Matis, the first company in Europe authorised to offer co-investments in contemporary art through club deals, arrives in Italy two years after its foundation. Its portfolio includes blue chip names such as Andy Warhol, Lucio Fontana, Alighiero Boetti and François-Xavier Lalanne.
- Matis has financed a total of 65 club deals to invest in art. After raising €5 million in its first year and over €30 million in 2024, it has set itself the goal of raising €60 million by 2025.
- Arnaud Dubois: ‘Buying contemporary art directly requires expertise, capital and a network of experts that is often difficult to build. Matis simplifies this process thanks to its expertise in the fields of art and finance.
- The club deals offered by Matis – in the form of convertible bonds – have a maximum investment term of five years, with an estimated average holding period of two years. There is a minimum entry ticket.
Can a club deal be used to invest in art?
Investing in art, including through funds, is nothing new. What was missing, at least in Italy, was a highly specialised vehicle operating through club deals. Today, thanks to the French company Matis, the first company in Europe authorised to offer co-investments in contemporary art through club deals, the gap has been filled. Before arriving in Italy in September 2025, the company – founded in 2023 – operated successfully in France and Switzerland. To date, it has financed a total of 65 transactions. After raising €5 million in its first year and over €30 million in 2024, it has set itself the goal of raising €60 million by 2025. Its stated objective is to involve private investors, family offices, wealth management and private banking firms in this new opportunity for asset diversification, which is too often improvised: co-investment in works of art.
Who are the founders of Matis, a company offering club deals for investing in art?
The approach draws on the highly qualified advice of market experts, scholars and art galleries. Arnaud Dubois, co-founder of Matis with financial investment specialist François Carbone, is himself an expert in the field and emphasises: ‘Buying contemporary art directly requires expertise, capital and a network of experts that is often difficult to build. Matis simplifies this process thanks to its expertise in the fields of art and finance. In this way, we open up the opportunity for private investors to invest in a safe-haven asset such as art, previously reserved for a few collectors or institutional investors, through a transparent and regulated investment process.’
François Carbone adds that Milan was chosen because it is ‘Italy’s main financial hub and the nerve centre of European culture, with a long artistic tradition and a strong presence of HNWIs who want to diversify their investments into private markets.’ Carbone is also the founder of Anaxago, while Dubois is the founder of the art asset management company Arnaud Dubois Associates.
Exclusive club deals, only for blue chip works
In particular, Matis offers exclusive club deals on works of art by iconic 20th-century artists such as Andy Warhol, Lucio Fontana, Pierre Soulages, Alighiero Boetti and François-Xavier Lalanne, all blue chip artists valued between €500,000 and €5 million. The term “blue chip” – derived from the game of poker – is borrowed from stock market jargon. Drawing a parallel with the world of company share prices, “blue chip” works are defined as those of high value, those that have had a profound impact on art history, those that the entire art system (museums, galleries, collectors, scholars, dealers) recognises as milestones. Like blue chips on the stock market, this segment of the art market is distinguished by its stable and growing values, as well as its high liquidity (a fundamental aspect for any collectable that aspires to become a pleasure asset).
How do Matis club deals work? Duration and minimum investment amount
The club deals offered by Matis – in the form of convertible bonds – have a maximum investment duration of five years, with an estimated (non-guaranteed) average holding period of two years. The minimum payment to participate is €20,000. In less than two years, Matis has selected 65 works and made 16 resales. These include a work by Lucio Fontana, with over £14 million returned to investors (average net return of 17.7%). The acquisition of works of art takes place through a rigorous and transparent investment process, in which the purchasing team and the due diligence team work side by side, sharing all types of information, both artistic and market-related, concerning the work. “Each club deal corresponds to one work,” explains Annalisa Dondi, Matis’s marketing manager for Italy, during a press conference in the heart of Milan.
And for each club deal, Dondi continues, ‘all relevant information is constantly available to investors thanks to the dedicated digital platform.’ For example, ‘accompanying each work, in the technical data sheet, there is data on qualitatively comparable works, with their respective prices and market performance.’
How is the investment closed? What happens if the work is not sold?
The transaction is naturally concluded with the sale of the work, which takes place through partner galleries able to reach the most interested audience. The galleries do not bear the business risk: they receive the work upon delivery as soon as the financing round is completed, then receive any sales commissions. The maximum period for which the work remains in the gallery is ideally two years (target horizon), but theoretically it can be up to five years. At the end of the five years, if the work has not been sold, each investor becomes its pro rata owner with the conversion of the bonds originally subscribed. At that point, they can decide whether to sell the work immediately, entrust it to a different gallery or continue to entrust it to Matis. This is a textbook case, as the company is still very young.
Matis’ Italian option for investing in art with club deals
To lead the development of the Italian market, Arnaud Dubois and François Carbone identified Alberto Bassi, a long-time entrepreneur, manager and venture capitalist (he co-founded BacktoWork and the private equity firm Eighteen Capital), as the ideal candidate. The head of Matis Italia, for his part, says that Italy “represents a strategic step in Matis” European expansion. The protection and growth of their assets remain at the top of the agenda for private investors, who are operating in a context characterised by volatility and uncertainty. At the same time, wealth managers, private bankers and family offices are constantly seeking new diversification solutions and instruments that are uncorrelated with traditional financial markets. Against this backdrop, Matis is introducing art as a new asset class in private markets: a safe haven that not only offers protection in times of instability but also provides a real opportunity for appreciation and fits into investors’ long-term strategies.”
Matis‘ activities are regulated by the AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers), the French equivalent of the FCA. Matis was the first company in Europe authorised to offer co-investments in works of art.
