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| South Asian Art - In Memory Of Prashant H. Fadia |
02/19/2009
ART ONLINE!
The Internet is making the world a smaller place! That is obvious, but it is also bringing together the art world where now the geographical boundaries separating artists, galleries and art collectors are no longer relevant. Almost every gallery worth its salt has set up base in cyberspace. Some do it to advertise their events and the artists associated with them. More often than not, galleries sell art online. Good quality art from any corner of the world is now only a mouse click away! Besides, young artists who are just starting out and have little access to gallery space can make a larger audience aware of their work through the Internet.
If one considers the huge traffic of visitors that websites get, one can gauge the popularity of the concept of buying art online. Why, the bCA Galleries website gets 5,000 unique visitors every month! According to estimates by Sotheby’s the number of countries that buyers come from for its auctions have increased to 58 countries. Now, that is the power of the internet that buyers from any of these 58 countries can purchase art worldwide from the comfort of their homes.
Probably one of the most well known and visited website in art is Saatchi Online, set up by art collector Charles Saatchi. The website gets an estimated 50 million user-generated hits a day and a safe estimate puts the number of artists one can view on Saatchi at 65,000! This website does not charge any commissions from the artists, so in a sense, the buyers are getting the artworks at cheaper rates than buying through a gallery.
Some galleries have experimented with the concept of online auctions and come out trumps. The main Indian player in this arena is Saffronart, with its auctions being eagerly awaited by art collectors. It is easier to purchase artworks online during auctions, because the works available are mainly by well established Indian artists, so the chance of bidding for a work that may work out to be a good investment prospect is probably high. Incidentally, registered bidders at Saffornart come from all over the world! Saffronart also provides lesser known upcoming artists with a platform to show case their works. The Arts Trust, initiated by Vickram Sethi, has also entered into online auctions in 2008, with their first auction being quite a runaway success!
This is not to say that everything is perfect with online sales. There could be some dubious websites who could be trying to pass up fakes as the real deal. It is always best to check up on the company credentials of the website. Also, it is advisable to pay by cheque or money transfer, this will reveal to you that the art website is run by a company and has an official company bank account.
There are also some naysayers who criticize that art is not something that can be bought from a ‘thumbnail image’. Others feel that images of artworks cannot reveal effects like impasto which some artists create. Besides, the entire decision of buying an artwork sometimes depends upon the interaction with the artist and art dealers. Let us list the possible advantages of buying art online and let you be the judge:
• On any one given day, how many galleries can a person visit and how many artists’ works can he view? On the internet, even in the space of one evening a person can review the works of hundreds of artists, from different countries!
• If one is unsure about a particular work, it is advisable to check out the artists previous works and make comparisons in his style and the way he has developed, all this is a ‘search engine’ away online.
• The transactions are done in a smooth and transparent manner online. Online galleries can give you a better price quote for the artworks as they do not have overheads of organising an exhibition and maintaining an exhibition hall. As a safe estimate you may end up saving 10 – 20%.
• If you feel the need to ask for an opinion, art websites, normally have art consultants on their staff who will be able to give well informed guidance, this is an ‘email’ or a ‘chat’ away online..
• Some websites some will even allow you to keep the work for a week or so. Besides, some have interactive software that allows you to experiment and see the work according to scale, view it against different coloured backgrounds to see how it would look once displayed.
With everything going high-tech, art is not likely to be left behind. While it may take some time before people do accept the logic of buying art without physically examining it, art online is definitely carving a niche for itself in the (estimated) $6 billion art market!
~ Razvin Namdarian
Tips for buying art online
• Define the reason for buying art, as a gift, investment or decorative purpose.
• Define your budget, this will help you choose between going for an original work or a print.
• Buy online preferably from a website that offers a refund policy.
• Insist on a certificate of authenticity.
• Confirm before placing your order if there are any taxes, shipping, framing or other costs involved.
• Make sure that the website guarantees safety of your credit card and other
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