FAD caught up with MyArtInvest’s founder and CEO Tom-David at his company’s global launch last night.
1. Tom-David can you tell me about your background? How did you end up running My Art Invest?
I have always had an interest in the arts; my parents raised me on it and obviously growing up in Paris its impossible to shy away from it, in fact when I was 10 I won the Van Gogh Millet contest organized by LVMH & the Museé D’orsay.
However I always had a passion for finance so that’s what I ended up doing at university. Three years ago I brought the two passions together and My Art Invest was born.
2. Who are the rest of the team at My Art Invest and what do they do?
Currently there are eight of us. We are all young innovative art driven individuals.
3. What is My Art Invest? How does it work?
The company started in Paris three years ago, our aim from the beginning has been to get people involved in investing in artists they believe in and have always been fans of, however many have not had the financial means to buy the work they have long desired. We started off by posting prints produced by artists such as Warhol, Basquiat and Murakami on our online platform. Each print was split into 100 shares that you could buy separately, this gave an opportunity for young art investors to get involved with the art market as well as people who were just art enthusiasts.
Since opening we’ve had massive success in Paris and we have just opened a new gallery in London. In this gallery, as well as online, we will be displaying original artworks as well as prints. We are strong believers in buying art from a young age. My Art Invest gives the opportunity to a younger generation to buy shares in artists they are passionate about. If you own quarter of the shares in the work then you’re entitled to bring the work home and hang it on your wall for a quarter of the year.
4. Why Street Art at this stage?
Street art is a fascinating movement, its swept through New York, Rio, Berlin and of course London especially East London, our gallery is opening in Shorditch and we wanted to have an opening show that would really appeal to and support the local area. Besides, street art is made for everyone to see, what better way to honor this than a company which also allows everyone to have a “piece” of the work?
5. Do you guarantee a return on the shares?
Yes I absolutely do, so far on average people have seen a 30% return on there investments.
6. Why buy a bit of a well known artist’s work when you could buy 100% of a great emerging artist’s work?
As I said before, art has always been a very elitist luxury commodity and a beautiful commodity at that. My Art Invest fully believes that everyone deserves this commodity however not everyone can afford to. We are giving people the means to enjoy art and get far more involved with the art world, no matter who they are or what background they come from.
7. What is the minimum and maximum investments allowed?
There is no minimum or maximum, our shares vary between £5 and £10,000 pound so there’s something for every one.
8. If you had $49,000 to spend on art who would you buy?
Well some have said in the past that when it comes to art, $49,000 limits your choice. However now I guess I would buy 25 shares in Banksy, 25 shares in Conor Harrington, 25 in Futura 2000 and 2000 in Katrin Fridriks.
How does My Art Invest work?
My Art Invest is a unique art-buying platform that is changing the way people that consume art. The revolutionary new concept makes buying artworks by world-renowned artists possible for millions of people for the first time by dividing work into shares, which can be traded on a one-of-a-kind art stock exchange.
Founded in France in 2011 by Tom-David Bastok, the platform launched in the UK yesterday (10th April 2014) and is based in an innovative gallery on 150 Commercial Street, Hoxton, London, that is seamlessly supported with technology with visitors offered the use of an iPad to purchase works in real time as they view them through a dedicated app.
Trading mechanism:
Sourcing: Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Switzerland, Japan
Artist selection by My Art Invest’s dedicated buying team through a detailed analysis.
First contact with the artists / agents.
Purchase of one or more artworks from the selected artist.
Primary market:
Art works are made part of the collection and are made available for purchase on the My Art Invest platform with artworks divided into 100 shares (250 for more valuable works)
Artworks shares are purchased by private buyers.
Secondary market exchange platform:
Shares are resold by private investors.
Final Sale (3-5 years after original purchase):
My Art Invest asks shareholders of the work if they are interested a sale being made on the real market through My Art Invest’s dealers. This will only take place is 51% or more shareholders agree to a sale.
