Articles & Alerts

Even if you’re a collector who has embraced digital art, the methods you have for managing and inventorying your collection may still be decidedly old school. If you’re relying on paper documents or even Excel spreadsheets, you may want to consider digitizing your recordkeeping. An array of mobile apps now makes it easy to manage your collection and engage with artists, other collectors, galleries, and museum curators. At any time or any location, as long as you have your phone or a tablet on hand, you can immediately access images and details about all the artwork you own. You can also easily share information about those pieces with your friends and connections in the art world.

You can also use apps to buy and sell work, keep up to date on emerging trends, and even check whether a piece you’re considering for purchase might have been stolen. Following is a sampling of some of the apps available today that may prove useful to art collectors and enthusiasts, instantly accessible on your mobile devices. (Please note that Anchin does not have any affiliation with any of these apps and does not endorse any specific mobile applications.)

ArtCollection.io makes it easy to track what is in your collection and learn more about the artists whose work you own. You can also monitor developments with your favorite artists and discover whenever new pieces from them might be available. You can easily connect to insurers, appraisers, museums and galleries. If you’ve loaned any of your art for exhibitions, you can get the latest updates on whether your pieces are on display or in storage, and how they’re being cared for, if it’s the latter. The app can spare you from having to spend time researching auctions and auction results. You can automatically get information about recent and upcoming auctions and details about shifting values in the art marketplace. Reports can easily be generated that will provide you with an inventory of your collection, detailed information about the artists and pieces you own, and the value of individual pieces and your entire collection.

ARTDEX enables you to create a digital archive of your physical and virtual art collection. You can easily catalogue your collection and create a digital file of all documents, such as receipts, related to your art. Using privacy settings you select, you can create a profile and have a custom URL that will enable you to share your collection with limited viewers or a broader audience. Suggestions of artists you might like will be offered, and you can search for artists and works of art based on specific media, art movements, or subject matter, as well as a number of other criteria. The app’s newsfeed will keep you up to date on emerging trends in the global art community. You can also connect with like-minded artists, collectors and curators around the world.

Artland enables connoisseurs to virtually tour public exhibitions and private collections, connect with other collectors, and purchase art from the world’s leading galleries. The app’s current userbase of 50,000 include art lovers, collectors and galleries. With the App’s 3D/VR technology, users can explore exhibitions in the world’s major art centers, including New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Milan. The community of collectors on the app post their privately held works, and collectors can engage with each other and share updates on their collections. Some of the world’s leading galleries post in the app’s marketplace, enabling collectors to purchase drawings, sculptures, prints and more. A newsfeed provides all the latest information on what’s happening in the art world. When planning trips, you can see what major exhibitions will be occurring during your travels and map your visits to galleries and museums accordingly.

Artsy is an online platform to buy and sell art. It partners with more than 4,000 galleries and the world’s top auction houses. You can follow your favorite artists and be among the first view to view new works from them, while also being able to discover similar artists. If works you have your eyes on are being sold at auction houses, you can place bids and receive real-time updates of your bid status. The app’s augmented reality feature will enable you to preview how any two-dimensional piece of art would look in your house. Whenever you are ready to sell, Artsy can connect you to top galleries and auction houses and promote the artwork you’re selling to its global network.

The ID-Art mobile app is managed by INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization. The app offers three key services for collectors. If you are ever concerned that a piece you are considering for purchase might have been stolen, you can check the piece against INTERPOL’s Stolen Works of Arts Database, which currently has more than 52,000 objects from 134 countries. You can also upload the items in your collection and then have an inventory of the pieces you own on file with INTERPOL. If a work of art you own is stolen, the inventory you uploaded may make it easier for INTERPOL to recover the piece.

Saatchi Art is an online gallery with a curated selection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and photography. Filters enable you to target the types of work you want to view, and when you’re ready to buy, you can purchase pieces through the app. This app also allows you to preview how a piece will look in any space where you plan to hang or display it. If you want guidance, you can fill out a quick questionnaire about what you’re looking for, and one of Saatchi’s curators will provide you with recommendations. You can also establish your own Saatchi Art profile and connect with a community of artists and collectors.

Simplify.art offers an easy-to-use database that collectors can use to inventory and manage their collections. A free version is available for mobile devices. A pay version for desktop computers offers more enhanced features. The app promises that adding an image of a piece of art, along with key details about it, can be done in 12 seconds. You can input information about the artist, the year it was created, the medium it was created in, and size of the piece. You can also add the purchase price and the insurance protection you have on it. Search and filter functions allow you to quickly identify all the pieces in a collection that match  specific criteria, like artist, medium, or year created. You can easily share information about pieces by e-mail to any of your contacts.

Save time and expand the enjoyment of your collection

Using apps can make managing your collection less time-consuming and make it much easier for you to interact with artists, galleries and other collectors as you buy and sell pieces. The apps can also create more opportunities for you to share the enjoyment of your collection with friends and your connections across the art world.

Beyond the enjoyment and organization elements, Anchin’s Art Specialty Group can provides guidance on managing your collection and how decisions about buying and selling art relate to your overall financial picture. For more information or to discuss specific matters, contact your Anchin Relationship Partner or Tara Burek and Michael Belfer, Leaders of Anchin’s Art Specialty Group.