Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted Access (SIA Only)
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Art Business
Abstract
Fractional ownership has gained traction over the past eight years with companies like Masterworks and Maecenas offering everyday investors the possibility of entering the art market by purchasing tradeable shares in blue-chip artworks. This business model has reduced art to a purely investible asset as artworks bought by fractional ownership companies are generally stored in vaults rendering them inaccessible to their owners and the public. As such, this business model has remained peripheral to the traditional art market as established art collectors tend to prefer outright ownership.
A recent partnership between a Belgian fractional ownership company called Rubey and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp highlights the potential to combine capital with social impact, ensuring public access to fractionalised artworks. This dissertation investigates whether such approaches could serve as a viable means of expanding collections for public museums in the United Kingdom (UK), which are facing persistent financial pressure due to a steady decline in public investment.
The research question is approached from the perspective of public museum funding. The text begins by introducing the central challenges faced by public museums in the UK. Next, a literature review presents current discourses on public museum funding, alternative funding approaches, and fractional ownership of art. The methodology chapter outlines how the research question will be answered. The main chapters of this paper provide an overview of the UK’s mixed funding model for public museums and propose how fractional ownership could be integrated into this structure. A case study on Rubey is conducted and the last section considers expert opinions on the topic.
This dissertation concludes that while private investment is seminal to the UK’s mixed funding model, public support remains a vital source of funding for museums. Furthermore, models involving fractional ownership as they currently stand do not ensure long-term collection expansion nor do they lead to philanthropic donations. Therefore, fractional ownership models may be regarded as a supplementary source of contributed income rather than a primary solution for public museum financing.
Recommended Citation
Mangion, Nina, "Bridging the Private and the Public: Is Fractional Ownership an Alternative Financing Strategy for Public Museums in the UK?" (2026). MA in Art Business Dissertations. 34.
https://digitalcommons.sia.edu/ma_art_bus/34