Click and collect: how the digital age is changing the global art market
In 2014, Jehan Chu acquired an artwork by Vietnamese-born Danish artist Danh Vo via an internet platform based in the United States. It was the biggest online art purchase the art adviser had made since he began shopping for art online in 2011.
“They simply had the work I wanted when I wanted it,” Chu, director of Vermillion Art Collections, explains.
While he declines to reveal the details of the work by Vo, he says he has been acquiring a diverse range of artworks online – including “obscure” works by American artist Petra Cortright, a key figure of the recent “post-internet” art movement.
“I have bought artworks priced at mid to high five-digit US dollars online, and have sold [artworks] online as well. Trading art online is a great addition to the normal art and auction schedule,” he says. “It adds a welcome dimension to buying art.”
There are many inefficiencies in the art market that are begging for a reboot
The digital world is the next frontier of the global art market. With strong growth in online art sales reported in recent years amid people’s increasing consumption of the digital medium, auction houses, art fairs and online art platforms have begun boosting their presence online in order to capture cash-rich young and new collectors.
And the future lies in Asia, according to industry insiders, who say the growth in online art sales is strongest in this part of the world – particularly in Hong Kong and the mainland – as it is a relatively younger region with buyers who are more receptive towards technology and the online world.