The Online Art Market And it's Accelerating Potential

The art market’s current situation as it stands in mid-2020 has been described as experiencing cardiac arrest by Anders Petterson in his Art Market Confidence Report.

- By Miguel Bermudez

All art fairs having been canceled or postponed and those that have opened have done so under challenging constraints. Thus, the art-market that existed before the pandemic is at a global standstill.

LOT 20

Manolo Valdes (b. 1942) Retrato I

Estimate: USD 120,000 - USD 180,000

Price Realised: USD 375,000

signed, titled and dated ‘Manolo Valdes Retrato I 2018’

(on the reverse) oil, mirror and fabric collage on burlap

56 x 37 in. (142 x 94 cm.)

Executed in 2018.

Christie's. SALE 19575

Virtue Online | 29 May - 12 June 2020

There is, however, one sector of the art market that is flourishing. Online sales (like much of retail in general) has picked up the pace and changing positively with the times.

As the pandemic crisis persists, art collectors, (as well as just about everyone) have been spending increasing amounts of time browsing online for all sorts of information, entertainment, and yes, acquisitions.

While it is too early for real data on online art transactions, news that auction houses have been experiencing successful online sales is encouraging.

“We don’t see this as a departure,”