Explained: What is the Art World? — Part 1: The Art Market

hello dear readers and subscribers The Art world is kind of an umbrella term to refer to all the professional actors and entities active in the art predominantly in modern and Contemporary Art however this is a rather vague description and often it is kind of unclear who these entities and actors are so in this video we'll be giving you a complete overview of all the most important entities and actors and the different forms and types they come further there is an often rather negative connotation connected to the term art world because it is associated with some

exclusive events Elite circles and billion dollar sales however this is only the top layer of the art world and even more one can distinguish several spheres within the art world let's start with the commercial sphere of the art World also known as The Art [Music] Market in the Art Market we have several entities and one of the most important entities in the commercial art world are of course the art galleries especially when it comes to the primary Market meaning all art that is being introduced to the Art Market for the very first time as the

gallery is a crucial link between the artist studio and the rest of the art World however there are also art galleries who work on the secondary Market but we'll talk about that in just a minutes in our extensive article and video on the art gallery we have defined the art gallery as an exhibition space and Commercial Enterprise to display and distribute artworks working with a specific portfolio of artists however art galleries come in various shapes and forms the most important type of Art Gallery is the Commercial Art Gallery which is kind of the traditional Art

Gallery even though the word commercial once more carries an often negative connotation with the obstinate stereotype of the money grubbing Gallery director in public opinion these galleries actually help artists earn a living they offer the opportunity to show and sell their work presenting and supporting the artist working towards long-term success and enabling the artists to pursue their artistic Ventures without worrying about the commercial sites the gallery makes money when the artist makes money so that's why they are very motivated of course to work on the career of the artist and pursuing that long-term success so

what is good for the artist will be good for the gallery and vice versa when these Commercial Art Galleries become increasingly influential we arrive at our second type of gallery which is the Mega Gallery Mega galleries are art galleries with various uh Gallery spaces across the world have uh hundreds of people of Staff most often they also have publishing houses they um advise the institutions Etc they are the most powerful and the biggest art galleries in the world in a sense these galleries have outgrown the definition the traditional definition of a commercial art gallery and

have become true institutions in the art World a third type is the vanity art gallery and this Art Gallery May at first or from the outside seem like it is a commercial Art Gallery but in fact they operate on a different level as they cash in on collaborating with the artists so the artist pays to be exhibited instead of generating money through sales on a commission basis as a result the portfolio or the created exhibition program of that Gallery is not based on the quality of the artists or their works it is based on the

size of their wallets so these galleries work on a different level and are less high-end and are less likely to have a large collector's base or to make real things happen in the art [Music] World a fourth type of Art Gallery are the Artist Run galleries here in this case an artist or an Collective of various artists open their own gallery to create an own platform for their success as a result this can sometimes be a little bit frowned upon in the art World due to the conflict of the artist that is also being a

dealer because that's why we have normally a gallery and an artist so the gallery can be the dealer and do the commercial site and the artist can be the artist and do the artistic side of things with an artist run gallery here there emerges a kind of conflict between these two distinctions nevertheless some of these Artist Run galleries have become tremendously successful there are some great examples and most often when they are so successful they kind of develop towards the traditional Commercial Art Gallery another type of Art Gallery is the art store however here it's

not really a gallery because there is no curated exhibition program nor is there a fixed portfolio of artist and they sell or promote it from the perspective of art as decoration so in this case we're moving further and further away from the high-end art World focusing Less on the artistic and more on the decorative to conclude we have also the exhibition spaces that are often referred or named as a gallery however these spaces and venues are actually places that an artist can rent to host their own exhibition so they need to take care of everything

else once again here as with the vanity art galleries the business model is based on making money on behalf of the artist so this is less supporting the artist so in this case the commercial art galleries are better even though there is this negative connotation our second entity of the art world and our second entity of the commercial art world of the Art Market are the art fairs art fairs are events where multiple Galleries and dealers from across the globe exhibit in separate boots under the same roof making these events ideal for commercial and networking

purposes it is an excellent opportunity for collectors dealers critics curators and art enthusiasts to see a wide range of artists and galleries that are usually spread across the globe during one single event at one location once again art fairs are often criticized for their commercial character the exuberant the decadent champagne the VIP previews and social events to climb the ladder of success in the art world but also to climb in status even more most art fairs really look very similar you have on the one hand the emerging art boo with some local art galleries and

then we have the Usual Suspects at the established segment of the art galleries with perotin Li l Gallery Leon Etc nevertheless they are essential in the art industry they are a great opportunity to sell Works to collect works and to connect with other entities the entire art world seems to come together under the same roof showcasing the most influential artist of this very moment and their most recent works all in a vibrant environment further besides these internationally renowned art fairs these very high-end art fairs that are the top layer of the art World there are

also art fairs and art festivals that Focus instead of on the dealers instead of focusing on the galleries that focus more on the artists where artists can represent themselves by having their own booth at fairs once again here there is kind of this role conflict this is kind of frowned upon in the art world and also the artist needs to take care of everything and they also take all the risks financially here once again similar with the vanity art galleries they are making money on behalf of the artist and furthermore also for collectors these art

FS can be less interesting because there is no quality check when it comes to the artists and most often These Boots because they are so expensive for those hardworking artists they are very packed they try to fill it up with as much art as possible to get the most bank for their Buck but this can make you snow blind because there was simply too much art and even though there is this decadent uh aspect towards the uh high-end art fairs they are a better environment to experience the art up next we have the auction houses

whereas the art galleries and also the art fairs predominantly focus on the primary Art Market so all the art that's being introduced for the very first time to the Art Market the auction houses focus on the secondary Market meaning all sales after the first sale most often going from one collector to another they act as the intermediary between the current collector of the artwork and the next bringing it to the free market and providing the ideal environment and setting to achieve as many potential buyers as possible in return for the services the auction house earns

a commission on the sale of approximately 10 to 15% the Holy Trinity when it comes to the auction houses are of course Christies soes and also Phillips it is here at auction where these prices can reach Astron ninous Heights and that also gives us a kind of wrong picture of the art world that it's all about these multi-million dollar sales because those top sales that's the only 1% of all the transactions or even less of the art world the price isn't determined by the market standards it is set by whatever the highest bidder wants to

give for it so in this case you need to realize that when a specific artwork by a specific artist comes at auction it is a unique once in A- lifetime opportunity because this specific artwork might never become for sale again which pushes of course the price up once more so the function of the auction house is actually very varied they have to provide expertise accommodation staff they value the pieces they document them they promote them they also facilitate Private Sales from one collector to another or provide advisory services and consultations playing a crucial and trustworthy

role in an engaging thriving competitive and transparent part of the Art Market where all the biggest sales occur we conclude the Art Market with our next entity which are the online marketplaces which is of course of course a lot more recent phenomenon since the Advent of the internet purchasing and selling art has moved Beyond The Gallery walls beyond the art fairs and the auction houses into the online world of the worldwide web online marketplaces for art have continued to emerge up to this very day resulting in an enormous amount of sales across the globe so

these online marketplaces are platforms where collectors can browse for art or artists and galleries sell their Arts by doing so the online Market place is a digital intermediary between the collector and the artwork and they earn on a commission per sale ranging from just 4% up to 35 or sometimes with a fixed subscription basis the art market share of the online marketplaces has been rising year over year and especially after the covid-19 pandemic where we were almost forced or it was the only way to acquire and see work furthermore there are three different types of

online marketplaces first and foremost there are the dealer oriented online marketplaces where only renowned dealers can access their program think of Arty or first tips as a result at these platforms we have a very high standard of quality a very high-end selection because there is this quality check that only the renowned dealers who only select the renowned artists are allowed to those platforms in this case the commissions are most often rather low and those platforms set very high standards to ensure quality and a trustworthy experience for the collectors next we have the curated online marketplaces

in this case the Marketplace actually acts as if they would be a dealer or a gallery and have a portfolio of artists most often a lot bigger than the actual galleries they do not organize any exhibitions but they try to sell and promote the artist that they have selected however over the years we have seen that there are so many artists on these created online marketplaces and has become very oversaturated the fees here are generally a bit higher and we can already see the shift where they focus Less on quality and more on quantity whereas

the dealer oriented marketplaces have artists with Gallery representation with these curated online marketplaces most artists will not have any representation yet some well-known examples are single art Mutual art or artistics and to conclude we have the open online marketplaces these are online marketplaces that allow any artist to upload their artwork and to sell it via their platform and the artist can do this without any approval without any quality check so as a result the quality can be very versatile on these online marketplaces these platforms Focus even more on quantity than on quality they accept everyone

and as a result there is more art available and there will be enough sales for them to generate Revenue however for an artist to be seen on this platforms it becomes increasingly difficult for instance arguably the most renowned open online art Marketplace for artist is Sai and at this moment there are more than 1 million unique paintings for sale so good luck uh to be found other well-known example examples are fine art America or art pal that wraps up the Art Market and wraps up this video as well next week we'll be tackling a different

sphere of the art world the critical art World ENC composting all the institutions and organizations including some individual actors or if the video has already been published make sure to watch it over here thank you so much for tuning in today feel free to watch our video on 20 ways how artists can earn a living next support us on patreon and please consider sub subscribing to stay posted for more Contemporary Arts bye [Music]