
The Artists’ Market
31 January 2025
artgeneve, Palexpo, Geneva
10:00 – 15:00 pm CET, in person only
The 9th edition of the RAM annual conference is dedicated to artists – the most important player in the art market. Their creativity, expression and vision inspires and speaks across generations and time…but to succeed their artwork, must be valued, explained, exhibited and promoted.
Our expert speakers will address the following topics and questions through a practical lens:
- Artwork commissions to contracts, pricing and sale restrictions;
- Existing risks for artists navigating an uncertain and evolving market and the role other actors can play;
- Building a responsible art market to support artists;
- Non-resale clauses: a barrier or a necessary protection for artists?
- Speculation and its impact on the sustainability of an artist’s career;
- and many more.
The full program is available for download here.
Images by Léo Paschoud



























Speakers
Sarah Allen

Sarah Allen has been the Head of Research at Hauser & Wirth for the past 10 years and is based in London. She trained as an art and architectural historian at Pomona College (BA) and the Courtauld Institute of Art (MA).
At Hauser & Wirth, Sarah is responsible for the due diligence on secondary market works of art. She also undertakes art market analysis and valuations, and leads the gallery’s team of art historians and writers. Sarah serves on the Advisory Board of RAM and has a special interest in issues pertaining to authenticity and liability.
Anne Laure Bandle

Anne Laure Bandle is an attorney-at-law at the law fim Borel & Barbey in Geneva where she advises clients in matters related to works of art, entertainment, copyright, contracts, estate planning, foundations and trusts. Anne Laure is a lecturer in copyright, art and entertainment law at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, a lecturer in art and philanthropy at the University of Geneva and a guest lecturer in cultural heritage and art law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Moreover, Anne Laure is the director of the Art Law Foundation, a foundation that aims to promote and coordinate the work and research in the field of art law. In particular, it supports the research and teaching activities of the Art-Law Centre.
Anne Laure is a member of the Task Force of the Responsible Art Market Initiative (RAM), the executive committee of the Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA), the UK board of the Professional Advisors to the International Art Market (PAIAM), the board of Fotostiftung Schweiz as well as of the executive committee of the Photo Elysée (formerly Musée de l’Elysée) young patrons club.
She holds a PhD in law from the University of Geneva. Together with Marc-André Renold, she wrote a reference work on art law and cultural heritage law (“Droit de l’art et des biens culturels”) published with Helbing Lichtenhahn in 2022. She is a regular speaker at international conferences and frequently publishes on matters related to her fields of expertise. Anne Laure has been recognized as an expert in the field of art and cultural heritage law by Chambers and Partners each year since the beginning of the ranking in 2019.
Gemma Broughall

Gemma is a Senior Associate in the Disputes and Investigations group at Taylor Wessing LLP. She specialises in complex, international, high value disputes with particular expertise in international arbitration, including both investor-state arbitration and commercial arbitration. Gemma has a keen interest in art law and has written for the Art Antiquity and Law journal, published by the Institute of Art and Law. She also worked on the leading Supreme Court case of Lucasfilm Limited v Ainsworth [2011] UKSC 39.
Gemma holds a degree in Modern Languages (French and Italian) from the University of Exeter and graduated with Distinction from BPP Law School, London. She is a member of the Art Lawyers Association.
Natalia Faekova

Natalia is a Senior Associate and solicitor advocate at Taylor Wessing LLP, specialising in arbitration. She has extensive experience handling high-stakes international disputes, including commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration, fraud cases, and mediation. Natalia is particularly passionate about art law and frequently publishes articles on the subject.
She holds a degree in Law and European Law from Queen Mary University of London, an LLM from University College London (UCL), and a Diploma in Art Law from the Institute of Art and Law. She is a member of the Art Lawyers Association. Before embarking on her legal career, she served as a Detective in the Metropolitan Police in London for ten years, where she also gained valuable experience working in art theft investigations.
Mathilde Heaton

Mathilde Heaton is General Counsel, at PHILLIPS Auctioneers. She combines her passion for art and law by overseeing the legal aspects of PHILLIPS’ activities in the UK, Europe, Middle East & Asia and as a member of PHILLIPS’ Fiduciary Services team.
She helped launch the Responsible Art Market Initiative (“RAM”) in 2017 and is a member of RAM’s Advisory Board and Task Force. She also leads RAM’s London Committee.
Dual qualified in English and French law and having worked in London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva, Mathilde has a unique, international knowledge of art law and the art market. Senior legal counsel at Christie’s for 7 years, during her time in Asia, Mathilde was involved in establishing Christie’s auction and private sale operations in mainland China. Based in Paris in 2015 she worked on the joint acquisition by the French Republic and Dutch State of two portraits by Rembrandt, the first joint acquisition of artwork by two States.
In 2017 Mathilde founded an art law consultancy combining this with research and teaching at the University of Geneva’s Art-Law Centre.
Before moving into art law, Mathilde was a Legal Director at the law firm DLA Piper specializing in intellectual property, technology and commercial law.
Martin Heller

Born 1961 in Gelsenkirchen Germany, After some time served in the German Navy studies of law and history in Würzburg and Kiel, PhD with summa cum laude in Law in 1991. Legal training in Düsseldorf and Paris. member of the bar in 1992, founding his own law firm in Berlin in 1994 being more and more involved in the Berlin art scene, consulting artists and galleries and serving since then in many functions at Kunst-Werke Berlin eV (KW) and Berlin Biennale with the Gallery Weekend berlin having been founded in his office.
Introducing mentorship programs at art academies world wide and since 2014 after leaving the formal structure of the law firm practicing his advisory as an independent consultant and mediator to artists (with a specialty on building up studio structure and public or private commissions), galleries and institutions world wide, co-founder of the platform TheArtists in 2021 and as such invited to build up the “lumbung Gallery” a project of documents fifteen.
Very much engaged in finding new or better ways to structure and organize the economy of art and artists, mainly in the first market sector with a strong emphasis on the artists practices and necessities.
Laura Gowen

Laura Gowen graduated from the Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy, Faculty of Literature and Philosophy (including art history).
After seven years working in finance and organization with Prime Spa, Milan, a 200-strong holding company belonging to the FIAT group, she moved to Switzerland, married and raised a family of five children.
Laura is currently a private art dealer based in Geneva with some 20 years experience in art dealing. In 2006, she created her own company, Art Connection S.A., a Swiss limited liability company with a purposely discreet and low profile approach, dealing in the secondary market primarily with modern and contemporary high value artworks. In 2009, Laura co-founded Faye Fleming & Partner (formerly Arquebuse), a newly established art gallery operating uniquely in the primary art market and representing international, emerging artists.
In 2010, Laura became the sole owner of the gallery that was renamed Gowen Contemporary. GOWEN, as it is known today, has a robust exhibition program across its two gallery spaces in Geneva, as well as a consistent presence at key international art fairs.
Since 2022, Laura has been a regular guest speaker at HEG, School of Business Administration of the HES, University of Applied Sciences in Geneva.
Luc Meier

Luc Meier is the director of La Becque | Résidence d’artistes, an institution active since 2018 and based in La Tour-de-Peilz in the Canton of Vaud.
La Becque pays particular attention to artistic projects that explore themes linked to nature, the environment and technology, contemporary notions that are increasingly inescapable and inseparable.
From 2008 to 2012, Luc developed the art-technology program run jointly by swissnex San Francisco and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia in California. Returning to Switzerland in 2013, he coordinated the curatorial development of ArtLab at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and was its program director until June 2018. Since August 2018, Luc Meier has been La Becque’s first director.
As part of its main residency program, as well as through numerous complementary programs developed in collaboration with institutions such as Pro Helvetia, public art universties in French-speaking Switzerland (ECAL, EDHEA) or museum institutions such as Plateforme 10 in Lausanne, La Becque has welcomed over 250 artists in full residency and more than 500 guests in total during its first five years of operation (2019-2024).
La Becque is dedicated to supporting artistic projects during their development phase rather than fostering “finished” cultural products and extracting “content” out of its artists in residence. It lets artists determine how they work with the institution, and maintains long-term collaborative relationships with its residents long after their initial stay.
Anne-Sophie Nardon

Anne-Sophie Nardon is the co-founder and managing partner of Borghese Associés, a boutique law firm based in Paris and specialized in art law. Part of her work is to represent and advise artists, auction houses, dealers and art galleries in art law related matters such as sales, consignment agreements, provenance and authenticity issues, as well as compliance policies.
Olaf Nicolai

Olaf Nicolai, a German artist, studied German Literature and Philology in Leipzig, Vienna, and Budapest, earning a PhD on “Die Wiener Gruppe.” Renowned for his interdisciplinary approach, Nicolai explores space, time, and corporeality, blending science, humanities, and aesthetics into his art. His works often merge archival memory, readymades, and crafted elements, creating narratives that recontextualize perception and challenge habitual perspectives.
Nicolai’s accolades include the “Wilhelm-Loth-Preis” (2018), the “Karl-Sczuka-Preis für Radiokunst” (2017) for his DOCUMENTA 14 project, and the “Kunstpreis der Stadt Wolfsburg” (2002). In 2014, he created a memorial at Ballhausplatz, Vienna, and designed the artistic interiors of the Bauhaus Dessau’s “Meisterhäuser.”
Astrid Rosetti Firmenich

With over a decade of expertise in post-war and contemporary art sales, Astrid Rosetti Firmenich advises private and institutional clients worldwide on collecting and art investment.
As the founder of Rosetti Firmenich Art Advisory, she provides independent and impartial advice for navigating transactions and acquisitions in the art market. Her career spans roles at Sotheby’s and Deutsche Bank.
In addition to lecturing at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and Kingston University, Astrid writes for Bilan magazine, offering expert insights on global art market trends.
Benjamin Spiers

Benjamin Spiers was born in Plymouth, in 1972. He studied at Falmouth University and later Goldsmiths in London.
His paintings pair methodical skills, with a mastery of styles that include surrealism, abstraction and cubism, bringing alive a world of hypnagogic fears and fantasies to his canvasses. His subjects are seemingly at ease with their outlandish grotesque countenances, their bulging necks, twisted limbs, and vibrant eyes beckon the viewer into the deranged magical world where they reside. In 2006 Spiers’ was awarded the John Moore’s Painting Prize from the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, England.
Last year Spiers’ work appeared in an exhibition in chi K11 Art Museum in Shanghai, China. Spiers’ is currently participating in the Zuecca Project’s Residency in Venice, Italy. Benjamin Spiers’ work is held in the permanent collections of Museu Inima De Paula, Brazil; G+ Art Museum, Wuyi City, China.
Johan Nauckhoff

Johan Nauckhoff is a Senior Business Getter and specialist in Modern and Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s. He works closely with Swiss and international collectors on their acquisitions and sales with the auction house. Prior to Sotheby’s, he worked for 12 years at Gagosian where he was most recently a Director. In this role was involved in the organisation of numerous exhibitions, both of living artists and historical presentations, art fairs and secondary market sales. He was instrumental in expanding the gallery’s operation to Gstaad in 2022.
With the support of
With the collaboration of