Philosophy
Three convictions that decide almost every argument we have about how this platform should work.
Every platform encodes a set of beliefs, usually without admitting to them. Ours are short enough to state, and we would rather be held to them in public than let them stay implicit.
- 01
Context is part of the work
A painting stripped of its story is a decorated surface. We carry the artist's own account, the year, the place, the provenance and the reason it was made — because a collector who understands a piece keeps it, and a collector who merely liked the image replaces it in two years.
- 02
The maker sets the terms
Price, format, the minimum they will accept, whether a piece is opened to collector offers at all — these are the artist's decisions, not ours. We will advise when asked. We will not discount someone's work to move inventory, and we will not rank a listing higher because it is cheaper.
- 03
A recommendation must explain itself
Anything the platform suggests — a thread, a shortlist, an alignment result — shows its reasoning. A system that will not tell you why it chose something is not helping you decide; it is deciding for you and hoping you do not notice.
- 04
Say the unflattering thing
If a work is a reproduction, we call it a reproduction. If a date is inferred rather than documented, we hedge it. If our catalogue does not have what a buyer needs, we say so instead of selling the nearest thing.
Questions we have not answered?