Shared art ownership scheme launches in London
A unique trading platform that claims to make owning world-famous artworks art accessible to all through a share-based trading system has launched its international arm in London, having run successfully for three years in France.
My Art Invest works by dividing work into shares, which can be traded on a one-of-a-kind art stock exchange. It aims to make buying artworks by world-renowned artists possible for millions of people for the first time. An added feature is that if you buy a quarter of the shares of any art work, you will have the option to take the artwork home for a quarter of the year to hang on your wall.
The My Art Invest collection will present a diverse spectrum of artworks, with a focus on street art, from household names like Banksy and Shepard Fairey through to leading contemporaries like D*Face and Katrin Fridriks. The new platform hopes to democratise art, with shares in artworks start at just £5.
The international website launches in tandem with the opening of the first ever dedicated My Art Invest gallery in Hoxton, London, where the public will be able to visit and see the works available for purchase. The new, 230-square-meter space will host a rotating exhibition of 25-35 artworks from My Art Invest’s collection of more than 100 pieces with these changing every month.
The gallery will be uniquely supported by technology, with visitors offered the use of dedicated iPads that will enable them to buy shares in artworks on display in real-time through a registered account on the platform’s dedicated app. This is the only platform that seamlessly unites physical art viewing with online purchasing in real-time in this way. Works on display in the gallery will be exclusively available for purchase within the gallery at prices ranging from £500 – £100,000.
“My Art Invest was created with the vision of making buying art something that isn’t reserved for the financial elite,” said Tom-David Bastok, founding director of My Art Invest. “Through our unique trading platform we hope to change the way that people engage with art and by giving them the freedom to take ownership over works that they enjoy without needing to spend their entire life savings.
“We are thrilled to be opening a gallery in the UK after such tremendous success in France and look forward to welcoming anyone with an interest in what we are doing to our new gallery.”
Buying and selling shares on the exchange platform presents an opportunity to earn money and My Art Invest has a proven track record in France where almost 6,000 customers have gained an average return of 30% in the last three years.
Plans are currently underway to develop a rolling programme of My Art Invest Guru workshops and events, where visitors to the gallery will be able to learn about the art market and artworks from some of the industry’s leading experts.