oneFrame brings contemporary art into everyone’s life

oneFrame is an online platform aiming to bring art to everyone's life. The basic idea is to offer the possibility to people who do not have time to visit museums and exhibitions – or have the desire but not the means to buy a contemporary artist’s painting – to digitally exhibit art from oneFrame’s wide portfolio on any display within their home or business.

oneFrame’s value proposition focuses on 3 stakeholders:
1- businesses that would like to bring art and colour to their facilities,
2- viewers who can enjoy art in a new setting and easily learn more about it,
3- artists who can reach greater visibility and an alternative revenue stream.

The company’s founders – Quentin Stas de Richelle (Masters in General Management, 2018) and Aleksei Chemisov (Masters in International Management & Strategy, 2018) – are interested in art in general, and painting in particular, but first and foremost in people.

Democratizing art

“We want to democratize art by giving people access to quality works,” Quentin explains. “And we want to offer an exhibition space to artists with real talent, who often do not have the means to exhibit in galleries.”

oneFrame features an exclusive and curated portfolio of emerging international artists in a variety of art styles. Quentin and Aleksei meet with each of the artists, choose the artworks they want to include in their portfolio, and add the artist’s story to their platform.

“We believe that a work of art cannot be dissociated from the artist and his or her story,” says Aleksei. “All of our artworks have passed a very high standard of digitalization – so we ensure maximum quality for both the customer and the artist.”

"We don't want to take advantage of artists, we pay them to collaborate with us,” Quentin adds. “Exhibiting works on screens was a known technique. But to integrate contemporary artists into the project – and pay them – that’s new.”

From idea to implementation at Vlerick

Vlerick’s Start-Up Accelerator requires participants to develop a business plan for an entrepreneurial idea. Aleksei and Quentin came up with the idea of ‘oneFrame’ and their Vlerick professors encouraged them to launch a start-up.

Fredrik Hacklin, Vlerick Professor of Entrepreneurship: “We encourage participants to ‘get their hands dirty’ by developing their own new venture from idea to implementation. Aleksei and Quentin were truly motivated and dedicated students as they pursued this journey. They ramped up their first prototype during the first weeks, made effective use of the coaching by investors and industry experts, and reached out to a variety of stakeholders to test and challenge their ideas.”

Aleksei Chemisov: “Vlerick provides a great ecosystem for turning knowledge into action. Perhaps the most important part was the chance to meet other passionate entrepreneurial people. The importance of the right corporate values was also deeply transmitted to us. With oneFrame, we aim to bring socio-cultural impact through a sustainable business model.”

Art works increase happiness at work

The two entrepreneurs collaborated with a researcher from Harvard University and had access to her study ‘Art Works at Work’. The research confirms that art placed in work environments contributes positively to the employees’ happiness, tolerance and creativity.

"We believe that there will soon be a generation – inspired by digital – that will support art and emerging artists of all styles and all countries. And we hope it will open lively conversations like the ones we’ve had with our start-up!” says Quentin.