Art world arm · For galleries
The dealer keeps the relationship. The architecture keeps the record.
A gallery is a relationship business that has to also be a records business. Provenance, attribution opinion, exhibition history, sales documentation, client correspondence — the institution holds them, and the institution is one dealer with a calendar and a phone.
The art world arm of SENTYAL handles the records business so the dealer can stay in the relationship business. Inquiries are answered around the clock. Sourced documentation is generated per work. Routine is automated. Exceptions surface to the principal.
Catalogue. Inquiries. Documentation. Records.
Every work, properly held
Each work has its own record: title, year, dimensions, medium, sourced provenance, exhibition history, attribution opinion, indicated market range based on comparable sales. The record updates when the work moves. The record survives when the dealer is unavailable.
The phone answered around the clock
Routine inquiries — availability, dimensions, sourced documentation, exhibition schedules — are handled without the dealer being on the line. International collectors in a different timezone get the answer they asked for, when they asked for it. The dealer hears about the inquiries that actually need them.
Per-work, sourced, dated
Every document is signed, dated, and tied to a specific work in the catalogue. Sourced provenance research with a record of the sources. Attribution opinion from named experts. Condition reports with original photography. Documents that hold up when the gallery is not in the room to defend them.
The institution outlasts the keeper
If the dealer steps back, sells the gallery, or is unreachable for a quarter — the catalogue, the records, the client relationships, the sourced documentation, all of it is intact, transferable, and continuing to operate. The institution does not die with the principal.
The relationship.
Architecture is not a substitute for the dealer's eye, the dealer's reputation, or the dealer's relationships with artists and collectors. None of that is transferable to a system. None of it should be.
The architecture handles what should not depend on one person being awake — the records, the documents, the routine. The dealer handles what can only be done by the dealer — the eye, the taste, the introductions, the trust.