Papers by Mathew B . Henrickson
Academia AI and Applications, Jan 30, 2026
This study presents a prototype Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) framework for art provenance... more This study presents a prototype Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) framework for art provenance research, focusing on the Getty Provenance Index German Sales dataset. The prototype addresses challenges posed by fragmented and multilingual archival data, as well as the limitations of traditional metadata-based search tools. By enabling flexible, natural language queries in multiple languages, the framework facilitates searches of the Getty Provenance Index without knowledge of specific object metadata. Using a sample of 10,000 records to test the concept and later an extended 100,000 record sample, we explore a RAG prototype that aims to improve both the efficiency and accessibility of provenance searches and find encouraging results for specific and exploratory research scenarios. The framework emphasises transparency, suggesting a scalable and practically oriented approach for historians and cultural heritage professionals working with complex art market archives.
The thesis will attempt to further the academic debate linked to art as an alternative asset cla... more The thesis will attempt to further the academic debate linked to art as an alternative asset class; assessing how complex and innovative ownership structures can affect the relationship between aesthetic and financial value. The project explores how the aesthetic and critical importance of artworks can be diluted through the involvement of complex offshore company structures when trading and owning artwork. The contemporary historical context for the research is the Panama Papers data leak from the records of the now defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca. The research analyses several contemporary case studies of dealing, speculating and ownership of art work by influential collectors and commercially interested art market participants. The Panama Papers represent an unprecedented leak of documentation linked to the veiled dealings of secretive offshore entities and a unique opportunity to further research into a highly secretive part of the art market. The research focuses on three different uses of offshore financial infrastructure and mechanisms to own and trade art work, presenting new research into how the critical importance, aesthetic nature and value of art passing through these structures can become dissociated from its financial value. The research thesis explores the case of disputed ownership of the 1918 Modigliani portrait Seated Man with a Cane, the manufactured investment opportunity linked to the Ganz Picasso collection and illustrates how offshore ownership of art was utilized by Dmitry Rybolovlev as an innovative tool in an estate planning strategy.
The thesis presents an opportunity to consider the hitherto under-researched practice of offshore trading and ownership of artwork. The scope of the project is not to provide a conclusive answer or evidence suggesting that offshore ownership treats art solely as a financial asset class. Indeed, it is impossible to present a binary outcome given the complexity of the debate. However, the project does present a case for how offshore financial practices can alter the perception of artwork as something of aesthetic merit and identify it more as an object of exploitable economic worth.
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Papers by Mathew B . Henrickson
The thesis presents an opportunity to consider the hitherto under-researched practice of offshore trading and ownership of artwork. The scope of the project is not to provide a conclusive answer or evidence suggesting that offshore ownership treats art solely as a financial asset class. Indeed, it is impossible to present a binary outcome given the complexity of the debate. However, the project does present a case for how offshore financial practices can alter the perception of artwork as something of aesthetic merit and identify it more as an object of exploitable economic worth.