Most art is not in museums. It lives in homes.
On Philotheka you can see art from private homes that few people have ever seen, follow the artworks you love, and ask to look after one when it needs a new home.
Art you would not see otherwise
Most artworks spend their lives in homes, out of sight. When their custodians record them on Philotheka, the public records go into the archive, each with its photographs and its story, for anyone to see.
Follow the ones you love
Follow any public artwork, or a whole collection. We write to you when an artwork you follow changes status, for instance when it looks for a new home.
Following never contacts the custodian, and it is always free.
If you like, the weekly letter brings you up to ten of the artworks that came into the archive in the past seven days.
Give an artwork a new home
When a custodian is ready to let an artwork go, they can give it, for nothing, to someone who will look after it. You do not buy it; you are chosen.
You apply with a few short answers: why you would like it, and where it would be kept, with photographs of the place if you like. The custodian reads them and chooses. When you apply, you accept the custodianship conditions, and any the custodian has added.
If you are chosen, you confirm and pay Philotheka a €20 transfer fee. You then receive each other's email address to arrange the handover. The record and its story pass to you once you have both said the artwork has changed hands.
You agree to keep it out of commercial trade for three years, and to give it a new home again through Philotheka if you no longer want it.
What you need
Looking at the archive needs nothing at all. To follow an artwork or ask to look after one, you need an account with a confirmed email address, which is free.
What it costs
Looking, following and applying cost nothing. If you are chosen, the €20 transfer fee is the only payment to Philotheka, and it is returned if the handover falls through. Transport, packing and insurance are yours to arrange.