Art Basel 2026 once again brought together a highly international audience of collectors, galleries and art professionals, as well as representatives from museums and foundations. This year’s edition was notably marked by the launch of “Basel Exclusive”, a new initiative under which previously undisclosed major works were unveiled during the Preview opening. The fair reported strong sales, with reported highlights including Pablo Picasso’s Le peintre et son modèle dans un paysage (1963), offered with an asking price of USD 35 million. These results reaffirmed Art Basel’s role as a closely watched annual moment in the international art market [1].
For private collectors, however, the significance of such acquisitions extends beyond the sale itself. Each work acquired may become part of a collection whose value lies not only in its individual works, but also in its coherence, history and long-term purpose. As a collection grows, practical questions arise around cataloguing, condition reports, insurance, museum loans, collection management and, ultimately, passing works on to future generations [2].
The key question is therefore whether the collection should remain within the collector’s private estate or be entrusted to a structure capable of preserving its integrity beyond the collector’s lifetime.
The Succession Challenge for Private Art Collections
A privately held art collection is part of the collector’s personal estate. Under Swiss law, upon the collector’s death, the estate passes to the heirs as a whole (art. 560 Swiss Civil Code). Where there are several heirs, the collection will form part of the estate to be administered and divided among them, subject to the rules governing the community of heirs and partition (art. 602 and 604 Swiss Civil Code). If there is no heir, or no heir willing or able to continue the collector’s project, the issue is different but equally important: the collection may be left without a natural successor capable of preserving its coherence and purpose.
This may expose the collection to fragmentation. Heirs or successors may have different interests, different financial needs and different levels of attachment to the works. In addition, conservation, insurance, storage, valuation and administration costs, as well as debts of the estate and possible inheritance or gift tax considerations, may create liquidity pressure. These factors may ultimately lead to individual works being allocated separately, donated or sold, rather than preserved as a coherent whole.
Succession planning, whether by will or inheritance contract, can mitigate some of these risks, by allocating works, appointing an executor or setting directions for the division of the estate. However, it still operates within the estate and does not, by itself, create an independent structure responsible for preserving and managing the collection over the long term.
This is where the Swiss foundation becomes relevant: it can give the collection continuity beyond the collector, while anchoring its future in the collector’s artistic and cultural intentions.
Why a Swiss Foundation ?
Under Swiss law, a foundation is an independent legal entity created by dedicating assets to a specific purpose (art. 80 Swiss Civil Code).
Once transferred to the foundation, the artworks belong exclusively to the foundation and no longer form part of the collector’s personal estate. The collector gives up ownership of the transferred works and can no longer sell, recover or otherwise dispose of them as personal assets. The collection is placed in a separate legal structure dedicated to a purpose defined in advance [3]. Depending on the collector’s intentions, the foundation may be designed to preserve the collection as a whole, maintain its artistic coherence, make works accessible to the public through exhibitions or loans, make works available to museums or other cultural institutions, or support study and research. This may help reduce the risk of fragmentation and preserve the collection within a single, durable framework [4].
A foundation has no shareholders or members. The foundation board is responsible for administering the collection and implementing the founder’s intentions. Its composition is therefore central to the success of the structure: the founder may provide that the board should include persons with artistic, museum, financial or legal expertise. The founder may also reserve certain organisational rights, such as a seat on the board, the chairmanship or the right to appoint board members [5].
The foundation’s stability is one of its main advantages. It is registered in the Commercial Register (art. 81 para. 2 Swiss Civil Code). Its governing bodies cannot freely appropriate its assets, dissolve it or change its purpose. The foundation is subject to state supervision, which verifies that its assets are managed and used consistently with the foundation deed and statutes (art. 84 Swiss Civil Code). Amendments to the purpose or dissolution are possible only under the conditions provided by law and with the involvement of the competent authority (art. 85 et seq. and 88 Swiss Civil Code). These features make the foundation particularly suited to protecting the integrity of a collection over time.
The structure also has constraints. A foundation dedicated to an art collection must be endowed with sufficient assets. The collection itself may be the core asset, but liquid resources are necessary to finance conservation, insurance, storage, administration, documentation, research, exhibitions and other activities required by the foundation’s purpose. In practice, Swiss supervisory practice refers to an initial cash contribution of CHF 50,000 at the time of constitution. Beyond this initial contribution, the foundation deed, statutes or internal regulations should also anticipate how these activities will be funded, whether through further donations, investment income, partnerships or, where appropriate, carefully defined deaccessioning rules [6].
Finally, where the foundation genuinely pursues a public or charitable cultural purpose, for example by making the collection accessible to the public, it may also qualify for tax exemption. This is not automatic: the exemption depends on the foundation’s purpose, the irrevocable dedication of its assets and its actual activities [7]. The tax treatment of the transfer and continued management of the collection should therefore be reviewed separately when the structure is established.
Establishing the foundation during life or upon death
A collector may establish the foundation during their lifetime by public deed or provide for its creation by a disposition upon death, namely by will or inheritance contract (art. 81 Swiss Civil Code).
1. Establishing the foundation during the collector’s lifetime
Allows the founder to select the initial board, define its operating principles and participate in the first years of the foundation’s activities. This may be particularly useful where the collector wishes to test the governance of the foundation, organise relationships with museums or advisers, and ensure that the collection is administered in accordance with his or her intentions. The principal consequence is that ownership of the transferred artworks immediately passes to the foundation, and the collector can no longer dispose of them as personal assets [8].
2. A foundation created by disposition upon death
Allows the collector to retain ownership and full freedom of disposal during their lifetime. This may be appropriate where the collector is not ready to transfer the works during life, or where the foundation is intended to take over the collection only after death, including where there is no heir willing or able to continue the collector’s project. However, the essential elements of the foundation - including its purpose, assets and governance - must be sufficiently defined in advance, and the collector will not be able to supervise how the structure operates in practice [9].
In both cases, the creation of the foundation must be considered in light of Swiss mandatory succession rules. Where protected heirs exist, the transfer of artworks to the foundation - whether during lifetime or upon death - may be challenged if it infringes their reserved shares (art. 82, 470 et seq., 522 et seq. and 527 Swiss Civil Code) [10].
Where the foundation qualifies as tax-exempt because it pursues a genuine public or charitable cultural purpose, transfers to the foundation may benefit from favourable tax treatment, including in relation to gifts or succession, depending on the applicable cantonal rules and the conditions of the exemption [11].
Key considerations and conclusion
A Swiss foundation can offer a particularly stable framework for preserving an art collection beyond the collector’s lifetime. By transferring ownership of the works to an independent entity governed by a defined purpose, the collector can reduce the risk of fragmentation and determine how the collection should be preserved, managed and used in the future.
This solution nevertheless requires careful planning:
- Ownership and flexibility. Once the works have been transferred, they belong exclusively to the foundation. The founder can no longer sell, pledge, recover or otherwise dispose of them as personal assets, and any material change to the foundation’s purpose or organisation remains subject to Swiss foundation law and the involvement of the competent authority.
- Succession and funding. The transfer of artworks to a foundation, whether during lifetime or upon death, must be assessed in light of mandatory Swiss succession rules, particularly where protected heirs exist or where a significant part of the collector’s wealth is concentrated in the collection (art. 82, 470 et seq., 522 et seq. and 527 Swiss Civil Code). The foundation must also receive sufficient financial resources, since a valuable collection may generate significant costs without producing liquidity.
- Governance. The foundation’s long-term success will depend on the composition and renewal of its board and on the ability of future board members to implement the founder’s vision.
- Tax treatment. Any favourable treatment will depend on the foundation’s actual public-interest purpose, the irrevocable allocation of its assets and the activities it effectively carries out.
A foundation is therefore not a simple continuation of private ownership under a different legal form. It is most appropriate where the collector is prepared to transform a private asset into an autonomous and lasting artistic or cultural project.
Early planning gives the collector greater scope to define the foundation’s purpose, appoint its first board and ensure that the structure has the resources required to preserve the collection over time.
At lecocqassociate, we advise private clients, collectors and families on the legal structuring, governance and transmission of art collections.
If you would like more information on how these considerations may apply to your collection or succession planning, please contact our team. We would be happy to assist you.
References
[1] Art Basel, Art Basel 2026 closes with strong sales and global engagement as Basel Exclusive launches and Zero 10 makes European debut, 21 June 2026, available online: https://www.artbasel.com/stories/art-basel-2026-closes-with-strong-sales-and-global-engagement;
[2] Art Basel, The hidden work behind great art collections, 26 November 2025, available online: https://www.artbasel.com/stories/art-market-collections-digital-preservation-cataloging;
[3] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1098 et seq., p. 299 et seq.;
[4] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1070, p. 294 ; N.1190 et seq., p. 317 et seq.;
[5] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1108 et seq., p. 301 et seq.; N.1195 and 1196, p. 318-319;
[6] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1103 and 1104, p. 300-301 ; N. 1194, p. 318;
[7] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1126 et seq., p. 305-307;
[8] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1195 and 1196, p. 318-319;
[9] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1201, p. 320;
[10] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1199 and 1202, p. 319-320;
[11] Anne Laure Bandle / Marc-André Renold, Droit de l’art et des biens culturels, 2022, N. 1072, p. 294-295.
Camille Sicard Fouard
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