Glossary

According to Limna (ArtFacts AI-powered search app), an artist “art fair presence”  is the frequency by which an artist is taken to art fairs by their representing galleries. The more an artist is known to sell well, the more likely it is that he/she will be taken to art fairs. Therefore, a high percentage of “art fair presence” can be translated into high sale-through probability for that artist.  

For the purpose of Weng Art Invest’s content sheets, the auction record refers to the best result ever achieved in auction for a unique piece of the artist analysed in the given content sheet.

The term “ask” refers to the purchase price we are willing to sell a selected artwork, the term “bid” refers to the price we might be willing to buy at after we have reviewed and accepted your sale request, calculated according to the platform supply and demand.

A biennial is a large international exhibition held every two years. One of the most renowned biennials is the Venice Biennale, which took place for the first time in 1895. Biennials are meant to provide a space where new contemporary art practices can be discussed and absorbed outside fine art museums. 

The blockchain is a shared, immutable, digital register or database that facilitates the process of recording  transactions. As a database, the blockchain stores information electronically in digital format. This technology offers a secure way for individuals to deal directly with each other, without an intermediary like a government, bank or any other third party.

Blue chip artists are widely recognized artists that have established themselves with exceptional sales volumes over the course of several years and a very solid secondary market. Artworks by blue chip artists guarantee greater investment stability.

A bonded warehouse, or freeport,  is a customs-controlled warehouse for the retention of import goods until the duty owed is paid. Therefore, the goods in transit are exempt from VAT and customs duty until exported. 

In auctions, the buyer’s premium is a fee, or additional charge, that the buyer has to pay on top of the hammer price. It varies between 12-25% of the hammer price, depending on the value of the artwork.

Comps is the short form for comparable, which generally means a comparison of financial metrics and other factors to quantify performance. The word carries different meanings depending on the industry and context it refers to.

According to Limna (ArtFacts AI-powered search app), an artist “cultural recognition” is defined by their curatorial status, both in terms of exhibitions and institution activity. The percentage is calculated on a wide range of factors among which: number of shows and co-exhibited artists in group shows. The lower the percentage, the more the artist can be defined as “undiscovered”, while the higher the percentage, the more the artist is “renowned”. 

It is the practice of mixing a wide variety of investments in a portfolio in a way that  reduces exposure to risks.

In this case drop stands for the exact date and time in which a new release is launched on the market.

Also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, refers to the process of buying and selling goods/services online.

The edition size of a fine art edition can either be open or fixed beforehand by the artist.  It’s important to note that when producing a limited edition, once the edition is complete, no more reproductions can be created. The concept of a “limited edition” is essential for collectors who seek to differentiate between an authentic numbered print and an offset open or unlimited edition.

According to ArtFacts, one of the world largest online art database, artists global ranking are produced by using multiple variables related to the significance of an artist exhibitions record. These information are compared to all other artists and result in a final ranking, with 1 being the most prominent artist. 

According to Limna (ArtFacts AI-powered search app), an artist “global exhibition presence” refers to the reach that an artist has beyond their home city. The higher the percentage, the more globally the artist has been exhibited. 

In auctions, this is the price for which a lot is sold (the winning bid).

HNW stands for High-net-worth (individuals).

The opposite of liquidity. Assets cannot easily or quickly be exchanged for cash.

Immutability is the ability to remain unchanged, unaltered, and inerasable.

For the purpose of Weng Art Invest’s content sheets, the “initial market price” is the very first price of an edition at the time this edition is released on the primary market by the publisher (see primary market definition).

In business and economics, liquidity refers to the possibility of easily purchasing or selling an asset, thus to the ease with which an asset can be converted into ready cash. It is a trade-off between the price and how quickly an item can be sold. 

NFTs, also known as non fungible tokens, are containers for a contract. These (smart) contracts regulate the ownership of a unique physical or digital object. As these objects are unique, the token can not be exchanged with anything and is therefore not fungible.

The most common use case of NFTs is the sale of digital art that can be either unique works or editions. These digital artworks are transferred on the blockchain in order to be easily transferable, while ensuring authenticity and ownership. Weng Art Invest applies the same logic to physical artworks.

It is the ratio between the number of customers that have used a product or service and the total population that is targeted by that product or service. This percentage helps analyzing the market and its trends – (number of users / total number of people targeted) x 100.

Price appreciation is the increase in value of an asset over a period of time.

Refers to the price fluctuation of a given asset. Volatility is measured by the percentage difference in the price of the commodity. The degree of variation, not the level of prices, defines a volatile market.

The primary market represents the first time an artwork is presented for sale on the market. This usually happens when artists either directly sell their artwork or they sell it via a gallery. The secondary market, on the other hand, is the re-selling of an artwork that has already been valued and sold on the market before. This mostly happens via auction houses. 

The provenance refers to the history of ownership of a work of art.

A smart contract is a program or transaction protocol stored on a blockchain that automatically executes an action according to the terms  of an agreement.

A solo show is an exhibition focusing on the artworks of one artist only. On the other hand, a group show, is an exhibition featuring artworks by multiple artists that may be exhibited together to convey a message or present the same themes, mediums or periods of time. 

To further establish the authenticity of an  artwork, editions are often signed and numbered by the artist, with each numbering noted as a fraction of the total edition size. This provides collectors with a guarantee of the work’s authenticity.

The spread is the difference between the bid and ask price and it changes daily according to the market behaviour. The spread can therefore be considered as a measure of supply and demand for an asset. The smaller the spread, the more liquid the asset is.

Tokens are digital assets defined by a smart contract and built on a specific blockchain. A token represents a set of rules encoded in a smart contract. For the purpose of our platform, one token will correspond to one artwork and will give the user full ownership of its corresponding physical counterpart.

For the purpose of this platform, trading days are those days in which users will be able to buy and sell their editions. Trading days are: Monday and Thursday 9.00am-5.30pm CET.