Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz Partner With Bonhams to Launch "The Deans' Choice," Pioneering U.S. Artist Resale Royalty Program

Cultural icons and prolific art collectors Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and Alicia Keys are changing the future of the art market. In collaboration with international auction house Bonhams, the couple has launched The Deans' Choice, establishing the first-ever elective sale royalty award program of its kind in the United States.

For a long time, the art world has had a major unfairness built into it. For example, an artist may sells a painting early in their career for a modest price (say, $5,000). Years later, that same painting may be resold at a major auction house for millions of dollars because the artist became famous.

Before now, under U.S. law, the artist gets zero dollars from that multi-million-dollar resale. The collector or auction house pockets all the profit, while the creator gets nothing from their past success.

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, who are major art collectors,noticed this gap and compared it to the music industry, where songwriters always get royalties. 

Their groundbreaking initiative introduces a model designed to address this  long-existing disparity in the visual arts.

The inspiration for the program struck home for the Deans after witnessing major secondary market milestones such as Kerry James Marshall’s 1997 painting Past Times fetching a staggering $21 million at auction in 2018 where despite setting records, the living artist did not financially benefit from the resale.

Past Times, 1997

"In music, when we write a song, we receive royalties for the life of the song, a long-term benefit for us and our families," the couple shared in a joint statement.

"We introduced a game-changing idea to Bonhams and they immediately understood the vision and were eager to partner in bringing it to life."

Their initiative, The Deans' Choice is structured as a fully voluntary, consignor-directed framework that operates through a mutual opt-in system.

 At the time of consignment for U.S. auctions, a seller can choose to direct a designated percentage of the hammer price directly to the artist.

 Demonstrating institutional commitment, Bonhams will match the seller's contribution percentage directly from its own buyer's premium.

  Living artists who meet specific criteria (including a pre-existing secondary market track record and standard compliance checks), can register to participate through Bonhams' platform.

Set to officially debut in November 2026 during Bonhams' flagship 20th and 21st Century Art auction, the program marks a huge cultural shift for the U.S. art landscape, where statutory resale royalties did not exist under federal copyright law.

Seth Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Bonhams, emphasized that the initiative is intended to lead the industry forward rather than serve as a temporary gesture.

"For centuries the saleroom has been where value is recognised," Johnson noted. "The Deans' Choice with Bonhams extends that recognition to the artists themselves. Not as a gesture, but as a working part of how we sell. We believe this is where the market is heading, and we intend to help take it there."

By merging The Dean Collection’s fierce advocacy for creators with Bonhams' global auction infrastructure, The Deans' Choice offers a sustainable blueprint for how creators, collectors, and institutions can mutually invest in the longevity of artistic careers.