Art Market Startups With Future Social Influence
In today’s society, technology plays an important role in people’s lives and in businesses and organizations around the world. There is no doubt that the advancement of technology has had an impact on art and in turn, the arts have impacted communities.
Innovative social entrepreneurs and mission-driven businesses are using data, social media, mobile apps, and other technologies to better solve problems around the world and reach more people and communities. Let’s take a look at startups in the art sector which not only make waves by solving big problems, but also bring solutions with future social influences.
Where shall we begin?
Artprice is a database which provides unique access to fine art auction data. According to us, it is the most comprehensive source of information from the secondary art market. It is a great marketplace for art market professionals, which offers complementary services that make the art market more transparent and accessible. Artprice’s systematic policy of purchasing manuscripts and catalogues as well as their cooperation with auction houses allows them to present auction data and democratize the secondary art market. Unfortunately, Artprice’s solution does not reflect the situation on the primary art market, which is a tricky situation for young artists, emerging galleries or independent curators. Nevertheless, we have to take our hat off for Thierry Ehrmann, the Founder and CEO of Artprice and his sincere effort towards making the art market transparent.
ARTSTAQ has recently been called the NASDAQ for art and is the first online system for art quotation, automated rating and real-time trading, based on principles applied to capital markets. An integral part of its comprehensive system is several unique features and three independent platforms for BigData, Rating and Art Exchange. What we really appreciate about ARTSTAQ’s model is that the solution reflects problems of all market participants, helps emerging artists, galleries and curators, and brings new big players to the art market such as global banks and their clients (investors). If we take into account that they have started on emerging markets to encourage national culture through the arts, then ARTSTAQ is set to be the startup with the most future social influence within the art sector. More about ARTSTAQ below.
Artsy wants to help people discover art. Artsy features the world’s leading galleries, museum collections, foundations, artist estates, art fairs, and benefit auctions, all in one place. We appreciate that their solution does not want to isolate galleries from their business model as we can see in other e-commerce or auction startups. It is a shame that Artsy focuses primarily on leading galleries on the main art markets and their model is not focused on helping emerging galleries and artists. Anyway, their effort is heading in the right direction.
Google Open Gallery allows anyone with “cultural content” — whether they are vintage artwork or historical documents — to create online exhibitions. Google’s been working with museums worldwide for the past few years to make those collections available on the Cultural Institute. Open Gallery is available to anyone who wants to organize and publish an exhibition.
Saatchi Art is heralded as the ultimate marketplace for original paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture and other artworks that connects artists with art lovers. Naturally, it is clear that its e-commerce model bypasses classical market players such as galleries; nevertheless, we evaluate that Saatchi has courage for using its strong brand to give all emerging artists a shot regardless of the quality of works.
Vastari is an online platform that connects museum curators to private collectors. The idea stems from the need for museums to borrow artworks for exhibition from private collections and the desire for collectors to lend their pieces to prestigious museums worldwide. It is one of the few solutions that are trying to help the curator’s community.
Fin-Art-Tech Startup To Watch In 2016
Frankly, we are sure that everybody has been positively surprised, when ARTSTAQ, London-based startup revealed its new system for art quotation, automated rating and real-time trading and simultaneously opened two an independent trading platforms artex500.com and bolsaarte.com. It is obvious that ARTSTAQ introduces us to a blue ocean solution which could enable one of the biggest fundamental changes within the history of the art market. Let’s dive into ARTSTAQ’s solutions with more detail.
Problems:
- Artists — lack of audience; setting the fair value of their works; limited resources for development; low chance for global success
- Galleries — need more buyers; building global brand is costly; limited knowledge of the digital world
- Curators — want a greater role in the art market; limited requests for independent art reviews; limited resources for independence
- Financial sector — lack of confidence to invest in art due to opaque market and poor data; missing trading principles in art market due to the absence of regulatory standards
- Investors, Collectors — need more open data to build trust; ask for higher liquidity; require additional services in one system
Solutions:
Serves as the platform for higher market transparency in the art market. ARTSTAQ built a unique system for collecting data from the primary market which is used for art quotation, automated rating and real-time trading. All data is opened and all information is published to all market participants. Furthermore, data is used for galleries’ business support and artists’ personal development.
“We provided different galleries with a system that clearly solves their problems, gives them back their role in the global art market, and most importantly completely for free. Instead of bypassing them and dragging their artists directly to the platform, we turned them into our key partners,” said Jozef Barta, CEO and vice-chairman of ARTSTAQ.
Is the SaaS Art Exchange model which offers banks and financial advisers an online system that they can quickly grasp, that requires no additional costs (for them), and most importantly to allow them to enter the art market with great care and assistance. The platform also serves as a bridge between the fin-art-tech community — artex500.com.
“We are well aware that pure investors want, in the first stage, to invest and earn money. But we also know that it is a great opportunity to educate them,” said Jozef Barta. “Yesterday, we had pure traders, without any interest in art. Tomorrow, they will transform and we’ll have new art collectors, people with their own art collections, art shows, and those who can greatly help talented artists, galleries, curators and — most and first of all — themselves. These new people may be the Modern Maecenas of art.”
Is the platform for independent curators & art rating experts that conducts analysis, artistic reviews, and provides the rating data to select quality artworks and artists with high artistic potential. Part of this independent platform is the “AQRA” algorithm which compares thousands of different data into a broader context. What is really interesting about ARTSTAQ’s Rating platform is a mix of different methods based on intuition, objectification of subjectivity, and algorithms founded on hard and soft data.
“One of the main goals of the platform is to give independent critics and curators their prestige and significant roles back into the art market,” said Jozef Barta.
Results of Independent Rating:
- Only quality artworks and artists with great artistic potential enter the system;
- Independent rating system which can’t be manipulated or influenced;
- Rating process is able to eliminate individual subjective opinions;
- Art critics have the opportunity to apply (and monetize) their experience and the feeling that their work makes sense;
- Rating system supporting and providing the chance to talented artists, even if they may not have any professional tracklist or history.
The Social Aspect Of Technology In Art
It seems that ARTSTAQ has made a point to offer a solution which retains its independence and can solve problems of all market participants and simultaneously invites new global players (banks, brokers, financial institutions) to the art market. But what we really love is the social aspect of its solution. Why? Here are three main reasons:
- ARTSTAQ attracts and merges three different “fin-art-tech” communities which have very opposing interests; there is a big chance that they can help and positively influence each other through this unique solution.
- This highly unique system aims to solve problems of all market participants which can then lead to a cooperation rather than a rivalry and competition.
- There is also a great opportunity to create a new type of “Maecenas of Art” which were very popular in the past, yet they are now missing today.
