Some of our assets are hundreds of years old already.

One of them is half a million years old, but still made by human(ish) hands.

Preserving the data for future generations is part of the job.

I understand that some things exist longer than their owners do. We already have mechanisms in place to manage the transition of ownership of those things. What is insufficient about those mechanisms? What is accomplished by these properties you say should be true?

Why don't we just buy stuff out of paper catalogues? Why all this Amazon nonsense?

I don't understand the point you're making. Amazon reduced transactional friction. In what way does ensuring metadata about transactions and securities outlive those things themselves relate?

Transactional friction in the fine art world is completely gigantic. Very very little use of tech to help manage asset documentation.

It's a fixable problem.