We analyze the guarantees that art-auction houses offer from an options viewpoint. This approach allows us to derive analytical expressions to value the positions involved in such arrangements. We further validate these formulas with a Monte Carlo simulation applied to a realistic example....

Paintings are − among other things − financial assets. The most basic piece of information regarding a financial asset is probably its return, or, more appropriately, the potential return that it can offer. Not surprisingly, many scholars have devoted a fair amount of effort to explore how...

"In recent years the art market has grown in both size and importance. It is currently estimated that ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) maintain 6% of their holdings in art-related assets; thus, at least US$ 1.75 trillion are invested in art worldwide. This figure does not take into...