Bonhams partners on AI art analytics
- Bonhams said on March 16 it partnered with ARTDAI to add art-market analytics across its auction business, giving specialists and clients more data for valuations. - The deal gives Bonhams access to ARTDAI’s auction database, live analytics, custom indexes and benchmarking tools as it builds a base for future AI use. - The move comes as auction houses test AI for pricing and research after a weak market and the NFT bust. (artnet.com)
Bonhams said on March 16 that it has partnered with ARTDAI to bring art-market analytics into its auction business. (prnewswire.com) The companies said Bonhams will use ARTDAI’s proprietary auction database, live market analytics, custom index construction and performance benchmarking tools. (prnewswire.com) ARTDAI said the project is aimed at enterprise data services first, with the technology meant to support Bonhams’ digital transformation and create a technical base for later AI deployment across global operations. (prnewswire.com) Artnet reported that Bonhams chief executive Seth Johnson described the partnership as a way to explore AI for “market patterns,” valuation support and faster access to insight for specialists. (artnet.com) That puts the announcement in the part of the art trade where AI is being used less to make art than to sort data: auction histories, comparable sales and category-level price trends. (artnet.com) (prnewswire.com) Bonhams is one of the larger houses trying that approach at scale. The company said it was founded in 1793, runs more than 400 sales a year and serves buyers across major salerooms including London, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. (prnewswire.com) The company also entered 2026 leaning harder on digital channels. Bonhams said 91% of lots were sold online by volume in 2025, and 46% of total value was transacted digitally. (bonhams.com) Bonhams said its 2025 global sales reached $970 million, with buyers from 133 countries and millennials and Gen Z making up 25.6% of global registrants, up 19% year over year. (bonhams.com) Artnet said art businesses are testing AI after the 2022 NFT bust, with firms looking for narrower uses in data, discovery and operations instead of broad claims about disruption. (artnet.com) For Bonhams, the pitch is not that software replaces specialists. The pitch is that specialists get more pricing context, faster, as auction houses compete for consignments and collectors who already buy online. (artnet.com) (prnewswire.com)
