Having looked at some of the different ways blockchain can effectively improve the art industry, we would like to highlight an actual, real-world use case which recently demonstrated the applicability and efficiency of blockchain technology.

Just a few months ago, one of the oldest and most renowned auction houses in the world — London-based Christie’s, turned to blockchain technology to securely and efficiently store provenance and sales data for a major auction of American Modernist paintings. To achieve this, Christies announced in an official press release that it is entering into a collaboration with the blockchain-based digital art registry Artory.

Artory’s registry is designed to memorialize stories, histories, sales, provenance, as well as archival materials of collectibles and artwork, all powered and secured by blockchain technology.

Tradition Meets Technology

Christie’s is a venue which has a history that can be traced back to 1766 so it is particularly interesting to observe the collaboration between this time-honored art auction house and Artory’s modern, high-tech, blockchain-powered registry, particularly in an industry that doesn’t see a much in the way of technological advancement.

Through this industry-first collaboration, Artory will enter An American Place: The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection on its registry. This is widely considered to be the most significant privately-owned collection of American Modernist art ever to go to market.

Thanks to the immutability brought by blockchain-based technology, the provenance and other relevant information about the artworks will be permanently attached to the artworks, and available to the owners now and in the future. At the same time, all personal details of the buyers are not stored on the blockchain or on Artory’s Registry, which allows participants to retain control over their privacy and anonimity, something which many top art collectors value highly.

Richard Entrup, Chief Information Officer at Christie’s, discussed the collaboration, saying:

“The entrepreneurial spirit of the Ebsworth family and their embrace of leading-edge technology makes Christie’s November sale of the Ebsworth Collection an ideal platform for our clients to pilot this technology for themselves and explore the advantages of having a secure encrypted record of information about their purchased artwork.”

This particular use case represents a much-needed solution to the pressing issues of counterfeiting and provenance falsification which are currently riddling the art market.

Setting a Precedent

As enterprise sized transactions of this kind continue to grow in popularity, the importance of well-devised, scalable, enterprise-grade blockchain solutions will only escalate.

AERUM’s capability to offer on-demand scalability from 500 to 100,000 + transactions per second is just one of the network’s features which makes it more than suitable for applications of the kind. AERUM also integrates seamlessly with existing platforms thanks to its full Ethereum compatibility and cross-chain swap capabilities.

You can read more about AERUM’s blockchain solution on its official website, where you can also join the currently ongoing public sale. You can also stay tuned on the project’s Facebook or Twitter page to receive regular updates.

If you have any questions, you can ask away in the live discussion group on Telegram!

What do you think of Christie’s collaboration with Artory? Do you think this blockchain integration is capable of solving some of the art’s industry current issues? Let us know in the comments below!