Tuesday, January 20, 2015

New searchable resource for lost, stolen and disputed works of art and cultural heritage

Art Recovery Group has launched a new searchable resource for lost, stolen and disputed works of art and cultural heritage.

The ArtClaim Database will launch publicly today after 12 months of development in consultation with art market, law enforcement and insurance professionals. In response to their needs, the Database offers new ways of identifying and recording interests attached to works of art.

The ArtClaim Database brings innovative technological solutions to art-based due diligence, offering fully-integrated image recognition technology and a total of over 500 possible data fields for every item registered or searched. Their inclusion provides greater transparency and less risk to transactions by identifying and recording the widest range of obstructions to clear title.

Users of the Database are offered four services: a search facility, registration of items, instant alerts and collection management.  These services are overseen by ArtClaim’s international team of provenance research specialists and art market analysts. Currently around 5,000 items a week from a range of new, historic and exclusive data sources around the world are being added to the Database.

Christopher Marinello, CEO of Art Recovery Group, said:

“We are extremely proud of the ArtClaim Database and the progress that it represents for this area of the art market. As the issues attached to objects grow in complexity there has to be a solution that is able to adapt in identifying them.

Our ArtClaim database has been developed to meet both the needs of the current market and those of the future – a future in which we aspire to be assisting every significant art transaction in the world.”


In the month following this launch all ArtClaim services will be free to use. Thereafter, loss records for uniquely-identifiable objects will always be free to register on the ArtClaim Database and competitive fees will apply to search requests and registrations for works on loan or in storage.  


For more information, please contact:
Jerome Hasler
Head of Communications & Strategy, Art Recovery Group
+44 (0) 203 763 3546        +44 (0) 7436 151 855
jerome@artrecovery.com

Art Guarantees: Lofty

From Art Law Journal:
Finally, there is Lofty, which comes at art from the seller’s perspective, rather than the buyers. While Lofty provides a traditional online marketplace for valuable fine art, antiques and collectibles, each Lofty item is reviewed and valued by a carefully selected network of experts, which includes qualified appraisers, current and former auction house specialists, reputable dealers, and other art world professionals with decades of experience evaluating items in their specialties. One problem with buying art online, especially when it has a heavy price tag, is making sure it is authentic, and actually liking the piece once it is seen in person. Art can look very different from what is seen on a computer screen. To counter those issues, Lofty provides a 5-year Authenticity Guarantee and a 100% Money Back Satisfaction Guarantee within seven days of delivery. In 2014, Lofty received $2 million in Seed investment.