The Hartmann family’s collection had reached the point where “knowing what we own” was no longer a casual statement, it was a logistical challenge. Works were distributed across residences, storage and loans, with information split between advisors’ databases, insurers’ spreadsheets and storage providers’ reports. The consequences were subtle but serious: duplicated records, conflicting valuations, missing documents and location uncertainty at exactly the moments when clarity mattered.

They chose Corpus because it offered collector-grade control without the collector-grade headache. Multi-location inventory meant every work could carry a location history across homes, storage, transit, fairs and loans. Provenance tracking and document attachments put invoices, certificates, condition reports and correspondence where they belong: inside the artwork record. With enterprise security and granular permissions, the family could share the right level of access with advisors and administrators while keeping the collection private.

Migration was less about “importing a list” and more about reconciliation. Corpus’ data recovery consolidated overlapping datasets from multiple parties, then standardized fields so titles, dimensions, currencies and dates did not drift into incompatible formats. Integrity checks flagged missing images and documents early, and the team resolved duplicates at the source so the new system did not inherit old ambiguity. The result was a single, coherent Corpus instance instead of a federation of half-truths.

Once operational, the benefits were immediate and practical. During storage visits, the family and their advisors could consult records offline, confirm what was present and reference condition notes without relying on email attachments. Reporting for insurers stopped being a quarterly scramble: analytics and reports produced clean exports and summaries on demand, with valuation history and supporting files attached.

Today, the Hartmanns manage 800+ works across 12 locations, finally under control. Their satisfaction is not about dashboards; it is about certainty. When a loan is requested, when an insurer asks for documentation or when a work moves between locations, Corpus keeps the collection legible, secure and up-to-date so the collection feels like pleasure again.