Second Part of an Exclusive Interview With Thierry Ehrmann, CEO of Artprice.com (9 October 2011)

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Artprice.com

10 Oct, 2011, 13:45 GMT

PARIS, October 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

This 9-page interview explains how Artprice imposed itself as the world leader in art market information, and how it then became the 1st worldwide market place in volume for art works with its standardised market place. These 35 questions, sometimes uncompromising, enable to understand Artprice's incredible history in the last 20 years. The interview also provides a global analysis of art markets in the world, with China that is now the leading market place, its leading position being confirmed for 2011. In the course of this second long interview, Thierry Ehrmann also review Artprice's adventure on the Stock Market, with the best scoring in Europe on a regulated stock market in 2005 and 2011.

These 9 pages are available in English, for accuracy issues.

     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110609/461260 )

  1. Since our first interview in early June, a lot has happened to Artprice and to financial markets.
    We have many questions to which we would like you to give detailed answers. Firstly, why, in your opinion, did the exclusive interview that you gave to Boursica in June 2011 about Artprice - presented in several languages on Google (and view 210 000 times so far) - elicit so much interest from the public? ( Interview of June 2011: http://serveur.serveur.com/Press_Release/pressreleaseEN.htm#20110606 )
  2. In that first interview you talked about Artprice's uninterrupted sequence of unprecedented legal disputes. The company's development therefore hasn't been all roses?
  3. This sort of language may be appropriate for your small shareholder audience, but is it enough for financial professionals!
  4. So in your view, the communication issued by listed companies on regulated markets is simply a coded way of saying nothing?
  5. So what should senior management teams do?
  6. Let's talk again about the law of 20 July 2011 which transposed the European Services Directive into French law, and about its impact on online auctions. What does this mean for you?
  7. This hard-headed determination to resist change by what you call a "cast", does it have its roots in an economic logic or in a simple loss of social status?
  8. This law is applicable since 1 September 2011. What are you waiting for?
  9. Some of our members told us the Figaro newspaper had decided to launch itself in the auction world.
  10. Specifically, how will auctions on Artprice actually take place? Will it be like eBay?
  11. Can you tell us exactly how this escrow account will work?
  12. So according to you, the security on Artprice would be almost greater than at a traditional auction house.
  13. In our first interview you described exactly how Artprice can, on its Marketplace, meet the demand of a client wishing to sell, for example, a sculpture by Armand: "Les Poubelles Organiques" by extracting from its billions of client logs all clients who are fans of Armand, his sculptures in particular and more specifically of the period in which he produced Les Poubelles Organiques. Since then however, you have reported further progress; what is that?
  14. What exactly are we talking about here? Potential clients or potential competitors for Artprice?
  15. What do you mean by potential clients? Since you have said in your press releases that almost 83% of Auction Houses and art experts already work with you.
  16. What is their business model and where is your advantage?
  17. So does this mean in concrete terms that Artprice is going to participate in IPOs?
  18. Who can exceed Sotheby's capitalization?
  19. Does this mean the end of Contemporary Art fairs as we know them?
  20. In the current economic crisis which is unprecedented, is art really a safe haven?
  21. That seems to suggest we could have derivative instruments based on the art market?
  22. Who will be their professional buyers and their final clients?
  23. Why do you think that - faced with such revolutionary changes - the existing structure of the Western art market is so conservative?
  24. Under the "key person" section of the chapter on "Risk Factors" in your Registration Document, we learn that you have yourself been an artist-sculptor for 30 years. Is this intimate knowledge of artists a special advantage?
  25. Do you still find time to produce works?
  26. How long has it taken the market to increase tenfold?
  27. We still see very large price swings for works produced by young artists?
  28. Is this one of the things that attracts most of the entire world's auction houses to Artprice?
  29. How far will Artprice disseminate its information, free or paid?
  30. Following the first interview, you had a dispute with Artnet. What was that about?
  31. Speaking of the stock market, how is Artprice doing?
  32. Are your targets the same as in our first interview in June 2011, despite the crash this summer?
  33. In all honesty, what is your vision of the Western economy?
  34. News being what it is, what do you think of Steve Jobs who has just died?
  35. Please allow me to repeat the question I asked you in the first interview: do you have a prediction for the future of Artprice?

Thierry Ehrmann:

I reiterate that we have kept our commitments beyond the listing prospectus of 1999, passing through the crisis of the NASDAQ in 2000, the attacks of 11 September 2001, the Iraq war of 2003, the huge financial crisis that started in 2007 and that has now become a colossal state debt debacle. I know very few companies listed on the regulated market that have survived without ever having carried out capital increases, and which have gained, during this period, a world leader position! Compared with the June 2011 interview, I change my position concerning the future of Artprice because in view of the agreements and contacts that we have built in the three months since the adoption of the Law of 20 July 2011, I believe we have reached only 5% of Artprice's story, and I believe that henceforward much of our future history will be in Asia.

Full interview:

http://serveur.serveur.com/Press_Release/pressreleaseEN.htm#20111010

Source: http://www.artprice.com   © 1987-2011 thierry Ehrmann

To read the first interview: 5 June 2011, Exclusive interview with Thierry Ehrmann, CEO of Artprice.com:

http://serveur.serveur.com/Press_Release/pressreleaseEN.htm#20110606

Discover the Alchemy and the universe of Artprice: http://web.artprice.com/video/

Artprice is the world leader in art market information with over 27 million auction prices and indices covering over 450,000 artists. Artprice Images® offers unlimited access to the largest database of art market information in the world, a library of 108,000,000 images and engravings of art works from 1700 to the present day. Artprice continuously updates its databases with information from 3,600 international auction houses and provides daily information on art market trends to the main financial press agencies and to 6,300 press titles worldwide. Artprice offers standardised adverts to its 1,300,000 members (member log in) and is the world's leading market place for buying and selling works of art (source: Artprice).

Artprice is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris: Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF

Artprice releases: http://serveur.serveur.com/press_release/pressreleaseen.htm

The Art Market in real time by Artprice on Twitter: http://twitter.com/artpricedotcom/

Contact: Josette Mey - tel: +33-(0)478-220-000, e-mail: ir@artprice.com