ART FUNDI: ART COLLECTION MANAGEMENT IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Business Art News

ART COLLECTION MANAGEMENT IN THE DIGITAL AGE

An interview with Tamzin Lovell, CEO of Artfundi www.artfundi.com

What has precipitated the global rise of art management software systems? Art collecting is undergoing accelerated growth and change, from being just a passionate indulgence of the wealthy few to an accepted investment instrument in a balanced portfolio for a greater number of art lovers.

Along with this “broadening” of the art collecting community has come the need for more data, enhanced secuarity and more active management of each work in a collection. This is where digital platforms, especially collection software products have come into their own.

Why has Artfundi created a “Collector” version of its art management software? Most serious art collectors face challenges familiar to professional galleries: how to manage locations, condition and provenance of the artworks under their custodianship.

Our experience with corporate institutions, topclass galleries, and important art foundations has demonstrated the value of our Artfundi solution to art world professionals.

We felt that collectors would benefit from the same systems and rigour.

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What tangible benefits do these digital systems offer the collector? Good digital technology like Artfundi offers many significant benefits: It automates the drudgery of managing collections, keeping artwork details, images, history and documents in one place.

It helps improve the value and the legacy of the works by strategically managing provenance, It saves money by ensuring the accuracy of the worth of the collection which reduces insurance-loading,

And it enhances the visceral joy of collecting by allowing collectors to view and share their collections with privacy assured. And finally, a good art management software system keeps a record of the pieces in your collection. You’d be amazed how much information about individual pieces in a collection is lost, and thus how much value is destroyed, when collectors fail to leave accurate and up-to-date records of their full collection to their loved ones.

What should collectors consider when choosing an art software system? The four key measures are utility, simplicity, support and security: Utility refers to the features and benefits offered: does the system offer what you as a collector need, now and for the future? Simplicity is crucial: the system should be elegant, intuitive, easy-to-learn and simple to use.

The back-up service and support should be knowledgeable about the digital technology and the art world, be visible and ideally local and available.

As with many digital offerings, if you’re not paying for the product, you ARE the product. So be prepared to pay a reasonable subscription for a product that guarantees your data privacy and security.