The Journal · 1 November 2026
Why I built Artelier Business
By Marques Hardin, artist manager · Paris & Rome
I built Artelier Business after watching the same sale get written down three different ways, by the artist, by the gallery and by me. It gives an artist and the people they work with one shared record of every work, price and sale. Everyone reads the same page, so nobody has to guess.
It started with three lists
I manage artists in Paris, among them Maurice Mbikayi, Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku, Michael Gah and Ken Kamara. For years the artist kept one list of works, I kept another, and the gallery kept a third. We typed the same painting, the same price and the same sale three times, and when the lists did not agree, nobody could say which one was right.
Then the paperwork saved eight works
Eight artworks I believed were stolen came back to us, and they came back because the paperwork showed whose they were and where they had been. That day changed how I see records. They are not boring office work. The record you keep protects your life's work.
Buyers notice it too
When Artsy asked more than 1,200 collectors about buying art in 2025, 69% said they had held back at some point because things were not clear enough (Artsy, Art Market Trends 2025; also reported by Il Sole 24 Ore). If a buyer asks where your price comes from and you can answer calmly, you have already earned some trust.
Three things you can do this week, with or without us
- Take a photo of every work you still have, front and back, with your signature showing.
- Write one line for each work with the title, year, size, material, price and where it is right now.
- Pick one price for each work and use it everywhere, so a gallery and a buyer never find two different numbers.
That is the whole idea behind Artelier Business. You enter something once, and everyone who should see it can see it. The price tool shows how it got to the number, it takes nothing from your sales, and you can take your data with you whenever you want.
One sale, three versions
Anyone who has represented an artist will recognise the situation. A consigned work sells at a fair; the gallery's spreadsheet records the sale price, the manager's file still carries the price agreed in the spring, and the artist's notes contain neither. The invoice, the commission and the artist's net all depend on which version is believed, and the disagreement usually surfaces only after the money has moved.
The cost is commercial, not merely administrative
- Collectors hesitate when the origin of a price is unclear: in Artsy's 2025 survey of more than 1,200 collectors, 69% reported having hesitated to buy because of a lack of transparency (Artsy).
- An artist whose prices differ between the gallery and the studio is effectively teaching every buyer to negotiate, which erodes the gallery's position first.
- Incomplete records weaken every professional around the artist in a dispute, an insurance claim or a provenance enquiry; in my own practice, eight works I believed were stolen were recovered precisely because the documentation existed.
What a shared record has to contain
For each work, the record should hold the maker, title, year, medium, dimensions and image. It should also hold the price and the reasoning behind it, where the work is, who holds it, and the agreement it falls under. Every sale belongs on it too, with each commission and the artist's net. For each professional, the record should show the costs carried on the artist's behalf, what has been invoiced, and whether the artist was asked before anything was charged.
How Artelier Business approaches it
- Prices are derived from the artist's own sales and verified record, with every line of the calculation visible; below three sales in three years, the application labels the figure "Estimate, not yet a market price".
- A sale appears as a single line showing the price, each commission and the artist's net, readable by both parties.
- Costs incurred by a gallery or manager sit on the artist's own page, and none is charged before the artist has been asked; without a reply within 14 days, a cost counts as approved.
- The agreement is kept on file and both parties can see whether it has been signed, although drafts are not legal advice.
- Collectors receive a private page of selected works, a numbered invoice that is never rewritten, and a certificate that stays with the work.
What to put in writing, whatever software you use
Every representation should document the commission rate and what it covers, which costs the professional absorbs and which are recharged, who sets the price and how it may change, the duration of any consignment and how works are returned, and who maintains the records and how the artist obtains a copy. Artelier Business itself takes no commission on sales, exports its data whenever you ask, and runs in English, French and Spanish.
Before you buy from an artist or a gallery, ask to see the record of the work: who made it, when, where it has been, and how the price was set. A seller who keeps good records can answer in a few minutes, in writing, and will be glad you asked.
- Ask how the price was set, because a good answer talks about the artist's past sales and the size and material of the work.
- Ask whether the price is the same at the gallery and at the studio, because it should always be the same.
- Ask for a numbered invoice that names the work, the price and the seller.
- Ask for a certificate of authenticity that will stay with the work if you sell it one day.
- Ask where the work has been, such as shows, past owners and loans, because that history protects you too.
- Keep the invoice, the certificate, your photos and the messages together in one folder.
You are not being difficult. In Artsy's 2025 survey, 69% of collectors said a lack of transparency had made them hesitate to buy (Artsy).
Frequently asked questions
No. Nothing is taken from your sales.