Artmark, art and history auction house, both as a platform for cultural promotion and as a member of ACOAR (www.acoar.ro) and professionally of CINOA (www.cinoa.org), understanding the wider responsibility that derives from its position as a regional art market leader, made possible by its love of art and support of Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian and foreign collectors, expresses its concern for the integrity of the profession of art dealer ("economic operator in the cultural market") and its daily and pattern-printing exercise, and for justifying legitimate expectations of collectors and confirming their trust, committing itself to observe in its activity a set of principles and working methods, as follows.

1. The profession of art and history dealer is not only a commercial but also a vocational endeavour, based on intimate personal choices and convictions about the conduct of professional life rather in relation to values such as art and cultural identity, and about the role of the circulation of cultural values and goods in the space of interaction that we synthetically call the art market. As an art dealer, Artmark is an agent of cultural promotion and facilitation of cultural exchanges - between generations, between tastes/educational backgrounds, between nationalities, etc. - being honoured to play, in this capacity, an important role in the propagation of culture in the European society. Without trade, the dissemination of culture, as well as knowledge as a genre, would be severely limited, just as museums' heritages cannot be built up solely through donations (or, in the case of totalitarian states or states with a totalitarian past, solely through expropriation and confiscation from patrons and collectors). As a consequence of this role, Artmark believes that the assumption of high ethical standards in the conduct of its commercial activity leads not to limiting the profession but, on the contrary, to defending the profession, by building a professional reputation deserved by the self-regulated dealership, i.e. by protecting the art trade from over-regulation, helping to maintain the current legal principles of freedom of the art trade, the only one capable of ensuring the wide circulation of cultural values and the effectiveness of their educational message.

2. Artmark undertakes to offer for sale by auction only objects of art and history whose authenticity and correct general description is diligently verified in advance, relying on the opinion of specialists and experts contracted or, as the case may be, consulted by the House. To this end, the House will guarantee the authenticity of all lots awarded by the Auction Regulations, without any time limit, and will clearly stipulate the terms and conditions under which the buyer of a lot in the auction, who suspects the non- authenticity of the lot purchased, may request and receive back the amounts paid. It should be understood, however, that the level of guarantee of authenticity by the House will depend on the level of professionalism of the experts accredited by the Ministry of Culture, specialised in the nature/period/culture/author of the lot offered for sale, at the time of the sale.
Interested parties may notify the House of any discrepancies at [email protected]/bg/hr.
In the same vein, with regard to the requests that the House receives to put lots of art or history whose quality is questionable from the point of view of authenticity up for sale by auction, we would like to clarify that the House's practice is to refuse to consign/release these lots for sale, without providing the applicants with written explanations regarding the lack of authenticity, including expert reports proving the lack of authenticity. The House will also refuse any appraisal, cataloguing or certification of the same lots, including the appraisal of "value if the lot were authentic".

3. Artmark owes respect to collectors for their selflessness in preserving, conserving and safeguarding national and universal art and history, including passing them on from generation to generation, and wishes to protect the integrity of their heritages. Thus, Artmark will refuse to put into circulation objects of art or history that it has or acquires reason to suspect as having been illicitly obtained, whether by theft, illegal import, destructive dismemberment or illegal excavation. The House provides in its internal procedure for a stage of due diligence to be conducted in order to verify, when the objects belong to special typologies, which are prone to illicit circulation, in publicly accessible databases, whether there are clear claims to such objects, before they are put up for public auction. Interested persons may report to the House any suspicions of illegal provenance, accompanied by arguments and, if available, supporting documents, at [email protected]/bg/hr. As a rule, the House asks people who consign objects for sale by auction for ownership documents and any other provenance documents; however, the House understands the context of the special history of the Eastern European art market, which could not have evolved differently from our recent communist history, in which the regime was afraid of the ownership of art or national history by collectors, discouraging ownership, exhibition, exchanges, so that the circulation of art and history objects was not accompanied by documents, even between generations. Artmark encourages collectors who offer lots for sale by auction to provide the House with as much information as possible about the provenance and history of the lot on offer.

4. As for the history lots, which do not only reflect a peaceful flow of time, but have often been turbulent and violent, and the lots that incorporate it, with a documentary character, from art to books, from manuscripts to weapons, sometimes come from controversial personalities, some convicted of war crimes or socially disavowed, Artmark will strictly observe the limits prescribed by law and public morality, accepting and auctioning of only those lots that do not have a current propagandistic function, in favor of ideas with increased social danger (such as fascism or negationism); these historical lots will be accepted in the auction only to the extent that they have documentary, memorialistic, artistic and/or historical content and importance, and their eventual signs, which accompanied/synthesized graphic and symbolic, in the era, specific propaganda, will be covered, in the photos of the batch, according to international practice, with a black or red dot.Lots with a controversial history will be marked in the auction catalogue with with the symbol "IC"

5. Similarly, Artmark promotes equality of opportunity, both artistically and professionally. As a reasonable reflection of this concern, the House will act responsibly, in view of its moral duty not to encourage discrimination, in the selection of the lots that make up the themes of the auctions it organises or hosts, where its contribution is legally possible and organisationally relevant, and responsively if it is made aware of this sensitive issue in good time and effectively (at [email protected] ).

6. Artmark, a believer in the principles of sustainable development, is concerned about the issue of environmental greening and working procedures and has adopted internal procedures to reduce the consumption of primary resources such as paper, water and electricity; Artmark is therefore working to convert all its correspondence with customers and the authorities (including contracting, invoicing and certification) into electronic media, as well as policies to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.