Art in the Digital Age

Throughout history, perhaps until just a hundred years ago, art always belonged to the affluent class of society. Only the wealthy - whose main concern was not daily bread - could afford the pleasure of enjoying art. In the mid-20th century, modern art rebelled against this exclusivity and claimed that the gap between art, the artist, and society should be bridged. But now technology and the internet have, for the first time, provided the tools for this uprising to the masses, artists, and ordinary people. The website Artsy is a unique collection of the art world on the internet. Whether you are an artist, a gallery owner, an art teacher, or a student, and even if you simply want to buy a piece of art for your home wall, Artsy is a great resource for all of these. This startup, which began in 2009 in New York City and now has a capital of over fifty million dollars, has the slogan 'making art accessible to anyone with internet access.' The site hosts over 250,000 artworks belonging to more than 40,000 old and contemporary artists. You can discover artworks available for sale at auctions, read biographies of old and contemporary artists, and learn about art history on this site. What is happening in many major cities around the world is the creation of a new class of art consumers who are not necessarily art historians, do not know the local art community, and have no connection with gallery owners, but are interested in culture and financially capable of collecting artworks. Two startups - both again based in New York - have come to the aid of this specific group, often young. For a monthly fee, you can rent or purchase artworks. One of these companies is Uprise Art, where the monthly fee you pay is deducted from your final purchase price (meaning you ultimately have to buy that artwork), and the other is Artcicle, where you can rent several artworks and see if they fit on your wall! If you decide to buy, you must pay for it separately from your monthly membership fee! Both companies have received a good reception from the young and culture-interested crowd in New York. Vango Art is another site where you can buy artworks directly from the artists without intermediary involvement. The prices on Vango are much cheaper compared to artworks you see in galleries. The founders of this company say that on one hand, they wanted to buy original artworks for themselves, but the prices were very high and staggering, and on the other hand, they saw artists around them who were always poor and without customers because gallery owners did not approach them. This led a few computer-savvy young people to establish this company in 2014. A company that has connected many customers worldwide to unknown artists in less than a year. A virtual market for real art! Finally, the Art Corgi site allows you to hire an artist to complete a project for you! Imagine it’s your friend’s birthday and you want to give them a special gift! For example, paint their portrait or create an artistic collage from pictures you have of them and yourself, or bring to canvas one of the imaginary images they always talk about! Unfortunately, not all of us are that artistic or have the time to do these things! Art Corgi allows us to choose from different artists and styles and order the desired design!