Zwirner says Asian clients have taken to online viewing rooms more so than others over the last three months.

“When we first went into lockdown was we saw most clients disappear, but our Asian clients have been with us through this entire moment,” he says.

He believes this is due to buyers in Asia being more familiar with e-commerce, and that they recognise the opportunity to buy works that might otherwise have been snapped up by European and American collectors, who are currently less active.

The Central gallery itself will show works from artists including Raymond Pettibon, Josh Smith and Wolfgang Tillmans upon its reopening.

Artsy reported a significant increase in galleries around the world wanting to partner with them in the past few months, with a 30 per cent increase in the number of applications from Asia alone so far this year.

Galleries already partnered with the site were uploading 50 per cent more artwork per week by mid-April compared with late February and early March, indicating the art market will largely be sustained online for the foreseeable future.

Galleries have also been updating their programming to create more engaging virtual viewing experiences.

Gagosian recently launched “Artist Spotlight” where artists will be able to present their work and share their stories in an attempt to offer a more intimate and direct experience.

Hauser & Wirth have similarly launched “Dispatches”, a new series of original video features that directly connect audiences with artists.

While larger, established galleries have the resources to develop these initiatives, mid- and lower-tier ones – who largely depend on art fair revenue – struggle more. Striving to level the playing field, Zwirner has developed an initiative called “Platform” for New York and London for which 12 galleries in each city have been invited to share their online space.

Zwirner was one of the first major galleries to launch its own virtual viewing room, which it did in 2017. In 2019, the gallery’s online sales grew 400 per cent, it reported.

This year, the gallery sold more than US$6.2 million worth of art via its Art Basel online viewing room “On Painting”. This included a painting by renowned South African artist Marlene Dumas for US$2.6 million, the most expensive work sold through the gallery’s online platform yet.

The benefits of online galleries include being able to reach a wider, global audience, while consumers have easier access to information about an artist’s practice and prices – avoiding the intimidation factor associated with approaching gallerists in the notoriously exclusive art world setting.

“The viewing room offers a certain level of anonymity – that’s a real benefit,” Zwirner says.

Online galleries are not without their challenges, however, especially for artists who have to adapt their work to suit the medium or create work specifically for it.

“Most artists make work for a three-dimensional space. They’re hesitant to fully engage with the digital space,” Zwirner says. “They have to realise that they must do slightly different things – find different mediums to express what they’re doing. That process is under way right now and will be exciting.”

In forcing both galleries and consumers to adapt to the virtual realm, the coronavirus could essentially change the way art is produced, perceived and experienced in the future.

“In terms of producing and disseminating culture, [the digital space] will be shoulder to shoulder with brick and mortar spaces,” Zwirner says. “In terms of commerce, it will be a while before we get there.”