An appraisal is not evidence.
Every other class you underwrite has an observable market behind it. Art does not, and the further you go from the blue chip names, the less there is to work with.
Valuation is opinion, presented as fact
Art is insured and lent against on appraisals that are often years old, and often produced by a party with a commercial interest in the number.
Coverage stops at the border
Auction databases handle the blue chip market. Outside Europe and North America, and below the top of the market, coverage thins to almost nothing. That is where the growth has been.
Risk is anecdotal
Attribution disputes, title defects, and roster concentration are known problems that nobody tracks in a form an underwriter can use.
The market nobody measured
African and Black American art has outperformed for a decade while remaining largely unmeasured. Our first segment report covers market structure, secondary depth, valuation dispersion against appraisal, and where attribution and title risk concentrate.
Read moreData intelligence for the business of art
Independent valuation and risk evidence for the institutions that insure, lend against, and hold art on balance sheet.