Bruno W. Boesch studied law in Geneva and New York. He practiced as a lawyer in Geneva, New York and Zurich, before establishing the office of Froriep, Swiss lawyers, in London, where he was a partner and subsequently of counsel until early 2022, registered as a European Lawyer with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. He is a member of the Swiss Bar Association (FSA/SAV).

After an early practice devoted to corporate transactions, finance and litigation, including acting as an arbitrator in international commercial and investment arbitration, since the late 1990s Bruno has been advising private clients and families on wealth management and estate planning issues, nowadays primarily in relation to their art and cultural property collections, and on their philanthropic ventures.

His broad experience includes: the sale and purchase of entire ensembles of fine art and archeological objects, the negotiation of special auction consignment terms; dealing with “sleepers”, including a major Post-Impressionist work in an estate division; cross-border succession disputes; XXc painting, Roman bronze, medieval ivory and XVIIIc furniture authenticity disputes; title disputes; temporary and permanent export licenses, anti-seizure guarantees; museum loans and gifts, cooperation agreements with public institutions; trust structures holding art and other cultural property; a public-private partnership arrangement for building a museum and display of collections; the organisation and conduct of foundations for the preservation and promotion of fine art and archeological object collections; the development of a legacy programme and a marketing policy for the estate of a major modern artist; Pan-European art-related philanthropy.

Bruno will continue drawing on the resources of MLL Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Froriep, a leading Swiss law firm, with offices in Zurich, Geneva, Zug, Lausanne, London and Madrid, or any other appropriate law firm where required.

Bruno speaks and writes on various collector related issues. He wrote, ‘Transparency and Fiduciary Duties in the Art Trade – Trust No One’, in Art & Law 2015, Schriftenreihe Kultur und Recht 7, Stämpfli Verlag, 2015.  He is the editor of The Art Collecting Legal Handbook, 2nd edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2016 . “An impressive new publication designed to help art aficionados unravel the legal intricacies of the art world. It should prove invaluable for collectors and dealers worldwide.” said The Art Newspaper, upon publication of the first edition.

Bruno speaks French, English and German. He also speaks Swedish, and a modicum of Italian, as he lived in Rome for one year, when he wrote a novel, Le Cardinal Epinglé, published in 1998.

Photo: © Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, Genève. Photographe: Grégory Maillot/Agence point-of-views.ch