The MyArtBroker Guide to Access and Transparency

The history of the art market is mired in a traditional lack of transparency. Access to information about fair market value is understandably hard to warrant in the primary market, given the subjectivity of pricing by artist, medium, and fame. But opacity has long plagued the secondary art market, too. Auction houses are unwilling to report too finely on the rate of return for individual artworks, most private sales remain anonymous and unreported, and access to pricing as a newcomer remains limited, hindering transparency. As such, even with raising demands for greater transparency in the booming online global art market, the majority of galleries, industry corporates, and smaller companies still define transparency rather narrowly: as the disclosure of the commissions they make on transactions of artworks.

Read our Guide to Auction vs. Private Sales here, for an overview of buyers and sellers, no-sale and logistical fees.

However, MyArtBroker defines transparency as much more than this. Transparency, as defined by MyArtBroker, is the provision of the knowledge needed to make informed decisions. We want to give clients clarity on all aspects of the buying/selling process, and about the art market itself, in order to make informed decisions. MyArtBroker does not make recommendations on how to invest in art, instead providing our clients the best background to making their own, highly personal decisions. This includes providing clients with information about where an artwork currently sits in the market, its sale history, and where opportunity lies in the art market at present.

A: “Transparency, as defined by MyArtBroker, is the provision of the knowledge needed to make informed decisions.”

To explore our in-depth definition of Transparency in the Art Market, read here.

We have always believed that transparency is essential in the art market, releasing regular Print Market Reports (the latest Print Market Report is here), offering complimentary valuations, and carefully selecting our specialist brokers to be the most obliging experts in their field.

From its conception, MyArtBroker has focused on Modern and Contemporary prints and multiples because there is a level of transparency that can be afforded in this market that is simply not possible in other segments of the art market. This is because the print and multiple fine art market is a comps (comparable) market, meaning that, from an investment perspective, information available about historical sales can more reliably inform a purchase from an investment perspective. Thanks to the comparable nature of prints from the same edition, or the same artist, a dearth of historical sales data could be gathered, and at MyArtBroker we did just that. With over ten years in business, it was possible to create a unique market index with grounding in both auction histories and private sales—something that has never been done before.

In addition, with a wider audience than ever before interested in buying art as a passion asset, prints and multiples have fared well. Offering a more accessible entry-point to buyers, but equally showing stable returns overall, our inside track allowed us to envision how the prints and multiples market aligned with the broader market shifts towards a focus on technology enhanced, often online, financially transparent, and accessible art collecting.

Perfectly positioned to bring these two focuses into harmony, we wanted to make the data from our value index, alongside some other crucial indicators of market success—supply and demand—into a cogitable, user-friendly display as quickly as possible.

Meet MyArtBroker’s TradingFloor and MyPortfolio. Our Trading Floor is a real-time display of market growth, supply and demand, accessible to all, and carefully integrated into the artwork browsing function of our website. MyPortfolio is a free, data-secure platform on which collectors can store, view and explore the market potential of their existing collection, with our market index tracking value in real-time to help them make informed decisions about buying and selling art they love.

The Trading Floor is one of the most compelling things that MyArtBroker has ever done. There is not another model like it, as it picks up the supply and demand from the network and puts it front and centre, made accessible to all, on the website in real-time. This level of transparency is unmatched in the market and allows you to get to grips with what is happening in the market this very second, specific by artwork or artist, rather than solely relying on those historical auction sales that are made publicly available.

MyArtBroker’s Trading Floor offers real-time access to our private network of 30k+ collectors and investors, providing transparency of the demand and supply of blue chip prints like never before. Our algorithm tracks up-to-date value data across 3,500 artworks spanning 30 years, including signed, unsigned, APs, PPs, TPs, and sets of prints and editions. Now, navigating through artworks on our site, you will have access to supply, demand, and growth data regarding each.

Shown alongside, or directly under artworks, the Trading Floor tells you precisely how many of that work are “FOR SALE”, “IN NETWORK” or “WANTED” by a given number of people, as well as the Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) for that work.

With specialist and precision value data by your side, MyArtBroker helps you to make informed decisions about your art collection.

Learn More About MyArtBroker's TradingFloor here.

MyPortfolio allows individuals to use a complimentary collection management system that is tailored specifically for the prints and multiples market. MyPortfolio offers a dedicated print market index, powered by repeat sales regression technology.

It is the only dedicated print market index in the world and, because the prints and multiples is a comparable market, it offers never-seen-before insight into art market trends in recent and present times. MyPortfolio allows individuals to see where opportunity in the art market lies right now; with the capacity to track demand, supply, and the value of artworks in real-time. The data packed into MyPortfolio is based on the analysis of thousands of public auction histories as well as our own private sales data across 3,500 artworks spanning 30 years.

And while transparency is at the heart of MyPortfolio, the privacy of your information is our top priority– all data is encrypted with 2-factor authentication as standard.

Learn more and sign up to MyArtBroker's MyPortfolio here.

Transparency is essential to MyArtBroker because it is the strong foundation of our mission to provide individuals with the information they need to make informed art collecting decisions. On a personal level, we have witnessed and felt the frustrations of a murky art market: co-founders Ian and Joe Syer began their business as passionate collectors, who were themselves looking for a more painless, transparent solution to collecting prints and multiples. Charlotte Stewart, Managing Director at MyArtBroker, first met Ian and Joe as collectors, while she herself was a consultant, having previously worked in a major auction house. She stated of her experiences:

By arming clients with the correct information, MyArtBroker helps them make the right decision for themselves, ensuring they can become collectors of art that they love for many years, and, should they choose to, sell when the time is right with no hesitations or regrets.