In their own words, “Collecteurs is the world’s first digital museum of private collections: The Collective Museum of Private Collections” and it has opened the art world to the 21st century.
Community:
The digital platform invites art collectors to digitize their physical collections, organize them virtually, and place them on public exhibit. The site aims to make it possible for everyone to view private art collections.
The goals are open access to private art viewing, while still guarding owner privacy. Their guiding principles read as:
· Give the public access to the tens of millions of artworks in storage and private homes.
· Expand the art world to global audiences.
· Create activism from the art world to change the world, for the better.
· Put the benefit of the public before financial gain.
· Reduce the art world’s carbon footprint.
· Do not accept advertisement.
· Offer a new type of reporting and storytelling from the art world.
· Don’t just cover problems, offer solutions.
· Make our users/members part of our reporting.
· Protect our member’s privacy.
· Be progressive and inclusive.
The platform has created an accessible way for art lovers to see works by established artists and up-and-comers. Regardless of where a guest lives, there is an opportunity to learn about new artists from their works and interviews at no charge. (It should be noted, though, that any exhibit designated as community-only will require a membership to be viewed.)
The founders of Collecteurs are husband and wife art collectors Jessica and Ervim Oralkan. The idea came after seeing a need for such a system in their own art collection. They then spent years developing it at the New Museum’s cultural incubator before sharing it with the world. Now it is an established public benefit corporation, working to make the privileged world of art collecting more approachable.
The digital platform is formed of collector and gallery accounts. While artists do not have separate accounts, their work can still be followed in the Collecteurs Museum database. Gallery accounts are by invitation only.
Collectors, curators, and art advisors can set up a profile for free, however, one of the required fields asks the user to name three artists whose original works of art they own. This can be bypassed by typing “none,” but it does give the impression that access is not intended for everyone. Which may be why the site offers opportunities for visitors to become collectors through Capsule Editions. These works can be purchased online and shipped around the world.
Funds are generated in several ways. First there are three levels of membership: Free; $25 a month; and $100 a month. There are no investors or advertising. Revenue is solely “created by selling unique artist editions and through [the] three-tier subscription service” (Stead, 2018).
Content:
Collecteurs estimates that there are tens of millions of privately-owned artworks stored in freeports and storage facilities and hanging in private homes. Art was created with the intention of it having an audience. Their mission is to bring “the world’s unseen art back into culture.” The site shares these works from “verified” art collectors around the world.
Visitors to Collecteurs will find unique artwork found only in galleries and private collections. These works can be sculpture, photographs, paintings, mixed media, textiles, pottery, etc. There are even several 3-D exhibits viewable.
As with traditional museums, “established curators” pull together digital exhibitions from a variety of Collecteurs artists and owners. Pieces that would never be viewed publicly, much less hang together in a museum, can now be appreciated together.
Services:
Visitors can scroll through hundreds of digitized original art pieces from collectors around the world. The museum can also be searched by names of artwork, artists, and collectors, as well as articles, hashtags, and interviews. This is the first digital museum database of its kind.
There is an obvious help to private collectors who would like to not just preserve and manage their collections more efficiently, but share them freely, without concern of physical damage or preservation issues. The platform allows them to decide which pieces can be seen and by whom. Owners can choose to make their works public, community-only, anonymous, or completely private. Collecteurs utilizes client-side encryption, so even the site’s owners cannot access sensitive data.
There are also an accompanying Instagram account, digital magazine, and virtual auction.
Technology:
Part library, part social media platform, the website is more than just a collections database. It provides an engaging community atmosphere often found in modern cultural institutions. There is opportunity for collaboration, conversation, and curation.
The art itself has metadata such as the name of the piece and artist, dimensions, medium, collection title, date of creation, and materials. There are real time “influence metrics” shown for each piece, so viewers can see what is popular and trending. Discoverability is increased by the option to include hashtags as search agents. Pieces are also linked to Collecteurs interviews and articles related to the work and the option to see other works and follow the artist.
Collectors showing their art can choose the range of services they receive. “Paying more will give users access to “military-grade” encryption software and allow them to share anonymously” (Stead, 2018). This allows collectors a level of privacy, while still being able to share certain works and utilize the sites organizational features.
The site design is unique and creative. It is on brand for a modern museum, however, it also makes it difficult to navigate for less tech-savvy users. The vertically divided screens that scroll on one side, but not the other can be off putting, though they do offer a unique perspective of seeing the artists words and other works next to a particular piece.
Collecteurs is definitely worth visiting. The platform stands to open the private art world to both well-established art lovers, educators, and new comers alike. It is a fascinating way to view the merging world of tech and art.
References
Collecteurs: The Collective Museum of Private Collections. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.collecteurs.com.
Stead, Chloe. (2 November 2018). Freunde von Freunden\Friends of Friends. Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://www.freundevonfreunden.com/interviews/evrim-and-jessica-oralkan-on-bringing-the-art-world-into-the-21st-century/