The art industry should open its floodgates
Back in October of last year Olivier Sarkozy, head of the Global Financial Services Unit at Carlyle, the private equity giant, stated the $3 trillion-plus global art market to be one of the least developed markets of substantial size in the world.
An industry, traditionally built around auction houses, galleries, art dealers and high net-worth collectors, still surprisingly secretive about the way it conducts its business. Despite numerous attempts to crack it open for the growing middle-class to enter, most consumers still see the art market as little transparent and a hurdle only Olympians seem to be able to take...
Nicolas Sarkozy
The absolute vast majority of art collectors and enthusiasts want to see a work of art before they decide to buy it. Often the purchased work is not the work the collector came to the gallery for. But outside art fairs and organised events like openings and exhibitions few people are able to find their way to the art dealer or gallery. Choosing a favourite work of art among 30 works is doable but what if this small pond turns out to be the ocean of art that it is? Globally there are over 20,000 galleries and art dealers and hundreds of art fairs annually. You start to see that the size now becomes a problem. For either side of the market. Online presence is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Without online visibility a gallery becomes plankton instead of the ornamental fish it might be.
In the current low-interest rate environment, combined with an overheating real estate market, the options to invest your savings are narrowed down immensely and art is an asset more and more sought after by a growing middle-class. That same middle-class that might not have the educational background but does have an interest to evolve from an enthusiastic museum visitor to a beginning art collector.
In this day and age, this ever-growing group starts their search for art online and not being held back by knowledge they have their eyes opened by looking at colour, medium and subject more than the technicalities the more experienced collector looks for. Targeting this new client-base calls for sophisticated algorithms determining a person’s interest profile.
Gallerease has created exactly this; An online data-driven tool that allows consumers to playfully discover their interest profile and is able to use this custom-made search tool to find the art the user likes most. A messaging system allows users to contact the art dealer or gallery directly facilitating a bridge between the consumer and the seller without geographical constraints. The art industry should acknowledge where it stands today and open the floodgates to a new international ocean of art enthusiasts waiting to purchase their first work of art or upgrade their collection.
Did you like the article? Please also have a look at our online collection of art at Gallerease!
