he art industry is one of the last creative industries to make the digital move – but, with more people buying art online without ever seeing it in real life, it could be that times are already changing.
If visitors to London want to see contemporary art, the first port of call has traditionally been the Tate Modern. In 2012, a record 5.3 million visitors journeyed through its doors.
More people in the UK visit art galleries and museums than attend Premier League football matches but record numbers are flocking to the internet too. And buying art is the becoming an industry norm.
The news that 20×200, the site set up by Jen Bekman for people to buy affordable art prints online, is now offline and struggling to secure new funding is certainly not great for the company. It’s also a wake up call for the large number of online art selling platforms that have launched in recent years and for their venture capital partners that are betting pretty heavily that selling art online is a recipe for success.
People around the globe are getting more and more familiar with buying art online. In the United States, around 250M€ of online art revenues were generated in 2012 (estimate Onsitegallery).
So what makes you still hesitant to buy art online? Is it because you cannot see or “feel” the artwork you are interested in? Is it because you do not know or trust the artist? Maybe you suspect that the artwork might not be genuine? Or maybe you are afraid that, once delivered, the online available artwork will differ from what you expected? Many arguments are understandable but seem to vanish quickly when looking at the advantages of buying art over the Internet.
Buying art online differs from buying something like a new TV set or Smartphone, as in that case you always have the possibility to go to a local store to see the device, after which you can buy it online at the lowest available price. This is of course not the case with an original artwork, which is a unique product. If you want to see the artwork “live” before buying it, you will have to visit the artist who may be located remotely, in another country or even on another continent.
guide to the hottest sites for virtual art shopping.
Art.sy: Functioning as a sort of “Pandora for art,” Art.sy allows collectors to search online for fine artworks using a detailed set of criteria, including art-historical movements, subject matter and formal qualities.
art.sy
Artspace: The curators at Artspace collaborate with high-end museums, galleries and cultural institutions to provide contemporary artworks for sale; represented artists include both blue-chip artists (like Cindy Sherman and Chuck Close) and relative up-and-comers.
artspace.com
Blacklots: An online-auction site featuring daily public offerings of modern art, Blacklots uses the same sort of business model as fashion flash-sale giant Gilt Groupe.
blacklots.com
Paddle8: Each month, this online gallery features a different exclusively curated exhibition (by art-world luminaries such as Marina Abramovic and critic Vince Aletti). The site also allows private previews online of major art shows; this month, it gave buyers a special preview of works for sale at the Armory Show.
paddle8.com
VIP Art Fair: This virtual art fair has digital “booths,” where works from top international galleries are displayed. The roster of past exhibitors includes the Gagosian Gallery and David Zwirner (both from New York), White Cube (London) and i8 Gallery (Reykjavik).
vipartfair.com
Artnet: Formerly a news site for art-world cognoscenti, Artnet has branched out and now holds online auctions for a limited set of respected modern-art galleries.
artnet.com
ExhibitionA: An online gallery that sells exclusive editions of contemporary artworks, for limited periods of time (usually only a week or two). Represented artists have included Terence Koh and David LaChapelle.
exhibitiona.com
selmasgallery 