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Art works such as statues, paintings, monumental works, drawings, etc. are priceless. The loss of value due to physical damage during transport or handling can be enormous. The risks are related to poor practices such as inadequate packaging, poor foam or poor storage conditions.

Whether you are a gallery, a museum, a collector, a private individual or an artist, it is not compulsory to take out insurance if you are already covered by your conventional insurance in your basic contract. In this case, remember to check the amount up to which you are covered and the existence of references such as the guarantee of the work during the transport by a professional or the coverage of your works according to the mode of transport (road, air or sea).

If this is not enough, you can take out insurance tailored to your project, such as comprehensive insurance:
Nail-to-nail insurance: the guarantee covers the art work from point A, the place of collection, to point B, the place of exhibition, including transport, handling, storage in warehouses and on the exhibition site.

“Simple stay” insurance:  the work is insured only on the place of the exhibition.

In this case, you can also take out Ad Valorem insurance.
Ad Valorem insurance: Ad Valorem insurance, which means “according to value”, covers the actual declared value of your property or art work in the event of loss or accident.
As a carrier, Bovis Transports has the possibility to subscribe it directly with an insurance company.

In accordance with the LOTI law, the liability is limited to 23 €/kg, without being able to exceed 750 kg per parcel (refer to the general conditions of sale).
It is essential to insure yourself as soon as you ship an art work or a valuable item that exceeds the limits of liability.

For any transport of art works, it is recommended to use a company specialising in the transfer of art works and having expertise in the area.

As a partner of art professionals, Bovis Fine Art can provide you with contacts capable of advising you and establishing a complete estimate including the best options to ensure the safety of your works throughout your project.

The international shipping of works must be done according to the rules of the art to preserve their integrity. Transport poses risks to these fragile, sometimes heavy and imposing parts.

The logistics stage, the choice of packaging and crates, the type of handling, the mode of shipping and transport, or even the administrative and customs formalities are all questions to ask before sending one or more works abroad.

It is for this reason that the transport of objects and works of art requires specialized know-how and support from trained professionals.

The answers to these questions will of course depend on the nature of your works of art, their size, their weight, their degree of fragility, their value (are your works qualified as national treasure or cultural property), but also on the country of destination and the duration of the journey.

Our teams are at your disposal and are qualified to support you and guarantee a serene shipment of your works abroad:

Information, advice on safe transport arrangements

Choosing the most suitable mode of transport according to the nature of the work and your budget

Packing and crating, unpacking

Storage of your works in dedicated warehouses

Assistance in the administrative preparation and customs formalities, procedures for obtaining your documents, CITES formalities, “fine art” formalities allowing the free movement of works abroad (obtaining exit permits, export permits)

Securing air cargo

Air cargo supervision

Conveyor assistance

The risks to be prevented when moving works are primarily material, as damage can have irreversible consequences. The cause may be accidental during transport with shocks and vibrations, or during handling, espacially during loading and unloading. Damage can also have a climatic origin, when exposed to too high or too low a temperature or high humidity.

In order to avoid at all cost the risks of breakage but also of theft during the journey or the handling of works, the use of a company specialized in handling and transporting works of art provides a guarantee.

You can count on the companions of Bovis Fine Art, a company specializing in handling and transfer of works of art, for a secure move:

Relocation perfectly organized in advance by our account managers: information, advice on the choice of packing techniques and mode of transport

Handling, packing, installation and hanging by qualified and regularly trained “artwork” handlers and packers

Transport, delivery, lifting and craning carried out using adapted equipment and vehicles

An insurance contract covering transport risks of a works of arst is also recommended

When moving collections, Bovis Fine Art’s priority missions are logistics organization, security and discretion.

Thus, whether it is a question of moving works to storage, lending between two museums, hanging or installing entire collections or even organizing national or international exhibitions, anticipation and logistical preparation are the key words.

Depending on the scope of the project and the quantity of work to be moved, the work may have to be started several years in advance.

• Logistics resources

A technical visit is essential to assess the number of parts to be moved, the study of the places of departure and arrival, the constraints of difficult access and the state of the environment, the distance to be covered or the climatic and geographical conditions during the journey.

• The protection and security of works

To effectively protect the works, their handling and movement must be adapted to each piece:

Is it a painting, a sculpture, a fine work, a monumental one?

What material is it made of, what is its size, its weight?

How fragile is it? Will it be necessary to avoid thermal shock and provide constant temperature and humidity, even during transport? Avoid physical shocks? Adapt the grip according to specific areas and points of weakness?

So many questions that our account managers are responsible for answering with a choice of packaging and crating, handling, mode of transport and material resources perfectly suited to the specificities of your project.

• Discretion

In order to avoid the risk of theft, our various departments are committed to ensuring the secure transport of your works of art in complete confidentiality and discretion.

Due to the extreme fragility and the inestimable value of works and objects of art, any move requires precision and delicate manipulation. This attention must be paid both to small and finely crafted works as well as to large or even monumental works.

Before starting a handling operation such as lifting, we advise you to make a thorough assessment of the condition of the work. A preliminary study carried out by a professional aims to verify that the object is not too fragile to be moved, but also to ensure, if the work is transported, that its transport has not damaged it.

Then, the main precaution recommended before lifting is a perfect preparation, slinging and fixing stage of the work which must necessarily be adapted to the nature of the object to be lifted. To do this, our teams evaluate elements such as the type of work (painting, sculpture, archaeological work, installations, contemporary monumental works, models, etc.), the materials that compose it (marble, bronze, painted wood), its age and its state of preservation, its dimensions and its weight.

The lifting of some very heavy and bulky works also requires a specific methodology, an first examination to evaluate, among other things, essential data such as:

The distribution of the masses to be lifted, the strength and points of weakness of the object Access and size constraints of the environment

Choosing the most suitable lifting and handling equipment

Our teams have specific handling and lifting equipment available for this purpose, depending on the constraints of the project.

Trained and experienced, our BOVIS FINE ART companions master the technical gesture to ensure in complete safety both the heavy handling of monumental and fragile works as well as the fine and delicate handling of precious objects.

Due to the fragility of the works of art and their priceless value, the storage conditions must be optimal in order to preserve their integrity.

The risks of damage can arise during handling at the time of archiving but also during the storage period in the event of a sudden change in the environment which could prove particularly harmful to the works.

We therefore advise you first of all to be very careful about the choice of packaging.

In order to minimize the risks associated with handling, we also recommend that you ensure the organization of movement inside the building during installation and the choice of a suitable arrangement of the works before storage. These steps must be carefully planned in advance.

Make sure to avoid thermal and hygrometric shock, as well as overexposure to light or dust.

To optimize the protection of your works and precious objects, you will need to opt for fully dedicated rooms and buildings, heated and air-conditioned, and allowing a constant and custom humidity level. Finally, since safety is the main criterion to respect when storing works, make sure that buildings are equipped with efficient security systems, such as intrusion and fire alarms.

To meet the growing demands for storage space on the part of museums and actors in the art world, Bovis Fine Art, expert for works of art logistics, has significant storage capacities throughout France and abroad. Our human and material resources allow us to guarantee our clients optimal archiving, conservation and storage conditions for the conservation of their works.

When moving a work such as a sculpture, we often wonder what methods to apply to preserve the integrity of the work and limit any risk of degradation. Many clients wonder how to properly pack the work, choose the right mode of transport, find a expert in handling a work of art …

Whether you are a museum, a collector or an individual, an art gallery, an auction house or an artist, we recommend that you pay the greatest attention to packaging.

This must absolutely be adapted to the nature of the work. The sculptures, unlike the paintings, can be of very diverse natures, antique, contemporary, small or monumental, more or less heavy. They can be made of various materials and present different states of conservation … The packaging must also take into account the transport plan. Is this a movement of work indoors or outdoors? Is the delivery planned for a short or a long time? What are the expected rainfall temperature conditions during the journey? …

In many cases, the technique of soft packing, simple (2 layers of protection) or reinforced (3 layers of protection), is sufficient. However, for sculptures requiring greater protection, there are many different types of crates adapted to for the type of work and its destination.

Once the statue is packed in the rules of the art, its loading, its transport in a dedicated vehicle, then its unloading are carried out with care according to a perfectly organized methodology upstream.

Our Bovis Fine Art teams are trained and expert to support you throughout the project of transporting your sculpture.

You move and need to entrust your valuables, fragile objects, crockery and glassware, chandeliers, period furniture, mirrors, or even works of art, paintings, sculptures… to trusted staff? The solution for a serene move is to call on professionals specialized in the transport of works of art and precious objects.

Specialists in fine and delicate handling, the movers of precious objects are trained and experienced to take the utmost care of your personal belongings at every step of the move, from the dismantling of your furniture, the removal of art pieces attached to the wall or ceiling, the packaging and custom crates of any type of fragile object, then their transport and unloading until they are carefully placed in your new home. Organized, the teams have acquired the know-how and responsiveness allowing you to carry out your move on very short deadlines, whatever the nature of your objects to be moved, their weight, their dimensions and their degree of fragility.

These specialized companies have specific handling and lifting equipment, designed to move heavy or bulky objects. The vehicles are also fully adapted to any type of transport and to the most difficult accesses. With customs expertise and experience, these professionals are also able to handle both local and international moves. Calling on a specialized transporter for your high-end move brings you the guarantee of a complete, rigorous service, in strict compliance with safety rules. A partner of art professionals for more than 40 years, Bovis Fine Art provides interlocutors capable of advising you and establishing a complete quote including the best options for your high-end moving project.