ARTTS is rethinking the protection of artworks by means of technology
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On Wednesday August 7, 2024, at 07.30, kingkong had a meeting, by videoconference, with François Toussaint, the co-founder and CEO of ARTTS. This company, which decided to go in a new direction in April 2023, aims to digitally certify artworks to guarantee their provenance, protect the value they have accrued in the past, and envisages a future opportunity to transfer history. Because each artwork is worth being told.
François embodies the dual aspects of cultural and creative entrepreneurship. His career pathway across law, international relations and at Solvay has enabled him to develop a mindset geared towards management and economics, with a personal predilection for the artworld. In becoming a consultant in the arts milieu, he has been able to challenge the business model implemented by art salons (amongst others, Antica in Namur) and make them more open to economic models other than those which have always existed. In fact, he very rapidly realised that what makes the art market distinctive is its storytelling.
Art, it’s a fascinating world. When you hear the history of a painting, the countries it has passed through, its journey, the succession of its owners, you understand why people buy old things.
NFT and FBI
In the midst of the COVID outbreak, ARTTS therefore offered the art market the opportunity to open up to the digital realm. For the selling party, the process does away with the constraints and the frontiers of the physical world. And for the purchasing party, it grants them access to a more extensive catalogue which provides them with a permanent storytelling platform. A win-win situation. It was thus quite naturally that ARTTS turned to non-fungible tokens (NFT) (if the subject interests you, we recommend this article on Numerama). First of all, because the NFTs allow for the transfer of property and affordable access to art (physical, financial, symbolic). Secondly, because the collective approach of NFTs opens a new pathway for what funding may be put to use for (restoration projects, for example). And finally, because the digital realm offers exclusive content. ‘With ARTTS, when somebody bought an NFT, we wanted to give them a little something extra. You buy a painting but you have, in addition, for example, an exclusive interview with the curator who shares info with you that you can find nowhere else.’
But, as François confides, the NFTs were in fact a falsely brilliant idea. For the classical art market, established on habits and customs, it was too complicated, too early and too volatile by definition. And although the team is firmly convinced by the project, the market for this type of NFT is proving to be very limited, even non-existent.
We’re taking a new direction
ARTTS therefore decided to reposition itself with a nuance. We are a long way from a full U-turn because the founding principles are pertinent. Okay, the NFTs are not gaining any traction for numerous reasons. But on the other hand, the intrinsic values and possibilities of the technology are pertinent, above all, in a domain where the financial interests are multiple and where, unfortunately, fraudulent activities are numerous.
Imagine: a collector who wishes to sell one of their works of art but who cannot find its documentation. The gallery which sold them the painting no longer exists and the artist has died. Typically, this lack of documentation means that the artwork, whose provenance will be more difficult to demonstrate, will lose value. Another example: an unscrupulous artist declares that they have produced only 12 examples of a statue. Yet, several years later, other numberings emerge, sowing doubt as to the authenticity of the work and its value, needless to say.
ARTTS therefore works to create a chain of responsibilities to protect artworks over time, through the purchase of an authentication certificate. ‘You want to buy a work of art, you for example go to a gallery. You are interested in a painting which catches your eye. It will be presented to you, you retrace its journey, consider its origins. Whether or not you know the owner, you trust the gallery. It is a white coat syndrome which has the monopoly on truth. But what you need to know is that what drives the art market is the deal. And everything around it, such as the admin, the guarantee, all of that goes out of the window. You will maybe spend thousands of Euros, and simply because you trust or you know the personnel, you do not ask for the basic documents which allow what you are buying to be authenticated. It’s crazy, all the same. It’s not too much to expect.’
He makes the same point on several occasions: the art market operates (above all) on trust. And it is not a question of foregoing it. No. What is required is simply rolling out more objective processes, not to raise doubts but to provide guarantees. This outlook must emerge both in terms of the supply side and the demand side. The art market has evolved, with its attendant incredible possibilities but also with its risks. And to ensure a ‘safer’ market, it is thus a disciplined approach to documentation that is required. Whilst the major institutions and collections are, in general, managed professionally, the market still very often lags behind as regards the quality standards which would better protect the artists and the collectors. Some of them have no nomenclature concerning the works they have in their possession. The idea here is to compile a mass of information so that everything runs smoothly, whatever the situation might be: whether it is a succession to the estate of a deceased person, a handover, a transfer or simply a sale (primary market) or a resale (secondary market). ‘It’s crazy the number of artists who don’t know about resale rights, which allow them to receive a percentage if their work is later resold. But it is when the primary market is being transacted that it needs to be established.’ And that is what ARTTS, amongst others, offers.
In concrete terms?
Each work could (and thus should) have an authentication certificate. To do so, the process is pretty simple (and the price of €29 very affordable):
- Fill in a form containing the whole of the information that should be included in an authentication certificate: the name of the work and the artist, the period, photographs, materials, the description, but also the dimensions, the weight, the height, etc. The works may be paintings, sculptures, photographs, lithographs, etc.
- Naturally, it will be necessary to append several legal documents which certify the provenance. If, for example, the works are called ‘antiques’, you will need the certification provided by a recognised expert.
- This form is then forwarded to a bailiff who, if everything is in order, approves its authenticity. This trusted third party is the custodian of a confidential register safeguarding the content of the documents entrusted to its keeping.
- The approved certificate is provided with a ‘timestamp’ and is deployed within the blockchain, under a tamper-proof Web3 URL link, with the content remaining confidential.
It is amusing, but it all forms a coherent whole in this repositioning: the initial reasons for using the NFTs slot into place (authenticity, digital, democratisation, assurance), the blockchain, which is a technology which endures over time, guarantees the transfer, and the documentation required, on the one hand, enables an administrative trust but equally a historical and symbolic transfer: ‘This certificate is the debut of the digital passport of a work: in it are contained its characteristics, its distinctive features, you can track everywhere it has been, its history and also its purchasers.’
We have come full circle.
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