Outline - Daniel Chazen

The Electronic Art Market - Buying and Selling Art on the Internet

The internet has created an ever-increasing means of buying and selling almost anything imaginable, and artwork is no exception. Just last year, Sotheby’s and Christie’s doubled their internet sales. In this Wiki page, my intention is to initially analyze how the internet compares to more traditional methods for the sale of art, such as the gallery. I will then discuss some of the major and noted web sites engaged in the marketing of artwork, with reference to the successes and failures of a handful of examples over the last twenty years or so. The page will depict some of the most noteworthy internet sales of art. I then will turn the focus of the page to answering the question of what the affect of internet art sales has been on the art market, with specific regard to assessing aspects / questions such as reaching a larger audience and whether it an asset for new artists, etc. I will conclude by answering the question of what the future holds for buying and selling art on the internet.

I. Brief Overview of the traditional methods of transacting art in modern times.

galleries, auctions, fairs, retail stores, private sales.

II. The world wide web and the art market.

The sale of art on the web – how and why it started.

Question: How does it compare to the more traditional means of transacting sales?

III. Web Sites for buying and selling art.

Auction House Web Sites / Auction Web Casts / e.g., Christie’s Live /Sotheby’s BidNow

Gallery Web Sites

Ebay.com

Artnet.com

Vipartfair.com (launching 2.0 on 2/3/12)

-The successes, failures, frauds, etc.