Traditionally, artists have not always benefited when the value of their work goes up on the secondary market. However, Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and Alicia Keys are looking to change that.
The superstar musicians and art collectors have partnered with Bonhams to launch a voluntary resale royalty initiative designed to give artists a financial stake when their work is resold. The program, known as the Deans’ Choice, is set to roll out ahead of Bonhams’ November sales in New York, according to The Art Newspaper. Under the initiative, participating consignors can contribute a minimum of 1% of an artwork’s hammer price or $500, whichever is greater, to the artist. Bonhams will match the contribution.
The model reflects an issue that has long concerned the Deans, who have built a prominent collection of contemporary art while advocating for artists to benefit financially as the value of their work increases.
“Artists have told us directly that this is the direction they’ve been asking the market to take for a long time,” Seth Johnson, Bonhams’ chief executive, told The Art Newspaper.
The push also brings the economics of visual art
closer to a system familiar to musicians: royalties. Artists in the music business can earn compensation when copyrighted work is streamed, performed, or otherwise used beyond its original transaction. Visual artists, however, have faced a more fragmented landscape.Resale royalties, also known as droit de suite, are established in more than 90 countries, while efforts to create comparable federal protections in the U.S. have largely stalled. For the Deans, the voluntary model offers a way to test what a more artist-centered secondary market could look like without waiting for legislation.
“We’re not approaching this
initiative in that way,” Johnson said. “Bonhams built this around a shared mission with the Deans, and the reality is that we want this to cost us because that is a visible measure of success for this initiative, which is the whole point of doing it.”Johnson said collectors have responded positively, adding, “If others decide to follow suit, that’s a win for artists and for the market.”
The initiative comes as the Deans continue to expand their influence in the art world. A traveling exhibition of their art collection, Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys
, is about to begin its fifth leg at Newfields in Indianapolis starting Sept. 19. The exhibition, which will run until Feb. 28, 2027, includes works by Nina Chanel Abney, Arthur Jafa, Gordon Parks, Amy Sherald, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mickalene Thomas, Barkley Hendricks, Ernie Barnes, and Kehinde Wiley.RELATED CONTENT: WATCH: Swizz Beatz On the Beauty of Investing in Art