Does this sound familiar? You own or lease property all over the world and it’s well-decorated.
Much of this property has been within “the firm” for decades and is decorated with original art. You might have never thought about decorating with “collectable” artists…or you maybe you did.
Either way…you might be have millions or even billions of fine art on your balance sheet and not even know it.
Collectable Fine Art in the Hotel Foyer
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Italy with my wife for 10-year anniversary. She chose some truly unique, storied hotels in Florence, Rome, and Cinque Terra. I won’t say where this particular hotel is but this story exists in the hospitality industry all over the world.
My wife and I were greeted by a professional, multi-lingual staff who took us on a guided tour of this boutique hotel. This hotel has a single set of double doors that open into a hallway with a the lobby on the left through another set of doors and a foyer to the right.
As part of greeting us, the concierge were kind enough to point out a number of amenities including the pool, bar, restaurant and some of the original art.
One of those pieces happened to be a dress with famous Cambell’s Soup motif, signed by none other than Andy Warhol.
What’s Corporate-Held Art Worth?
This particular hotel belongs to a holding company based in North America that has distinct properties across the globe.
When was the last time someone from the home office visited this Italian gem? Hard to say.
The record sales price for a Warhol is US $195 Million back in 2022.
Publicly searchable sales this year are in the 7 figures for less iconic pieces.
Does this firm know what this piece is worth? It’s hard to say.
Fine Art Insurance Gap?
As part of the feasibility study for what would eventually become the Onward platform, we interviewed fine art curators at some of the world’s largest companies.
They all said they were not satisfied that they had a true inventory of what they actually owned…and thus could not say with confidence that insurance in place on pieces where it would make sense.
Fine Art Security
Additionally, many knew for a fact that certain pieces had just disappeared over the years, but with a huge time gap before discovery and hundreds if not thousands of potential culprits, even identifying a line of inquiry is impossible.
Protecting Art Value Starts with Documentation
And that’s why we built Onward. With the ability to create an catalog on the cloud, add team members across the globe, and task them with photographing art on display and in storage, a can start to understand what it actually has.
With artists acting a specialized “tag” or “category,” a business can understand who produced the art and which of it is worthy of having formal valuations performed and purchasing insurance polies.
Or Leverage It?
The fine art world is famously opaque, but with more and more public data available, traditional banks are even getting on “the art game.” For collectable artists with sufficient trading volume, even large banks are willing to loan against it.
Could this company’s next hotel construction be financed by a little red and white dress? The possibilities are quite broad in the present market.
How Do You Start?
Starting a corporate art collection or inventory involves committing. Get a list of properties. Set them up on Onward as locations (you can use sub-locations within them, too). Then decide who will inventory each property.
Photos on a smartphone and simple naming of art piece is a great way to start. You can always come back to any art record and better document it later.
With Onward’s simplicity, you can even save a piece of art by just giving it a title. Come back later to add photos, associate an artist, attach provenance documentation and more.
Request a free corporate art collecting consultation to find out how you can get “the collection” under control for good.
