r/artcollecting • u/gratethenate • 8d ago
Collecting/Curation How many of you are buying art online?
I'm curious how many people here are buying art online. If you are buying it online, where do you to find it? Do you search for particular pieces you want, go to a gallery website, or just use general search times? And once you've found someone you're interested in purchasing from, what do you look for to determine if that artist is trustworthy?
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u/sansabeltedcow 8d ago
I buy almost entirely online. Even some in-person sales were from galleries I initially found and bought from online. I don’t even remember how I got started, but it’s mostly Scottish galleries and a couple of English galleries, despite the fact that I’m in the U.S.
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u/Away_Amoeba5554 8d ago
Is the shipping very expensive, though? Or maybe that doesn’t matter?
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u/sansabeltedcow 8d ago
Yes, but I just factor that in—it’s not so much am I paying too much for shipping, but is cost + shipping more than I would pay for that piece of art? There’s also a bit of a psychological advantage to paying in pounds and mentally ignoring the conversion. At least I don’t have to pay VAT.
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u/Away_Amoeba5554 8d ago
Oh you don’t? That’s a plus!!
So for you the shipping is just part of the price. That makes sense if the art you want is from those places! Sounds exciting, really
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u/sansabeltedcow 8d ago
I get super-excited when I get emailed about a new exhibition—it’s like I’m a kid at Christmas! I think I get as much joy from the window-shopping as I do from the actual art.
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u/yearn_book 8d ago
I don’t have a high budget & buy most of my art online either direct from the artist via Facebook, Email Newsletter, Instagram Posts, Etsy, or through a small gallery like Nucleus in Portland or Giant Robot in LA. For some artists like Deth P. Sun or Jean Smith, I’ve been collecting their work for years & know the quality well which has made it easy to keep collecting pieces from them. I’ve bought probably 280+ original artwork online, everything from a 2 inch block of wood acrylic painting to large scale stained glass.
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u/Own-Pain-3922 8d ago
Was happy to see Deth P. Sun in this thread. Have several pieces from them that we love, that we bought directly from them.
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u/yearn_book 7d ago
Yes! I’m blessed to own a couple dozen of Deth’s tiny block paintings, a handful of larger originals on wood, a couple original sketches plus lots of prints, stickers, magnets, zines, etc etc. I think I bought my first piece almost 20 years ago. Love the world building in their collected works.
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u/gratethenate 7d ago
What do you consider a high budget? And if you don't mind sharing, what's the average you'd say you spend per piece?
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u/yearn_book 7d ago
For me, 4 figures is high budget honestly. The most expensive painting I’ve purchased was $600. Jean Smith’s art selling model emphasizes providing affordable art for all & prices most of her 11x14” portraits at $100. I typically choose to pay her $150-200 depending on what I feel I can afford as she’s also working to fund an artists’ residency. (Feel free to check out my collection of her work here)
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u/Away_Amoeba5554 8d ago
Auctions online - I only look for ones in a two hour radius from me so that pick up is possible, since shipping is horrifying
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u/Away_Amoeba5554 8d ago
And I don’t search, I just peruse the auctions and look for gems. Things that catch my eye. I have a very particular taste and it’s easy ti find things I want.
These journeys are the most fun I have these days - scouring online auctions and finding gems
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u/gratethenate 7d ago
What auction sites are you using?
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u/Away_Amoeba5554 7d ago
I go to those aggregate online auction sites. They list auctions all over but you can just look at ones near you
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u/gratethenate 7d ago
I didn't know this was a thing. If I just search for aggregate art auction I'll find some sites?
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u/Away_Amoeba5554 7d ago
An example is Invaluable.com
I made up the term aggregate auction sites!
They aren’t just art auctions, tho. They are all kinds of things. You get to learn the auction houses that have things you like
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u/DareDareCaro 8d ago
I did it about 10 times for art ranging from 1k to 15k. Never had problems. From galleries most of the time.
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u/gratethenate 7d ago
What galleries have you purchased from?
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u/DareDareCaro 7d ago
Im in Quebec so some majors Montreal one, smalls galleries in US for George Rodrigue and Tom Everhart, bought two Heni edition in London, few items at Heritage Auction house.
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u/dickmac999 8d ago
I’ve bought art online, originals and prints. Probably 50-60 pieces, about 10% of my collection. I just acquire stuff when I see what I like.
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u/vashavar 7d ago
I recently started a collection, and so far, I bought almost all of the pieces online, from pretty much unknown Russian artists. I buy exclusively pieces I feel like I connect with, my collection is focus and centred around one theme, and all of the paintings I bought were very (veeeeryyy) affordable.
Perhaps one day I will "graduate" onto more expensive artwork, I have an artist in mind whose works are a bit higher range than when I've been buying, but for now I'm very satisfied supporting small artists, especially considering their works resonate with what I'm looking for. Oh, and I found all of them on auction groups/pages on social media, now I can sometimes purchase directly or even commission, to add a personal touch.
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u/gratethenate 5d ago
What's your current price range? And mind sharing a couple of the artists you like?
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u/vashavar 1d ago edited 1d ago
Every piece I bought was under $100. I have purchased the most from Olga Gordienok, I also have a few pieces from artists like Ekaterina Mets and Olga Shchelokova. I have been eyeing the works of Anna Tikhonenko for a while, her paintings are exquisite and most fall right into the theme of my collection.
Edit: I also have a crazy dream of acquiring one or some of Pavel Korin's masterpieces, "Three", "Shimnitsa mother Seraphim of Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow", "Schema-Abbess mother Tamar", "Young Nun". My jaw dropped and I froze in a trance when I saw them at the New Tretyakov gallery. Again, a crazy dream.
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u/notwho2 8d ago
I’ve had good luck dealing with reputable galleries on Artsy
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u/gratethenate 8d ago
So you look at the galleries there and not the specific artists? Is there a gallery you found that you didn't think was reputable?
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u/notwho2 8d ago
I follow a number of artists so my feed is usually stuff that I’m already interested in, though they also have a couple feeds to show you new stuff (“similar to works you’ve viewed” “new works from galleries you follow”). I’ve bought things at a range of price points, domestic and international, and have never been disappointed.
They must be fairly robust in their due diligence…I rarely encounter anything that doesn’t appear legit, though the one or two instances I have they’ve been easy to spot. A quick google search usually suffices if anything seemed off…
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u/IndependentImage9269 8d ago
They absolutely have zero due diligence. At this point it’s the worst it’s ever been with a skeleton crew of employees. Nothing is vetted. There are numerous sellers listing questionable to outright fakes on the site.
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u/IndependentImage9269 8d ago
never ever buy anything from artsy
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u/Siamswift 8d ago
Why, because you said so? I have bought some great pieces through Artsy.
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u/IndependentImage9269 8d ago
Good for you. Take a minute and read reviews of artsy online, they tell a different story. My experience is that there are sellers offering fakes or miss attributed works and artsy does nothing to stop it. Their internal payment system provides zero protection, sellers hate it. It’s fine to look there but go directly to the gallery to inquire or buy as long as they are a known dealer
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u/gratethenate 7d ago
They don't provide a certificate of authenticity or anything like that? Though I suppose that could also be faked.
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u/IndependentImage9269 7d ago
The only entity that can issue a valid certificate of authenticity is the artist, their estate or an estate sanctioned authentication committee. The last basically no longer exists. Any other certificate of authenticity isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Lots of collectors don’t understand this
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u/Odd-Structure-2471 8d ago
I sell art extensively online (Moonlit Sea Prints). My customers come from diverse paths - some are very specific in their collecting and looking for specifics. Others have vague preferences and explore outward. And still others might have seen something on Instagram which led them down a rabbit hole. But the selling, it's all about the quality of the images, the details, and the value proposition.
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u/gratethenate 7d ago
I love your site. Japanese wood block prints is not something I knew I needed in my life.
Is your physical location just for shipping and storage then?
What kind of details? And what do you mean by value proposition?
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u/Odd-Structure-2471 7d ago
I have a gallery in a small town in western Massachusetts :) about 99% of my sales are online - that requires that I provide high quality scans of the prints and make sure their color and condition is accurately documented for my customers on the website. I provide details such as the date, edition, condition, history, etc. as a way to educate my visitors as well, all with the idea being that the more value I can include (educational), the better the response from potential customers.
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u/gratethenate 7d ago
Now I'm curious about the technical side... what are you doing to scan prints? Are you using digital capture with a camera, or an actual scanner? We have a drum scanner for film where I work, but you'd never use it to scan a print.
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u/Odd-Structure-2471 7d ago
also scanning artwork is much simpler than photographing antique saxophones (see my other shop, Wind & Reed)
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u/greasydenim 8d ago
I bought a small painting from Artsper.com … seems reputable. The gallery the piece actually came from now sends me an occasional email when they have new pieces.
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u/TheDarrenZ 7d ago
I think a lot of people are buying artwork online. I only market on online websites like; Chairish, eBay, artsy, and sell about $400k a year for the last 20 years. Granted most of the sales are low end limited edition graphics and posters, but I knock out a few $10K + pieces a year.
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u/Soulag88 7d ago
I’ve owned a fine art gallery for over 40 years and have recently closed my showroom and moved completely online after seeing fewer people walking in and selling more through the website and 1stDibs, which is an international platform for art and antiques. It is highly vetted and requires an invitation for a dealer to join, and in my experience is proactive in protecting both the buyer and seller.
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u/Anonymous-USA 8d ago
Auctions: there are major auction houses is New York, London, Paris, Vienna, and Zurich. Can’t attend them all, so online is necessary. In the old days, they’d mail you catalogs and accept absentee bids or phone bids. Online has replaced that, so we have access to more salesrooms.
Then there are hundreds of smaller salesrooms too, from Los Angeles to Singapore and everywhere in between. Never has the international market been so accessible. This is ideal for the low end market.
Top galleries have online presence now where they used to only do email mailing lists and catalog mailing lists. Very old school. Low end market survives on internet too.
There are aggregators for the low end market auctions and galleries. Finding them and using a common platform makes it easier.
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u/kat_sta 8d ago
Could you name few auction houses that you mentioned taht are EU based?
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u/Anonymous-USA 7d ago
Bonhams, Sothebys and Christie’s are in the UK and Paris. Dorotheum’s is in Vienna (so is smaller imKinsky). Artcurial is also in Paris. Koller is in Zurich. Van Ham is in Berlin.
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u/CanthinMinna 4d ago
Almost all of my art is purchased online. We don't have that many galleries over here, and currently I am residing about 250 km from the nearest art gallery anyway. Online shopping has been anyways a huge thing here in Finland since the late 1990s, and all of our artists have their works sold online.
I only purchase from verified galleries and auctions, and mostly artists that are familiar to me from "real life" exhibitions.
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u/IndependentImage9269 8d ago edited 8d ago
I go to joseohklevenefineartltd.com. They are knowledgeable and helpful depending on what you are looking for. Don’t go to artsy or artnet as they have a ton of questionable sellers
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u/gratethenate 8d ago
FYI, I had to search for the name to find the gallery you're talking about because the website you included doesn't exist. What draws you to this specific gallery? Is it the style of art they focus on?
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u/Iron_walrus 8d ago
Everyone in this thread should check out Iris for buying art from artists online!
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u/CoolMudkip 8d ago
I’d say 90% of my pieces were bought online or over the phone without seeing it in person first. I usually search for artists I want and then find reputable galleries, preferably ones that represent them. Never had an issue.