Bonhams Will Match Artist Resale Payments in New York

Bonhams will launch a voluntary artist-resale-payment program at its November 2026 New York auctions, asking participating consignors to give at least 1% of the hammer price or $500 to the living artist and promising an auction-house match. The money could be meaningful, but Deans’ Choice is a private opt-in mechanism—not the legal resale right used in the United Kingdom.

 
 

What Bonhams Has Actually Promised

Bonhams developed Deans’ Choice with Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and Alicia Keys, artists and collectors who have argued that visual artists should share in the later value of their work. The initiative was introduced in broad terms at a May event at Bonhams’ New York headquarters at 111 West 57th Street; a post by Bonhams executive Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard described it as a voluntary royalty for living artists.

A more detailed public outline appeared in a report published on September 9. According to The Art Newspaper’s report, a consignor may opt in with at least 1% of the hammer price or $500, whichever is greater. Bonhams will match the contribution’s percentage. “Hammer price” means the winning bid before the buyer’s premium and taxes, so the reported formula is tied to the value secured for the seller rather than the buyer’s final invoice.

Hypebeast separately reported that the program will launch with Bonhams’ 20th and 21st Century Art auction in November and described the structure as a bilateral opt-in. That is an important limit: no seller is compelled to participate, and the public descriptions do not say that every work by a living artist will be offered the option.

Bonhams chief executive Seth Johnson told The Art Newspaper that the house had not projected the program’s cost. He framed a larger payout as evidence of success, while saying clients had responded enthusiastically. No specific participating work had been announced as of September 9.

Deans’ Choice does not give artists a statutory resale right; payment depends on a seller’s opt-in and the program’s contractual terms. A seller who does not opt in owes nothing under the program.

 

Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and Alicia Keys in New York in April 2025. Photograph by PhilipRomanoPhoto via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; cropped.

 
 

What the Minimum Could Pay

The published minimum has an unusual effect. Above a $50,000 hammer price, 1% is greater than $500. Below $50,000, the $500 floor controls and increases the effective percentage as the hammer price falls; at exactly $50,000, the two minimums are equal.

The table applies the announced rule literally and assumes Bonhams’ match equals the seller’s contribution. That assumption follows the descriptions of a matched percentage, but a full Bonhams rulebook has not been published.

Hammer price	Seller minimum	Artist total if matched
$10,000	$500	$1,000
$25,000	$500	$1,000
$50,000	$500	$1,000
$100,000	$1,000	$2,000
$1 million	$10,000	$20,000

At the minimum, the combined payment is therefore 2% of hammer at $50,000 and above. It rises to 4% at $25,000 and 10% at $10,000 because of the $500 floor. Actual payments will depend on what sellers choose and what artists ultimately receive.

The match is the program’s most consequential design choice. A seller’s opt-in unlocks a second payment from the auction house, doubling the artist’s gross benefit under the reported formula. It also gives Bonhams a direct financial stake in participation instead of limiting the house to processing somebody else’s donation.

No public maximum percentage or dollar cap has been stated. Nor do the descriptions specify whether the artist receives the gross matched amount, whether administrative deductions apply, or when payment follows settlement of the auction.

111 West 57th Street, where Bonhams opened its New York headquarters in 2026; photograph taken in August 2021. Photograph by Kidfly182 via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International; cropped.

 
 

How Deans’ Choice Differs From the UK Resale Right

The United Kingdom offers a useful comparison because its Artist’s Resale Right is law, not an optional auction-house policy. The UK Intellectual Property Office’s current guidance says qualifying creators receive a royalty when an original work is resold through an auction house or other art-market professional. The right lasts for the artist’s life plus 70 years, subject to nationality and reciprocity rules.

UK royalties begin at a £1,000 resale price. The rate is cumulative: 4% on the first £50,000, 3% on the portion through £200,000, 1% through £350,000, 0.5% through £500,000, and 0.25% above that. A single sale’s royalty is capped at £12,500. Collecting societies administer and distribute the money; artists cannot demand it directly from the market professional.

Question	Deans’ Choice	UK ARR
Legal status	Voluntary policy	Statutory right
Coverage	Opted-in lots; living artists	Qualifying artists and heirs
Rate	Seller minimum plus match	Cumulative sliding scale
Cap	Not publicly stated	£12,500 per sale
Distribution	Not publicly detailed	Collecting societies

The two models also produce different rate curves. On a $100,000 Bonhams hammer, the reported minimum would produce $2,000 after the match. On a £100,000 qualifying UK resale, the statutory calculation is £3,500. At $1 million, the Bonhams minimum would be $20,000 if no cap intervenes; at £1 million, UK ARR is £10,000. The currencies prevent a direct value comparison, but the structural contrast is clear: Bonhams’ minimum becomes a flat combined 2% above $50,000, while the UK percentage declines by tiers and eventually reaches a cap.

That flexibility could make Deans’ Choice more generous on a particular lot, especially if a seller selects more than the minimum. Its weakness is coverage. The UK right follows every qualifying professional resale; Bonhams’ payment depends on a seller’s choice and, for now, applies only inside one house’s announced rollout.

The U.S. Copyright Office states that artist resale royalty is not part of current United States copyright law. Deans’ Choice therefore resembles the voluntary market initiatives that the office once identified as a possible alternative or supplement to federal legislation, but it does not substitute for legislation.

 
 

The November Auction Is the Real Test

The public announcement and September 9 coverage do not say whether Bonhams will publish those results. A headline total alone would be incomplete: one expensive lot could generate more money than many lower-priced works, while revealing little about whether sellers accept the principle across the sale.

The undisclosed figures include the number of eligible and participating lots, their combined hammer value, the average seller percentage, the amount contributed by Bonhams, and the time taken to pay artists.

 

Rules That Remain Private or Unannounced

Neither the May introduction nor the September descriptions set out a complete operating policy. They do not identify:

• the precise definition of an eligible living artist or work;
• whether artists must consent, enroll, or provide tax documentation;
• how opted-in lots will be marked in catalogues and online lot pages;
• any ceiling on the seller’s election or Bonhams’ match;
• who administers payment, whether deductions apply, and the payment timetable; or
• whether Bonhams will publish lot-level or aggregate results after November.

Those omissions do not establish that Bonhams lacks internal rules. They mean the market cannot yet evaluate administration, take-up, or the net payment that reaches an artist from the public material released so far.

 
 

What Is Established Before November

Bonhams has committed to a voluntary November rollout in New York in which an opting-in consignor contributes at least 1% of hammer or $500 and the house matches the chosen percentage.