curated by Philip Dodd, former Director of London’s ICA, the exhibition runs until 14 November 2026. It explores landscape, weather and inner and outer pictorial spaces. These themes also offer a way into this painting.
Supplier: Adam Baldwin. Work details and image: Timeless, Tree Painting No. 2. Exhibition: Upsilon Gallery, exhibition programme. Selection and commentary: Anna Siegismund.
Unique work · Oil on canvas · 61 × 51 cm
Images that preserve stories
Dominique Fung’s paintings invite a longer look. Historical objects become carriers of memory, identity and cultural history. Familiar forms suddenly seem alive and enigmatic. It was this combination of painterly quality and narrative depth that drew me to Good Fortune Vessel.
The investment rationale: Fung combines a recognisable visual world with an international gallery presence and institutional interest. Good Fortune Vessel offers the opportunity to participate in a unique work from this artistic development. Exhibitions and museum projects can introduce her work to new collectors. For my selection, the vessel motif matters because it makes her exploration of cultural memory tangible. I see the opportunity in the combination of the work’s quality and further international visibility.
Her solo exhibition The Trace of Things is currently on view at MASSIMODECARLO in Milan until 18 November 2026. ICA San Francisco has announced a presentation with Heidi Lau for 2027. Fung will show her monumental painting A Tale of Ancestral Memories alongside four newly commissioned paintings, among other works. These are relevant milestones as I follow her artistic development.
Supplier: Adam Baldwin. Work details and image: Timeless. Exhibitions: MASSIMODECARLO and ICA San Francisco. Selection and commentary: Anna Siegismund.
Unique work · Oil on French linen · 130 × 110 cm
When painting becomes sculpture
What fascinates me about Antony Micallef is how physical painting can become. Oil paint builds into a dense, almost sculptural surface. The portrait moves between recognition and dissolution. It is this tension that makes the work so compelling to me.
The investment rationale: This large-scale unique work demonstrates the sculptural approach to painting that characterises Micallef’s practice. His distinctive technique meets the attention generated by a major museum exhibition. For me, this is an interesting combination: a characteristic work by an artist whose practice is reaching a broader audience. That visibility can introduce new collectors to his work. I selected this painting because it combines that context with a powerful presence of its own.
MUCA in Munich is presenting his first major survey exhibition, The Future Is Stupid, extended until 4 April 2027. It brings together more than fifty works spanning over twenty years. His participation in What Next, organised by M&A Arts in Lausanne from March 2027, has also been announced.
Which artwork would you choose? Discover the four artworks and their stories in the app.
Supplier: M&A Arts. Work details, image and Lausanne announcement: Timeless. Museum exhibition: MUCA. Travel images: Anna Siegismund’s photographs; portraits lightly retouched. Information as of 9 November 2026.
This article is for information only and does not constitute investment advice. Art can rise or fall in value, and a resale may take time. Exhibitions and institutional attention do not guarantee an increase in value. Please refer to the relevant offering documents.
