Our Story
A marketplace for art that begins with a gesture.
gestuo is a premium art commission marketplace, connecting collectors with curated artists to create bespoke artworks. From the first line of a brief to the moment a piece arrives at your door, we accompany each commission with care, transparency, and creative excellence.
What we believe
Every space deserves a unique piece that tells a story.
Commissioning art is one of the most personal transactions in design. You are not buying a product — you are entering a collaboration with a living artist, in service of a feeling you want to live with for years.
And yet the process has not changed in decades. The brief is handwritten, the price is opaque, the timeline drifts, the payment travels through accounts, and the contract sits in a drawer. gestuo exists to fix every part of that process without losing what makes it special: the human relationship between a person who sees and a person who makes.
We are collectors, designers, and artists ourselves. We started gestuo because we wanted to commission more art, and we kept hitting the same walls. So we built the platform we wished existed.
Launch Artist
David Handford — Kinetic Gesturalism
David works in bold, sweeping oil gestures that capture the tension between movement and stillness. His large-scale canvases are sought after by collectors who want work that commands a room while retaining emotional intimacy. Based in London, he is gestuo's launch artist and proof-of-concept for the platform's curated commission model.
See his profile →Our Values
Six commitments that shape every commission
Craft over volume
We accept fewer than 1 in 10 artist applicants. Our curators look for craft, professionalism, and a point of view — not follower counts or production speed.
Hand-made, always
gestuo never hosts AI-generated artwork. AI helps you brief a human artist. The final piece is always conceived and made by a person.
Fair economics
Artists keep 90% of every commission. Our 10% covers the platform, payment processing, messaging, and the curation that brings collectors to your door.
Process, not mystery
You see the brief, the concept, and the timeline. You can message the artist directly. You pay only when you are happy. Disputes are mediated by our team.
Built for the long term
gestuo is bootstrapped and operated by Shadowdog Ltd, a UK company. We are building for the decade, not the quarter.
Sovereign by design
All data is stored in the European Economic Area. We are GDPR compliant, encrypted at rest and in transit, and audited by our data processors.
Our Process
How a commission moves through gestuo
01
Explore
Browse curated artist portfolios and discover styles that resonate with your vision.
02
Visualise
Use our AI brief wizard to articulate what you see in your head — subject, palette, mood, scale.
03
Commission
Submit your brief, agree terms, and secure your slot with a transparent deposit.
04
Receive
Track progress, review the finished piece, and receive your bespoke artwork with full provenance.