The permanent record of a private collection.

NYC DC Paris Private Collection Archiving Est. 2025
The Wittkop Collection · 2024 01

Most private collections are never properly documented. The works exist.
The story behind them doesn't.

CURA73 is a practice built to preserve that record, and to publish it to the standard of the works themselves.

Photography and cataloguing on location Original curatorial essay, written for the collection Hardbound publication in limited edition
Selected Work

Every book is written for one collection.
No two are the same.

Every image in each gallery is from an actual engagement.

Location withheld by request

A Private Collection

A forty-year accumulation of American and European painting. The collection spans abstraction and figuration, connected not by movement but by sustained attention to paint as material. Documented across multiple residences.

Duration40 years of collecting
Works58 objects, multiple residences
TierEdition
Edition
New York

The Wittkop Collection

Street art and post-graffiti works collected over two decades, anchored by a significant body of Shepard Fairey prints. A secondary collection of vintage mechanical watches runs alongside in a companion volume, each with its own essay.

Duration20 years of collecting
WorksContemporary works & watches
TierEdition
Edition
Boston

The Mallon Collection

Japanese prints, ceramics, and lacquerware assembled over a lifetime of careful looking. A collection with extraordinary internal coherence, each piece in dialogue with the others. The book is organised as a single sustained argument about beauty as attention.

CategoryJapanese works & ceramics
TierRegister
Register
What We Archive

Every category of object, documented to the same standard.

Paintings

Works on paper

Sculpture

Installation

Photography

Prints & editions

Ceramics

Decorative arts

Watches

Jewellery

Collectables

Modern culture

Paintings & Works on Paper
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The Book

Every engagement ends with a book. Not a catalogue, not an inventory . a hardbound publication conceived, written, and photographed as the permanent record of what you've spent your life collecting.

Works documented for the Wittkop Collection, New York

What's inside every book

Four sections, each doing distinct work.

01 · Front Matter

Essay

An original curatorial text by Izaak Jordan — a genuine critical essay treating the collection as the cultural object it is. Written fresh for every engagement, never templated.

2,000 – 12,000 words depending on tier

02 · Plate Section

Photography

Full-bleed plates shot on the Fujifilm GFX medium format system at archival resolution. ICC colour-profiled to museum reproduction standard under controlled studio light.

80 – 180 plates · full bleed · 330 × 279mm

03 · Catalogue Section

Record

A complete object-by-object record: artist, title, date, medium, dimensions, condition, framing, signature, and provenance. The authoritative reference for every work in the collection.

One entry per work · formatted for insurance and estate use

04 · The Object Itself

Binding

Museum-standard cloth binding, foil-stamped spine and cover, acid-free paper, and a numbered colophon signed by Izaak Jordan. Delivered in a custom slipcase on Edition tier and above.

2 – 20 copies depending on tier · case bound · numbered

The archive outlasts everything.

Most collections are underdocumented. When something happens, whether a claim, an inheritance, or a sale, that gap becomes expensive. This is what we exist to prevent.

01  ·  Legacy

Your collection outlasts your memory

The stories behind individual works: how they were found, what they meant, how they relate to each other. These disappear without a record. The book preserves not just what you collected, but the intelligence behind it.

02  ·  Insurance

Claims without documentation routinely fail

Fine art insurers require proof of condition, value, and ownership at the time of loss. Most collectors cannot provide it. Ours is produced at exactly the standard your insurer and attorney need, and hope they never have to use.

03  ·  Estate Planning

Art is the hardest asset to transfer

Contested valuations. Disputed authenticity. Unclear provenance. A rigorous, independent archive short-circuits all of it, giving heirs, attorneys, and courts a complete record that leaves nothing open to argument.

The Process

From the first conversation to the finished book.

Four stages. Measured, not rushed. Clear at every step what is being made and what is being asked of you.

I
Consultation

Conversation

A conversation about the collection: how it was built, what matters, what the book should do. In person where possible.

II
Documentation

The Shoot

Photography on location with a Fujifilm GFX medium format system. Condition and provenance recorded alongside each work.

III
Essay & Edit

Writing

An original curatorial text written fresh for the collection. Plates edited, sequenced, and colour-profiled to museum standard.

IV
Delivery

The Book

Proofed, case-bound, numbered, signed. Delivered with a private digital archive and any additional copies for heirs or counsel.

The Photographer

Shot to museum standard.

Izaak Jordan spent twenty years as a Creative Director across DDB, Leo Burnett, and major in-house studios, overseeing photography production at the level the industry demands. That background is the foundation of CURA73: the same discipline, applied to a small number of private collections each year.

Every work is photographed using the Fujifilm GFX medium format system, chosen for its ability to render fine surface detail, brushwork, and material texture at a resolution that holds up to full-bleed print reproduction.

Lighting is built around 97 CRI fixtures calibrated to daylight. At that accuracy, pigment reads as pigment. The camera cannot lie about colour, and neither does the book.

Our colour workflow is profiled end-to-end, from capture through retouching to press-ready output. Every plate is delivered ICC-profiled to the print standard used by major museum publishers.

Pronounced "Curate"  ·  New York  ·  Est. 2025

Engagements

How we work.

Four engagements. One standard of work.

Register

A single residence, a single session. The collection established in a book.

  • Up to 50 works, all categories
  • Medium format archival masters
  • ~80pp hardbound book, 2 copies
  • Condition notes per work
  • Private digital catalogue
Most Selected

Edition

An original essay and a publication designed to museum catalogue standard.

  • Up to 60 works, all categories
  • Medium format archival masters + curated edit
  • ~150pp book, 8 copies + slipcase
  • Original essay, ~3,000 words
  • Full provenance and condition notes
  • Private digital catalogue

Archive

Multi-session work, works in storage, and a publication built for estate and institutional use.

  • Up to 80 works, all categories
  • Multi-session documentation
  • ~200pp book, 12 copies
  • Extended essay, ~5,000 words + appendix
  • Full provenance research and condition reporting
  • Comprehensive digital catalogue
  • Museum-standard binding, numbered edition

Commission

An annual retainer for collectors whose holdings span multiple residences and decades.

  • Unlimited scope, all locations globally
  • All object categories including mixed collections
  • Multi-year documentation schedule
  • 250–350pp publication, up to 20 copies
  • Scholarly monograph, 8,000–12,000 words
  • Annual update sessions and new acquisition documentation
  • Insurance-ready archival masters with embedded metadata
  • Integration with existing collection management software

Enquire for arrangement

The First Step

Begin a consultation.

Every engagement begins with a conversation, either a call or a visit to walk the collection in person. Izaak listens to how the collection was built, what matters about it, and what the book should do.

Consultations are complimentary and without obligation, whether you are documenting for yourself, for your estate, or commissioning a book for someone whose collection deserves it.

A small number of collectors each year. Enquiries are held in confidence.

Fine art bailee, professional liability, and general liability insurance