MutualArt, among the world’s leading source of art market information and manager of the APT (Artist Pension Trust) collection, recently announced it has raised $32 million in funding to launch its new private sales service, with Saul Ingram, former managing director of contemporary art at Sotheby's, as head of sales.
From online to offline
MutualArt’s new private sales service offers collectors, art advisors, foundations, corporations and institutions exclusive access to artworks from the APT collection – currently comprising nearly 13,000 artworks from 2,000 established and emerging artists in 70 countries – as well as discreet sales of secondary market works.
MutualArt’s experienced private sales team uses the company’s unrivalled online data on the art market – including in-depth performance analysis of 300,000 artists, current market trends and usage data from over 500,000 members registered worldwide – to match artworks with the right buyer and offer support and advice, both online and offline, anywhere in the world.
“With today’s milestone launch of our private sales service and the appointment of Saul Ingram as head of sales, MutualArt has entered a new and exciting chapter of the company’s history,” said Al Brenner, CEO of MutualArt, “We are very grateful for this substantial round of financing from professional investors which allows us to carry out our next phase – the private selling of artworks. The invested capital has allowed us to put together an experienced sales team and give them the tools to use the immense data gathered and analyzed by us over the years to generate sales.”
Ingram brings top art market sales leadership to MutualArt
In support of the new private sales service, MutualArt has appointed Saul Ingram as head of sales, where he will lead the division worldwide. With 20 years of experience in the art market, Ingram began his career at Sotheby’s in 1997, where his in-depth knowledge of the history of art and the global art market led him to become managing director of contemporary art and a member of Sotheby's European management team. During his time with the auction house, Ingram spearheaded some of the most innovative and successful auctions in the history of the business, including the record-breaking Damien Hirst sales and the (RED) charity sale. Saul is also the co-founder of TondoArt, a revolutionary app which uses data and algorithms to predict art market trends.
“Saul brings to the company two decades of experience in art business development and a key understanding of the vital role data plays in facilitating successful sales,” added Brenner. “Capitalizing on MutualArt’s important data aggregation advantage in the market, Saul will establish a discreet data-driven private sales service which will further consolidate our standing as a leading art world player.”
“I am delighted to join MutualArt under the talented leadership of Al Brenner and Mark Sebba,” said Ingram. “I am pleased to be working on this newly established division as the business looks to grow an even stronger presence at the intersection of art, data and sales. I look forward to applying my years of experience both in the art world and business development as well as my data and technological know-how in this role.”
To learn more, visit www.mutualart.com and www.aptglobal.org.