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The buying and selling of art typically conjures up images of an auction house, a gallery, or some other traditional brick and mortar means of transacting business.  Those means still do dominate the art market in terms of transacting an enormous amount of business.  Despite the recession, worldwide auction sales of art amount to a staggering $80 billion (Skates 3).  Of this amount, $10 billion is sold by way of auction - three times the amount sold in 2000 (Artprice 7).  Needless to say, in terms of dollars, the art market is big .  Even bigger - very big.  But even bigger, is the total sales made through the Internet.  The United States Commerce Department reported that in 2010 alone, online shoppers electronically purchased over $160 billion worth of goods (Internetretailer.com).  While there is no specific published data on the amount of money spent buying art online, it comes as no surprise that a lot of people are buying and selling art by "point and click" over the internet.  While transacting art online has had its ups and downs, and is not without concerns, such as authenticity, it nonetheless remains a major dynamic of the art market.  In this wiki page, I will detail and analyze the business of buying and selling art online and its major players.  I will also discuss the concern over authenticity (fakes / forgeries) that is often prevalent an issue in the art world, particularly when it comes to buying artwork over the internet.  An analysis of the tangible aspect of art and its affect on internet purchase purchases will also be made.  Finally, I will conclude this wiki by discussing and offering an answer as to whether the Internet will replace the more traditional methods of buying and selling art, with particular reference to the two major auction houses.

I. Shopping

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For Art on

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The Internet: 

As long as you can afford the item, there is nothing easier than sitting down at your computer and buying something online, either through an auction or set price.  And artwork is no exception.  As the New York Times reported back in June of 2011, online sales of art ("given up for dead not long ago") are now becoming "an increasingly important part of the future of the \[art business\]" (Kennedy 1).  As Hans Neuendorf, CEO of Artnet.com says, more important than the increase in comfort with online commerce, is the "increase in the last decade in the number of people who spend money on contemporary art as a pastime or as an investment.  They tend to see online art sales as more accessible and transparent than sales in the gallery world" (Kennedy 3).  Michael Moriarity, Chairman of Skate's Art Market research, says that Internet technology "has reached a point \[where the internetonline art\] business is really gaining traction (Kennedy 3).  The evolutionnature of online art sales was very well described in a 2007 Harvard Case Study of Saffronart.com, an online auction site for Indian artwork.  Professor Khaire was quoted by the New York Observer:

The Harvard study, she says, shows that the online sales model works in industries where items are resold multiple times, such as automobiles; where research can create transparency; and where the buyer can get a full sense of the object they're contemplating purchasing. "It's unlikely you would buy something online from a Brazilian clothing company because the sizing is unfamiliar," says Ms. Khaire. "But you just might buy a piece of Brazilian art."   

Brady, New York Observer, 6/16/10.

II.  The

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Major Online Players:

Artnet and eBay are the most significant companies in the online market for buying and selling art.  On any given day, there are at least 50 pieces or art selling for $1 million or more on eBay.com.  Just last month Artnet.com reported what it says may be the most expensive piece of art ever purchased on the Internet - a Warhol (Flowers) that sold in an online auction for $1.3 million.  Each site spends a considerable amount of time and money developing the art aspect of its ecommerce business – a category that is eBay's fourth largest (Skates 7).  A search I did just this morning reveals that there are approximately one and a half million items classified as "art" being offered for sale on ebay alone.  They categorize their art offerings into three major categoriesgroups: 1)  Art from Dealers & Resellers (1,262,189 items);  2) Direct from the Artist (176,896 items);  and 3) Wholesale Lots (19,719 items).  While artnet.com does not list the number of works being offered, it does appear to be number in the several thousand.  What it does interestingly list on its site is the most notable sales in each category, for example a "contemporary" work by Louise Bourgeois, Ode à l'Oubli, which sold in 2009 for $209,000 on its online auction.  Although the recent Skate's report finds that eBay is the best infrastructure for online art sales (Skates 7), I think Artnet's user interface is a lot more straightforward and importantly provides a better breakdown of the different categories of art being auctioned. 

Skate's Art Market Research reports that as of December 23, 2011, the following companies lead in the online art market.

III.  Christie's  and Sotheby's

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Online Auctions: 

The major auction houses have an online presence (Chrisite's Live and Sotheby's BidNow) which allows registered users to bid online.  While internet sales have significantly increased at both houses (ArtPrice 17), in person and live bidding at their auctions is still the focus of their business model (Montage 3).   Even with as much as 28% of Christie's buyers bidding online, the average price of an online sale is "only $8,123" - compared to the global lot average of $48,900 .  It (Montage 3).  It seems that the two major auction houses, perhaps because of the Sotheby's online failure about 10 years ago, are reluctant to go full force into an online business model.  I think the reason is twofold:  First, the fact is that their traditional model is successful and still growing.  Second, the notoriety and sensationalism of their auctions is a basic part of their branded status in the art world.  Major sales from a live auction are reported on the network news – which is great publicity for the auction houses(and free) publicity.  Internet sales, however, do not even have close to same powerful media dynamic.  And while some may compare an online bid to a bid placed on the telephone, the electronic bid loses an element of reality, and possibly invokes has some skepticism as to its validity.  For instance, is the electronic bidder someone who has no intentions of buying and is only bidding to manipulate the system – kind of like a spam email that you've won a million dollars?  The strategy of the auction houses with regard to online bidding simply seems to be that they'll take an online bid from a supposed qualified buyer, but they are not significantly promoting it as a means of developing their business.   In other words, if their business works as is, they're not going to fix it.  Michael O'Neal, Senior V.P at Christie's, reaffirms this by saying says that "Christie's and Sotheby's are not in direct competition with the Art Market's dot com startup ventures – they are above them"  (Montage 3).  So for the time being, it appears that the two major auction houses are pursuing their traditional means of live sales in the auction house, while not excluding those that want to bid online.

IV. Authenticity –

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Fakes and

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Forgeries:

As much as the Internet has positively transformed the market place for buying and selling most anything, it has also come at the price of numerous scams.  With buying art online, the concern is with fakes and forgeries -- basically not knowing if what is being purchased is real or not, and what, if any, guarantee come with the purchase.  Probably the most notorious case of fake art being sold on eBay is the case that of Ken Walton, an attorney who turned into an Internet con man.  He came to the attention of the FBI when he made the front page of the New York Times after he sold a Richard Diebenkorn painting for $135,858 on ebay.  The problem was that he forget the painter's signature.   He wrote a book about his scam titled:  Fake: Forgery, Lies, and Ebay.  Here is a photo of the top of his webpage, www.kennethwalton.com.

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Here is an interesting YouTube interview with Walton regarding about his sale of fake artwork on eBay.

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The reality is that fraud in one form or another has and always will exist in the art world.  Even the major auction houses have been duped by scammers.  It was not very long ago, that Christie's sold a fake Basquiat for over $200,000. (Artlyst 1/5/10).  If a major auction house can get scammed, it can definitely happen onlineto anyone, especially over the internet.  The case of Michael Zabrin of Chicago is very telling in terms of the problems with buying and selling art online.  Even though he was previously convicted of theft in the past, he still was able to sell fake Picassos, Lichtensteins, and Chagalls on eBay.  What was reported about the nature of his business leads me to believe that there will always be vulnerable buyers online:  "When some customers realized they had bought fakes, they returned them.   Zabrin  Zabrin acknowledged that he then waited a few months and resold them to someone else" (Artdaily.org).

eBay definitely needs to do whatever is possible to insure the integrity authenticity of any significant artwork being sold, especially any expensive pieces.  They should require some sort of authentication before a major item is listed, for example, a background check on the seller, the item and maybe even require an official provenance be provided before the item is listed for auction.  Ebay and other online sellers of art need to instill confidence in the consumer, by most importantly, I think, offering full returns in the case of a fake.  All this of course is easier said then done given the nature of the Internet.  The fact is that there is no perfect remedy for completely fixing the problem of fraud in the art world, whether it takes place online or at the auction house.  Sellers, Internet companies, dealers, etc. simply need to do stand behind the authenticity of what is reasonable to insure that what is being sold is authenticonline.  And buyers need to educate themselves as much as possible and proceed with caution when it comes to buying art – especially on the internet.   History has shown that a seller's positive feedback on eBay alone is not enough.  Buyers need to look well beyond what the website or seller says when it comes to something as complex as purchasing expensive artwork.

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