Simon Oldfield is Founding Partner of Simon Oldfield & Associates, where he leads the practice’s cultural strategy, curatorial projects and work with private collections. His career spans more than two decades across the international art world, combining deep art-market experience with curatorial, commercial and legal expertise.
Simon works internationally with significant private collectors, artists, estates and cultural institutions. He conceived and led the Arts & Culture Programme at Wolterton Hall, establishing a new cultural programme for the historic Norfolk estate and delivering major exhibitions by Phyllida Barlow, Maggi Hambling, Ro Robertson and Daisy Parris. He previously advised Grosvenor Estate on the cultural reimagining of heritage buildings on Mount Street and Carlos Place, and is closely involved in the cultural and civic life of Bloomsbury.
Simon also advises private collectors internationally on building, developing, acquiring and selling significant works and collections. Earlier in his career, he founded and ran Simon Oldfield Gallery, where his programme combined established artists with emerging talent and included one of the earliest solo exhibitions of paintings by Michael Armitage. He has delivered curatorial programmes in collaboration with major institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts, Tate and Arts Council England.
He is co-founder of Pindrop with Elizabeth Day, a cultural platform bringing together leading artists, writers and actors through literature, performance and conversation. Pindrop developed a long-running programme with the Royal Academy of Arts, and its work was brought together in A Short Affair, uniting art and literature through contributions from bestselling writers and leading artists. The book was compiled and edited by Simon and published by Simon & Schuster in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts.
Alongside his art-world practice, Simon is an experienced art lawyer, advising collectors, galleries, artists, estates and cultural organisations on complex transactions and strategic matters. His legal and commercial experience provides a distinctive perspective on the wider work of Simon Oldfield & Associates, particularly where cultural ambition intersects with transactions, governance, commercial structure and delivery.
Simon is also a prominent public speaker and contributor on art, culture and the creative industries. Speaking highlights include Deloitte’s Art & Finance Conference at the Vatican, the London School of Economics, Kunsthalle Zürich, Art Basel, Amazon, BMW Welt, the Society of London Art Dealers, Laguna Art Museum in California and Hauser & Wirth.
He has been a guest on Talk Art, Monocle 24, Artlogic Connects and Waterstones Live, and has contributed to publications including Monocle, Harper’s Bazaar* and *FT Weekend. He has served on judging panels for the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, British Book Awards, Caitlin Art Prize and Jerwood Drawing Prize, and provided expert opinion to a House of Lords cross-party Parliamentary inquiry into the impact of technology on the creative industries. Simon sits on the Philanthropy Board of Art UK.