Initially, Arcual provides smart contract solutions for artist and gallery royalties, custom payment terms, sales agreements, verified provenance, and digital certificates of authenticity. But these are only the beginning. Brought to life with the technology and Web3 expertise of BCG Digital Ventures, Arcual is the result of a shared mission to put artists at the center of the art ecosystem, offering them greater ownership, transparency, and participation in their careers.
From this vantage, Arcual has been purpose-built to address the unique needs of the art world – including artists, galleries, institutions, and collectors. Technology has accelerated transformation across the arts in recent years, and Arcual will partner with and empower users to fully realize the benefits of digital innovation. Arcual’s blockchain applications will create a trusted space for information, partnerships, and transactions within the art world.
Arcual is currently being offered in beta phase to galleries eager to champion a new way of doing business in the art world. The Arcual team will be at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2022, to share additional updates and work with interested galleries.
Bernadine Bröcker Wieder, Arcual CEO, said: “Arcual is well-positioned to solve long-standing challenges and create new opportunities across the entire art community – and we are the first blockchain ecosystem to be purpose-built with these use cases at its core. We want Arcual to be a trusted space for information, partnerships, and transactions, from which new forms of collaboration will be possible. We are excited to bring to life a long-awaited solution for the art world.”
Maja Hoffmann, Founder of LUMA Foundation, said: “Arcual was born from a shared recognition of a shift in the production of art and the ecosystem that surrounds it. Arcual will offer pioneering technologies that give artists greater ownership, participation, and transparency in their careers, and will provide both institutions and galleries the tools to best nurture them. It’s about placing the artists in the center, which is also the mission of the LUMA Foundation.”
Marc Spiegler, Global Director of Art Basel, said: “Arcual’s technology allows us to make possible what was much-needed before, yet impossible to enforce. Within Art Basel, the inspiration for Arcual came from a long-standing frustration around the fact that in today’s art world, artists often don’t benefit from the growth of their own market – and neither does the gallery that supported them. LUMA has been an incredible partner throughout Arcual’s development, as Maja’s team provides an invaluable perspective based on working with myriad artists and other great institutions.”
How Arcual supports artists:
Arcual offers artists greater ownership, participation, and transparency in their markets by keeping them closely connected with their art throughout its journey – from creation to consignment, sale, loans, exhibitions, resale, donations and beyond.
The Arcual smart contracts ensure artists benefit financially from their work beyond its first sale.
Artists can indicate preferences for the future care, preservation, and installation of their artwork in these agreements.
Transparency for artists includes: easy access to information; fast payout when their work is sold and re-sold; inventory availability updates; the ability to request works for exhibition; and more.
How Arcual supports galleries:
Arcual ensures that galleries benefit financially from early support of an artist’s career, via smart contracts offering customizable royalties applied to future sales over an allotted time period.
Being a permissioned blockchain (and unlike public blockchains), Arcual enables Galleries, Artists, Collectors, and other parties ownership of their data and the decision-making on the visibility of said data.
Instant contracts and seamless payment processing provide sales solutions at fairs, exhibitions, and beyond, allowing galleries to focus on their core business.
Smart contracts provide a verified chain of ownership history and digital certificates of authenticity that do not risk loss or damage.
Arcual will offer on-chain integrations with services like KYC, shipping, and insurance.
How Arcual supports institutions:
Designed with the expertise of LUMA Foundation, Arcual was built in alignment with institutions and their central goal to support artists.
Arcual’s smart contracts provide institutions with a verified chain of ownership history and digital certificates of authenticity that do not risk loss or damage.
Seamless registration of artworks and instant contracts help institutions to digitize and improve administrative processes.
How Arcual supports collectors:
Being an Arcual patron directly supports artists and artistic production.
Arcual’s smart contracts provide collectors with a verified chain of ownership history and digital certificates of authenticity that do not risk loss or damage.
Instant contracts and seamless payment processing provides purchasing solutions at fairs, exhibitions, and beyond.
Arcual can help collectors assess secondary market acquisitions, combining provenance and authenticity analysis into a meaningful history of the work that is auditable, secure, and adds value.
