Victoria Anstead

Driving my work is a passion and dedication to share the power, potential and joy of art – in its most subjective, sublime sense as well as its financial aspect.

For more than twenty five years I have expertly guided seasoned as well as beginning collectors through the ever-changing landscape of modern and contemporary art as advisor, educator and curator.

At the heart of my work is the desire to open my clients’ eyes a bit wider, to help them see connections between seemingly disparate dots and to marry their own stories to those of extraordinary creators they may - or may not - already know.

Building on a professional career as an international banker, I draw upon the relationships I have formed over the years with leading art galleries, auction houses, cultural institutions and artists around the world to devise a collecting strategy specific to each client.

As acquisition is just the beginning, I advise my clients on issues including collection management, conservation, insurance and exhibition strategy.

Over the years I have guided the acquisition of master works including Picasso, Matisse, Degas, Ruscha and Serra. Just as frequently I have delighted in introducing my clients to international mid-career and emerging artists in all media, many of whom have gone on to significant acclaim.

My work is global and I bring a deep knowledge of artists, institutions and events in the Middle East, India and Africa as well as the US and EU.

I am fluent in the language and practice of both the creative and the business worlds with a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. I attained LEED-AP from the US Green Building Council in 2009.

In 2009 I founded TACTICAL AESTHETICS a creative consultancy that produces projects in the public realm. I have advised on major master plans for the creation of and re-imagining of districts and cities in the US and abroad such as New York City’s Water Street and East River Esplanade and Bahrain Bay in Manama, Bahrain.

I am a frequent speaker, and have presented at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History, New York Academy of Sciences and Center for Architecture, New York on topics ranging from the origins of abstraction to how visual imagery affects decision-making around climate change.