Conflict of interest policy
Last updated 03 Jun 2026
Ratings cannot be purchased. No artist, gallery, advisor, auction house, dealer, or third party can pay to be added to Artlex, pay to influence a score, or pay to alter the wording of a rationale. There is no commercial pathway that buys a better rating, and there never will be.
What we don't do
To keep scoring credible, Artlex does not:
- Accept payment from artists, estates, galleries, or auction houses in exchange for inclusion in the roster or in any rating, watchlist, or feature.
- Accept sponsored placements, paid promotion, or pay-to-play positioning anywhere the score, rating, or rationale is shown.
- Take affiliate fees, kickbacks, or commission on sales of works by artists we rate.
- Sell user data, watchlist activity, or behavioural signals to galleries, dealers, fairs, or third-party marketers.
- Allow advertisers to influence which artists are surfaced, ranked higher, or shown in "artists to watch" roundups.
How Artlex makes money
Artlex is funded by subscription. Collectors, advisors, and institutions pay a monthly or annual fee for access to the terminal, watchlist, alerts, and research tooling. That is the only revenue stream that touches the product today.
Future revenue lines (research reports, institutional licensing, data partnerships) will be disclosed on this page before they ship, and will be structured to keep scoring independence intact.
Editorial independence
The scoring engine is run by the Artlex team. No external party has visibility into model weights, source weighting, or unpublished ratings prior to release. Galleries and artists cannot pre-review a score or rationale before it goes live.
When an artist or gallery contacts us to dispute a factual error (wrong representation, wrong school, mistaken identity, outdated exhibition record), we correct the factual record. We do not negotiate the rating itself.
Personal holdings
Members of the Artlex team may personally own works by artists that appear in the roster. Personal collecting predates and is separate from the product. Team members do not have the ability to alter the score, rating, rationale, or surface ranking of artists they personally collect.
If a meaningful conflict ever arises (for example, a founder taking a commercial position in a rated artist's primary or secondary market), it will be disclosed on this page.
Reporting a concern
If you believe a rating, rationale, or piece of editorial coverage has been influenced by a commercial relationship, tell us. We treat this seriously and will investigate every report.
Email hello@artlex.co.uk or use the contact form. Concerns can be raised anonymously.
In short: Artlex sells research access to collectors. It does not sell ratings to artists or galleries. The two revenue lines are deliberately kept apart, and this page is where any change to that arrangement will be disclosed first.