A Leonardo DiCaprio impersonator at last year's Frieze New York, as commissioned by artist Dora Budor. Image courtesy of the fair

Leonardo DiCaprio backs Magnus Resch’s app

The author of Management of Art Galleries gets help from the Hollywood star for his Shazam-like art app

Ever wandered around a gallery opening and wondered whether you could afford any of the works? From now on, you’re only a screen swipe away from the answer.

Magnus Resch, author of our excellent book Management of Art Galleries, has just received backing for his Magnus app from Hollywood star and star collector, Leonardo DiCaprio.

The phone app, available for free in the iTunes and Android stores, is described as a “Shazam for art”, enables viewers to submit a picture of a work, and receive in return the artist, title and price of the piece, so long as the works in question are on the phone’s crowd-sourced database.

 

Magnus

 

The app is an obvious extension of his book, Management of Art Galleries, which demystifies the shadowy world of art galleries, answering pertinent questions such as what kind of clients are likely to drop big money on major works, and which kind of artists really help gallerists pay the rent. Magnus believes both his book and his app aims to make “to make the market more accessible.” Now that’s a goal shared by the Revenant star.

“Visual art is a powerful tool for spreading ideas, memorializing history, and bringing people together around a common purpose,” DiCaprio says in a statement. "I am proud to partner with Magnus as the app continues to educate people everywhere about the art around them.”

For more on Magnus’s book go here; for more online art transparency, take a look at our sister site, Artspace.