Magnus Resch is an German internet entrepreneur with an interest in the art market. After several successful consumer start-ups in Berlin, Resch is trying a new tack by launching a art world data company from Hong Kong. Harnessing the power of 25 researchers from 20 different countries who speak 24 languages, they’ve used 27,000 sources to research more than 3000 collectors from more than 70 countries.
The result is a database you can access for less than $10 a search that’s called Larry’s List. Who is Larry? He doesn’t exist. Or maybe we’re meant to think this is like getting access to the brain or data base of Larry Gagosian with his panoptic view of the art market. Only Resch says the database is particularly strong in emerging markets. And they see potential to double the listings as those researchers keep burrowing away on the internet.
Whatever the name, Larry’s List is meant to be a tool for sellers to find the right potential buyer for an artist’s work. Larry’s List is also keen to work with collectors to make sure the list only includes the the publicly available information that any given collector wants to see public. Larry’s list only aggregates publicly available information; all sources are named in the profiles; and the company is happy to take down anything a collector points out should not be made public.
