Banksy’s artwork “Love is in the Bin” went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London on Thursday, selling for a whooping £16m (before buyer premium) - high above its £4-6m estimated price. The event, taking place during Frieze London, grabbed not only the art world’s attention but also the wider public was heavily captivated by this event. It was one of those rare art occasions making headlines around the globe. The artwork was put on auction only three years after being sold for £1m by the same auction house in 2018 and being reinvented into a new art piece. As Alex Branczik, chairman of modern and contemporary art at Sotheby’s Asia said: “It is almost three years to the day since one of the most ingenious moments of performance art this century made auction history. Banksy is no stranger to making headlines and this latest chapter in his story has captured imaginations across the world – we can only begin to guess what might come next.” As the auctioneer admitted, the big release came minutes after the hammer went down. Everyone was expecting for this artwork to put on a new show, perhaps the shredder to finish its job or, in an act à la David Copperfield, the canvas to vanish completely. None of those things happened. The sale was the show, a havely marketed event judging by the media coverage and public interest. The auction house even displayed their own flag half shredded outside their headquarter building in London. The Contemporary Art Evening Sale made all art lovers keep their breath for the 10 minutes long battle between the 9 eagger bidders. The price of £18.5m (including buyer's premium) paid by the Asian collector (according to The Art Newspaper) establishes a new record for the British artist. A sale that can only be described as a memorable evening not only for the 2018 buyer but also for the rest of us watching it. Cheers to the happy collector who proved to have a good eye for art investments or at least a lucky star. Banksy’s “Love is in the Bin'' doesn't make it to top 10 most expensive artworks ever sold on auction, topped by $450.3 m paided by a Middle Eastern collector for presumably Leonardo Davinci’s masterpiece Salvator Mundi (there are many disagreements among scholar) in 2017. It pales even in comparison with the highest transaction of the year, the NFT artwork by Beeple sold for $69.3 m at Christie’s. What makes the sale a “historical” event is the fact that its value has appreciated 18 times over the course of three years. According to the Art Basel and UBS annual report, the art market shrank by 22% in 2020, down from $64.4 billion in sales in 2019 to $50.1 billion last year. Nevertheless, with the in-person events resuming in most Western countries, a fresh breath of air is infused by new capital. In a global economy defined by high volatility and facing inflation, the Banksy sale indicates an increasing interest in art as an investment-class asset, competing with stocks, real estate, digital currencies and precious metals. Photo credits: Wikipedia The Story of a Girl with a Balloon Formerly known as “Girl with a Balloon” (allegedly created in 2016) now renamed “Love is in the Bin” (2018) became one of the most iconic artworks arguably of the begging of the 21st century after an unexpected but carefully planned intervention took place as the final hammer fell in the Contemporary Art Evening Auction at Sotheby’s in 2018. Just minutes after the proud collector, a mysterious German national, began sipping her victorious champagne, the alarm went off and the artwork went through the shredder concealed within the heavy frame. Under the horrified eyes of the audience, the stenciled canvas remained hanging half-way through. As with any other part of our contemporary, sometimes twisted, society, “any publicity is good publicity”. The event gained a lot of attention and debates on how it should be interpreted - Is this a painting? Is it an installation? Is it a performance? or is it 1m worth of trash. The anonymous buyer commented: “When the hammer came down last week and the work was shredded, I was at first shocked, but gradually I began to realise that I would end up with my own piece of art history”. Sotheby's representatives added "it’s the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction." What was initially planned as a Banksy trademark anti-establishment statement, that would have Marcel Duchamp laugh out loud, ended as one of the most desired artworks among the rich and powerful collectors. Banksy, apparently surprised by the partial failure of his stunt, was the first to play the game and grant a certificate of authenticity through his authentication body, Pest Control, and gave it a new title “Love is in the Bin”. The artpiece has been on permanent loan to the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart Museum in Germany since March 2019 until the recent resale. The artwork depicting a young girl reaching out for a heart-shaped balloon was initially stenciled on a wall in London’s West Bank in 2002. Due to its popularity it has been reproduced many times since. What makes this graffiti so eye-catching is the universality of its message and the simplicity of its visual language - the black and white silhouette of a child and the red heart-shaped balloon. It could be interpreted as a loss of innocence or the opposite, as a proof of hope. Both interpretations are valid, the duality evokes the viewer’s multiple views on hope. Who is Banksy? We simply don’t know. Despite his popularity, he managed to conceal his identity. From an outlaw kid spraying the walls of Bristol in the 90s, he has become one of the most followed contemporary artists. He is now part of the street-art hall of fame together with Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat. Banksy’s superstar status was first acknowledged by Time magazine in 2010. The graffiti artist, painter, sculpture, activist, filmmaker and provocateur made it to the world’s 100 most influential people list of that year, in the select company of Barack Obama, Steve Jobs and Lady Gaga. After experimenting with different graffiti styles which almost got him arrested, he realised that he had to reduce in half the time to complete his art. Interested in the political and social nature of street art, he soon understood that the simplicity of a stencil would be the perfect medium to spread his message. At around the same time he came up with the signature tag Banksy. His interventions popped up on walls in different cities around the world, from London to Los Angeles and Israel, where he painted a series of images on the West Bank’s concrete wall, part of the barrier built to keep away the suicide bombers. Through his characters, rats, apes, childrens, kissing police officers and hooligans throwing flowers, he is propagating a message of peace, freedom and hope but also a protest against excessive authority. Next, he took on the art institutions with his prankster performance art. There, he installed his own artworks side by side masterpieces. An image of the Mona Lisa plastered with a smiley-face sticker was placed in the Louvre and in New York he attached to a wall in the Metropolitan Museum of Art a small portrait of a woman wearing a gas mask. In 2010 he produced a movie giving some insights into the creation of street art and called it Exit Through The Gift Shop. It brought him an Oscar nomination in the Best Documentary category. Photo credits: Wikipedia His guerrilla art events constantly gather huge crowds and controversy. His LA show “Barely Legal”, from September 2006, had as the main exhibit a live elephant, the message: “There’s an elephant in the room...20 billion people live below the poverty line.” Banksy’s other major project, Dismaland, a “fun” park located in the British seaside resort Somerset and open to the public for five weeks in the summer of 2015 was a pop-up art exhibition in the form of an apocalyptic theme park. The Disney-like dystopian park was a group exhibition featuring 58 artists and intended as an anti-consumerism statement. Hiding behind his mysterious identity, and through humor and straight-forward social and political statements, Banksy managed to build a very powerful character. An artist who, despite his popularity, remains in control of his narratives. With the recent art market record, which will surely fire new debates, his place in the history of art of this century has been cemented. Check more graffiti and street inspired art in our curated collection. Art 1: Jumping Jill Flash, 2021, mixed media on canvas, DB de Waterman Art 2: Bump in the Road, 2021, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, Tim Fawcett References 1. Adam, G. Banksy world record as shredded work sells to Asian collector for £18.6m at Sotheby's, The Art Newspaper; 2. Badshah, N. Banksy sets auction record with £18.5m sale of shredded painting, The Guardian; 3. Ellsworth-Jones, W. The Story Behind Banksy, Smithsonian Magazine; 4. Harris, G. Banksy’s £1m self-destructing painting goes back to auction—and could sell for six times the price, The Art Newspaper; 5. Jobson, C. Welcome to Dismaland: A First Look at Banksy’s New Art Exhibition Housed Inside a Dystopian Theme Park, COLOSSAL; 6. Dr. McAndrew, C. Global Art MArket Report, Art Basel x UBS; 7. Solimano A. The Art Market at Times of Economic Turbulence and High Inequality, International Center for Globalization and Development; 8. Banksy's Love is in the Bin sells for record £16m, BBC. Author: Floarea Baenziger

RtistiQ

15 Oct 2021

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Believe it or not, Millennial pink is a color. Still hard to pinpoint the exact shade of pink, it is sometimes described as "dusty pink", "quartz pink" or "peach pink". Clear thing is that it has become the statement color of a generation. Since being announced as PANTONE color of the year in 2016, this pastel color has grown to become one of the most loved shades in fashion, design, or art. If for Gen Z (Millennials) pink is hip, strong, and androgynous, if you think about but the recent appropriation by feminists around the world as a powerful, socio-political mark, through the “pussyhats”, this pastel color has a long history of shifts in cultural significance and symbolistic. Pompadour Rose In the West, pink first became fashionable in the mid 18th century, when European aristocrats, men and women equally, wore powdery color garments as a symbol of luxury and social class. Madame de Pompadour, the official mistress of Louis XV, loved the color so much that, in 1757, French porcelain manufacturer Sèvres had to create a line of porcelain decorated with an exquisite new shade of pink and named it after her, Rose Pompadour. A Sèvres 'Rose Pompadour'-ground vase and stand circa 1758 Madame de Pompadour (1759) by François Boucher Mass-produced Pink For the following century, Pink continued to be worn by both men and women, as well by children regardless of gender. The meaning of pink took a turn inl the mid 19th century when the feminization of pink begun. Pink became an expression of delicacy at the same time with men in the Western world transitioning towards wearing mostly dark, sober colors. At around the same time, Pink developed the first erotic connotation, suggesting the color of flushed skin. Lingerie in shades of pink became increasingly common. The industrial revolution making the mass-produced goods widely available meant a shift from sophistication to vulgar. Pink went from luxury to working-class. As seen in the interior depicted by post-impressionist artists at the beginning of teh 20th century, the color pink was well adopted by the mainstream. A pink corset from the 1880s credit: FIT Museum La Chambre Rose (The Pink Bedroom) 1910, Edouard Vuillard The Pink Studio During the 20th century pink’s cultural significance underwent further shifts, especially in art. Its exotic appearance made it a perfect choice for Matisse and other fauvists who were refusing to accept that color must reflect the real world, as seen in his painting The Pink Studio which in reality had no pink walls. The Pink Studio (1911), Henri Matisse Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in Pink In the male-dominated world of Dadaists, Surrealism and American Abstract Expressionism, pink was of no interest for artists. The same attitude towards this color was reflected by the wider society. By the 1950s, pink had become more gender-coded than ever, thanks to postwar advertising, especially in America. Pink was used as a symbol of hyper-femininity and gender-based roles in society, creating the stereotype: "pink for girls, blue for boys". Merlyn Monroe, the embodiment of the the 1950s idea of femininity, soft-spoken, erotic but short-lived, as a flower, is often remembered for her pink gown from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Pink goes Pop By the 1960s, pink was flourishing within pop culture. The dresses were pink, the bathrooms were bubblegum pink. Even the most tragic event of the decade, the assassination of JFK, had a touch of pink. On that day the first lady Jackie Kennedy, a fashion icon, was wearing a raspberry pink suit designed by Chanel. As a translation of mainstream culture into high art, pink found its way back into art through Pop Art. Through the art of Andy Warhol, David Hockney and even minimalist artists, such as Dan Flavin pink resurged in art during the 60s’. Pinkout of a Corner (1963), Dan Flavin MarilynMonroe (1967), Andy Warhol Pink with a Punk Attitude Over the past decades, the degree of association between femininity and pink has both grown and shrunk. In the ’80s the gender identification through color was made from birth, in the ‘90s and early 2000s, toy-store aisles that featured toys for girls became exclusively pink. But a the same time, pink was reclaimed by gay rights activists since the ‘70s. Furthermore, since the rise to the cultural dominance of girl bands (Spice Girls) and female punk-rock leading figures (Gwen Stefani’s fuchsia pink hair) in the ’90s and 2000s, pink has been reclaimed as a symbol of feminine power and strength. Restaurant designed in 2014 by India Mahdavi Pink and the Millennials Once a color statement for all things feminine, pink is now widely accepted as an almost gender-neutral color, due to the popularity of Millennial Pink, a dusty, subtle shade, which became ubiquitous in the 2010s. Used in fashion, design, architecture, and art, it became the go-to color for a generation willing to accept differences and embrace weaknesses. The Millenials that grew up with social media and instantaneous exchange of information are whilling to openly speak about formally considered taboo subjects, such as mental health or gender identity. Their approch to life is softer, as a toned-down shade of pink. Their addoption of pink (Millennial Pink) came as a reaction against the stereotypes associated with pink. View from Wes Anderson’s cult movie The Grand Hotel Budapest (2014) Having said all this, let’s not forget that the meaning of any color is a cultural construct, it’s the society that is giving meaning to colors. As the years will pass by, the meaning of Pink might shift again and again. If I got your attention and we sparked your interest in Pink, check our curated collection of contemporary art: Millennial Pink and Other Pastels. Author: Floarea Baenziger

FLOAREA BAENZIGER

17 Sep 2021

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After months-long waiting and the 2020 cancellation, the Met Gala is about to take place on Monday, September 13. The high-profile event is a fundraising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Under her decades-long patronage of the fashion editor-in-chief of Vogue USA, Anna Wintour has transformed this social and charitable event into the “Fashion’s biggest night out”. Each year it attracts larger crowds and an impressive list of A-class celebrities among the guests and co-hosts. The Costume Institute will host its first two-part exhibition, on the theme of American fashion, during 2021 and 2022. Part one, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” will open in the Anna Wintour Costume Center on September 18, 2021, and will remain on display when “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” opens on May 5, 2022, in the period rooms of the American Wing. Both shows will run through September 5, 2022. Rihanna wearing a spectacular gown created by the Chinese designer Guo Pei at Met Gala 2015 The biggest names in Hollywood are set to descend upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a breathtaking red-carpet parade of avant-garde ensembles celebrating fashion as a form of art. On this occasion, we are looking back at the permanent exchange of ideas, concepts, and inspiration between designers and artists. Elsa Schiaparelli The Lobster Dress designed by Elsa Schiaparelli in 1937 in collaboration with Salvador Dali A 2017 reedition of Schiappirelli’s design One of the most avant-gardist fashion designers, who remains a rich source of inspiration even today, is Elsa Schiaparelli. She had a keen interest in Dadaism and Surrealism and was part of the social circle of Francis Picabia and Man Ray. Besides being credited with creating the first sweater with a surrealist trompe l’oeil image of a bow, the first newspaper print (repurposed by Jean Paul Gaultier for his couture debut and now considered a staple look of the 90s after being worn by the fictional character Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO TV series Sex and the City) and the first wrap dress (later revisited and adopted by the American designer Diane von Fürstenberg in the 1970s), she is well known for her many collaborations with some of the most innovative artists from the 1930s and ’40s. The Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti cast in bronze one-of-a-kind buttons for Schiappirelli’s coats. Man Ray often asked her to model for his photographs. Meret Oppenheim designed a fur bracelet in 1936 for Schiaparelli’s winter collection, the piece was the precursor to the artist’s iconic surrealist fur-covered teacup. An evening coat embroidered in a pattern that reads simultaneously as a vase and two confronting was a product of her collaboration with Jean Cocteau. Perhaps her most famous collaboration was with the surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dali. In 1935 the duo designed a perfume bottle shaped like a telephone dial, in 1937 the Shoe hat was inspired by a photograph of Dalì with his wife’s slipper on his head. Often considered scandalous, as the artists themselves and the female figures that wore dresses (Wallis Simpson were the Lobster Dress on her honeymoon), Schiaparelli’s couture creations stood the test of time. The House of Schiaparelli decided to reedit the infamous Lobster dress for the Spring 2017 season. Schiaparelli's collaborations with Dada and Surrealist artists resulted in some of the most renowned works of twentieth-century haute couture Dior Fall/winter 2020/2021 collection, Le Mythe Dior inspired by surrealist female artists Maria Grazia Chiuri Another couturier whose creativity has been shaped by feminist art is the head designer of Dior, the Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri. In 2020 Chiuri commission Judi Chicago, the subversive feminist artist, to create a set-cum-art installation for the iconic couture house’s spring runway show at the Musée Rodin in Paris. More recently, for the fall/winter 2020/2021 collection (Le Mythe Dior), during the difficult times of the Covid-19 pandemic, the designer created a fairytale world populated by nymphs and naiads, Venus, Narcissus, a faun and inspired by the less-known Surrealist artists and muses: Lee Miller, Dora Maar, Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, and Jacqueline Lamba. “Surrealist images manage to make visible what is in itself invisible,” Chiuri said of the collection in a statement. “I’m interested in mystery and magic, which are also a way of exorcising uncertainty about the future.” Yves Saint Laurent The Mondrian Dress design by Yves Saint Laurent in 1965 Piet Mondrian Composition C (No.III) with Red, Yellow and Blue No other moment in the history of fashion captured the public’s imagination better than the Mondrian dress designed by the French designer Yves Saint Laurent in the 1960s. This period coincided with the women’s liberation movement when women started wearing mini-skirts and loose-fitting dresses that placed fewer constraints on the body. Saint Laurent realized that the planarity of the A dress, very fashionable at that time, was an ideal field for color blocks. He demonstrated a great skill of dressmaking, setting each block of jersey to create the resemblance with the Mondrian paintings and at the same time to accommodate the curves of the female body in the grid of seams. Yves Saint Laurent went on to create haute couture outfits inspired by other artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso, but his Mondrian dress remains until today one of the most recognizable designs and at the same time a cultural symbol of the 60s. Few designers can claim such a profound influence on the way women dress as Yves Saint Laurent. The pieces he pioneered – the man’s tuxedo, cut for a woman’s body, the safari jacket, the trench coat – are now so congruous with women’s wardrobes that they seem like they have been there forever. The marriage between art and fashion is more stable than ever. As recent as 2020, Moschino’s Creative Director Jeremy Scott took inspiration from famous painters in his Spring/Summer 2020 collection with models appearing to have stepped straight out of a Picasso’s cubist masterpieces. Pierpaolo Piccioli, the creative director of the Italian house Valentino envisioned for his most recent collection a dialogue with more than 15 emerging artists and established artists—including names like Luca Coser, Jamie Nares, Wu Rui, and Malte Zenses. Discover more artworks by emerging and established artists in our curated collections.

RtistiQ

13 Sep 2021

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There is a long connection between Art depicting the beauty and bounty of the natural world and movements to protect the environment. Where there is one, there is the other. Artists are able to highlight the special bond we have to planet Earth. With the majority of humans now living in urban environments, and many of us spending much of our time inside or engaged in digital spaces, our link to the Earth can feel diminished. But great art can wake us up and bring us back to an awareness of the importance of our environment and the dire situation many ecosystems are facing today. In Southeast Asia, the situation appears to be in the eleventh hour. Massive habitat loss over the past three decades has led to many species facing extinction, and the last century has seen horrific atrocities committed to the very landscape through the use of defoliants — a form of chemical warfare that kills trees and plants by removing the leaves. But artists are now coming to the rescue, using their talent to raise awareness and improve discourse on this critical issue. And so for Earth Day, let’s look at one organization that is leading the way to help artists create the work that will inspire a new generation of people to save the planet. The Pardicolor Creative Arts Fund Wildlife Asia launched the Pardicolor Creative Arts Fund in April 2020. The fund provides Southeast Asian artists with vital financial support to promote artwork that highlights wildlife, biodiversity, the environment, and society. PARDICOLOR works with artists in a variety of mediums, from painting and drawing to sculpture, film, and beyond. The key for the fund is to find artists that bring viewers closer to the environmental issues that define out times. So far, they’ve assisted nine artists and art collectives from the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand. The fund encourages many approaches to their mission, including: works that promote the scientific understanding of ecosystems, highlight conservation work or lesser known and endangered species, art collaborations with researchers, work that speaks to a particular issue like poaching or climate change, and more. For instance, the series More Than Meets the Eye by Singapore-based photographer Jasvic Lye magnifies the intricate textures of creatures that live in Singapore. The images are luminescent and deeply felt. A close up photograph of a eurasian wild pig’s eye expresses the depth of inner experience in the animal. Another piece shows the exquisite finery of the oriental dollarbird’s feathers. The entire series gives us an intimacy with these creatures that are so often disregarded. Appropriately enough, entries for the fund’s 2021 round of grants open on April 22nd and will close on July 31st. This year, PARDICOLOR is generating a series of small grants that focus on three special themes. Art of Darkness Art of Darkness celebrates the nocturnal wildlife and environment in Southeast Asia. While seldom seen by humans, this fascinating realm of the night is just as important to protect. A Million Textures In this broad theme, artists are encouraged to engage with the patterns and colors found in the diverse natural world of Southeast Asia. PARDICOLOR encourages a breadth of interpretation, even including bioacoustics and “feeling” as different kinds of natural textures. Imagining Super Landscapes In Imagining Super Landscapes, artists are tasked with conjuring up a vision of a future Southeast Asia where cities, forests, and all the living beings in both might live in balance. It is a fun, speculative theme that gives artists a chance to advocate for solutions. United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) UNEP is another major initiative dedicated to Environmental issues and promoting sustainable development across the world. Established in Kenya in the year 1972, UNEP recognises the power of Art as a unique and impactful tool for Environment Protection. It has been leveraging Art as a medium to raise awareness, engage communities and convey the urgency of environmental issues and climate impact to a wider audience. Art and the Environment Nonprofits like PARDICOLOR remind us of how important artists can be in communicating issues to the public. And as the environmental crisis is the defining issue of our age, it’s essential that we have artwork that engages this issue. Art can inspire us, inform us, and call us to action. It can be the spark that creates the next fight to protect an endangered species, that stops the destruction of a local ecosystem, or even turns the tide against climate change.

RTISTIQ TEAM

24 Apr 2021

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Pablo Picasso is believed to have said that good artists borrow and great artists steal. Some artists maybe have taken these words a little too seriously. We’ve collected five famous painters that were the center of major forgery scandals. 1. Michelangelo Michelangelo’s Pieta (1499) — not the work he faked Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons This is not the story of a forger mocking the great Michelangelo, but the great Michelangelo mocking someone else. In the late 15th century, Michelangelo was a young artist looking to make his way in the world. He studied under Lorenzo de Medici, who quickly discovered that this young man had incredible talent. Unfortunately, art buyers at the time were obsessed with artwork from the classical world, and that gave Michelangelo an idea. He created a sculpture and artificially aged it. His work was so successful he sold it to an Italian Cardinal. The Cardinal eventually realized what happened, but instead of ruining Michelangelo’s name and career, his ability to copy the classical world solidified his reputation as a great new artist. 2. Johannes Vermeer Han van Meegeren’s The Men at Emmaus (1937) — sold as a Vermeer painting Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Vermeer is one of the true masters of painting. His work continues to stun people based on its tenderness and craft, which made the revelation that many of his pieces were by a master forger explosive. Han van Meegeren was a Dutch painter who, in the first half of the 20th century, became one of the greatest art forgers of all time. It began with him wanting to become a legitimate artist, but he struggled to make a name for himself. So he studied Vermeer’s paintings until he was able to make work that resembled the master. Van Meegeren obsessively learned how to parrot Vermeer’s style and quick-age the materials. Many experts thought there were likely many Vermeer paintings that had yet to be discovered, so van Meegeren created original work that he claimed were lost Vermeers. He sold today’s equivalent of $60 million worth of art to collectors under the master’s name. Some of these sales were even to Vermeer specialists. He was caught after World War II, when Dutch authorities arrested him under charges of treason for selling a Vermeer painting to the Nazi Hermann Göring. To prove what he sold was a forgery, he painted in the Vermeer style in front of police. 3. Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci’s (attributed) La Bella Principessa — a possible fake Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons In 2008, Peter Silverman came forward with a major announcement. A new work by Leonardo da Vinci had been discovered. The work, so the story went, was discovered in a friend’s drawer in Paris (actually Silerman purchased it at auction). La Bella Principessa has many art historians and experts claiming it is a fake, while still others claim it is the real thing. 4. Frida Kahlo Guillermo Kahlo’s Portrait of Frida Kahlo (1932) Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons While most forgery scandals focus on one painting or a handful, this scandal rocked an entire collection. The Noyolas gathered an enormous collection of Frida Kahlo artwork, and they were set to publish a book in 2009 detailing the paintings, personal effects, and correspondence of the famous artist. The book sparked outrage, with many in the art world coming out to claim that the collection was a fraud. While the Noyolas contend that the claims of forgeries are bunk, the problems in the provenance and outright discrepancies keep mounting. Many claim that all 1200 items are fraudulent. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a thorough analysis that has satisfied both sides of the debate, and so it continues. If most or all of the collection proves definitively to be a forgery, it will stand as one of the biggest ever. 5. Henri Matisse Photo of John Myatt, one of the most prolific art forgers in history Courtesy of Web Art Academy John Myatt was a recently divorced artist in the 1980’s looking for a little extra dough. He put out an ad in Private Eye magazine offering to sell fakes, and soon his work fell into the hands of one John Drewe. Drewe was able to resell Myatt’s work, including forgeries of Henri Mattisse, to the likes of Sotheby’s and Christie’s. By the time Scotland Yard caught up with Myatt in 1995, the duo had sold around 200 fakes. Author: Jonathan M Clark

RtistiQ

20 Mar 2021

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Art forgery is a major concern for art collectors of all kinds. When you shell out big money for an original, you want to know it’s the real thing. Nothing is more shattering for an art museum than finding out one of the paintings they’ve displayed has been a fake. Private collectors have their own concerns, too. A discovered forgery can represent a massive loss in assets. Some forgers are so good at what they do that their work can’t be distinguished from the real thing — at least not at first. Even experts, people who are trained to spot real from fake, can be tricked, sometimes for years. That makes forgery even scarier: how do you protect against it? The more you start looking into this shady world of art fakes, it gets you thinking. How many pieces up in art museums right now are forgeries? The truth is, we’ll never know the actual numbers or extent anytime soon. The rough estimate making rounds is that almost 40% of all art from master artists are either fakes or wrongly attributed. What we do know, is that with all the money to be made, people will continue to create art forgeries. Below, we’ve assembled a few of the biggest art forgery scandals from the last decade. Uzbek State Art Museum (2014) This story is the epitome of the inside job. The Uzbek State Art Museum was the target of a sophisticated ring of art forgers. They just happened to be the employees. Over a fifteen year period, three employees — chief Curator Mifayz Usmanov and two art restorers — systematically stole works from the museum and replaced them with forgeries. They resold the originals for incredibly low prices, somewhere in the range of €80 to 650, the equivalent of $100 to 810. The hard economic realities of Uzbekistan and the low pay of the staff created the backdrop for this last ditch effort to make some money. The work they sold included pieces by Lorenzo di Credi, Victor Ufimtsev, and dozens of other European artists. For their crimes, Usmanov received nine years in prison, while his two accomplices were sentenced to eight years each. Lino Frongia (2019) When we think of great art, we usually begin with the old masters. So did Lino Frongia, a relatively obscure Italian painter who spent the last few decades forging the greats and selling the work for millions of Euros. But Frongia had help from French art dealer Giuliano Ruffini, who claims innocence, stating that everything he sold was verified by experts. The forgeries landed in the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum, and London’s National Gallery and even tricked some of the great art collectors of our time. Frongia is accused of forging works by Frans Hals, Correggio, Lucas Cranach, among others. But it all came collapsing down when the Orion Analytical laboratory in Williamstown Massachusetts claimed to have found modern pigments in a work supposedly painted by Parmigianino. Since then, more and more paintings have been discovered that implicate Frongia. At RtistiQ, we leverage the latest technology like Digital Imagery, Blockchain and NFC to build a digital DNA of each artwork, connecting it to the original creator. This ensures a safe and trusted online art gallery for both art lovers and creators to transact. Knoedler & Company (2011) An Upper East side modern art gallery, an elite clientele, a collection too good to be true. It all came crashing down in 2011. Knoedler & Company was a mainstay of the New York art scene, opening its doors in 1846. And then, with little notice and in the middle of an art show, they closed their doors. The reason? It had come to light that in their last 15 years of business, they sold more than 40 forged paintings. The forgeries included works by Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko — sales of the forgeries totalled over $60 million. It all started when Knoedler & Company’s president began working with Glafira Rosales who claimed to be in contact with a certain “Mr. X” and his son. They had a tremendous amount of modern art marvels without provenance, the story went, and they wanted to sell these off. In truth, the paintings were created by Rosales’ boyfriend José Carlos Bergantiños Díaz and his brother Jesús, and master art forger Pei-Shen Qian. The story has been immortalized in the film Driven to Distraction. Conclusion Collecting is similar to love at first sight – you get a tingling sensation when you chance upon an artwork that you can connect with. You feel the desire to learn more about the artist and ultimately own the artwork. While it is becoming increasingly popular to buy art online in this decade, Art forgeries are on the rise as well. The good news is it can be tackled with proper technology in place like what RtistiQ Art Marketplace has achieved. If you are looking to buy paintings online, browse our wide array of artworks from all over the world today. Author: Jonathan M Clark

RtistiQ

08 Mar 2021

5 min to read

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Art events play an important role in enlightening the audience about different developments happening all over the world. From the past till today, these art events have only grown more popular and have received a wide range of patrons including, Corporate Magnates, Royalty, Politicians etc. We also recognize the rise of online art marketplaces for art lovers to purchase paintings online and an increasing number of artists pursuing art as a full-time career. Keeping the Pandemic in mind, restrictions in traveling and due to it the safety protocols that all countries had to take. Singapore as well had to take a number of protective measures to keep its residents safe. However, over a period of time, Singapore did manage to contain the spread of the virus compared to a number of countries. Due to this, various departments under the Singapore Government started coming up with safer interventions to keep the morale of its citizens and residents high. As a part of these above mentioned initiatives, the Department of Culture and various private art galleries collaborated with a number of local and international celebrated artists to put up Art Exhibitions and Events, which can be still seen today. Keeping the aesthetic and therapeutic nature of arts in mind, these events are must go places for the Singaporeans to get a change of scenery, but in a socially distant manner. Here are the top 9 art events that you can attend in 2021: 1. Singapore Art Week To begin with, just around the corner on 22nd January is the Singapore Art Week. Which is a nine days’ extravaganza where a number of artists and visual media creators showcase their projects in theform of Exhibitions, Art Fairs, Galleries, Talks, Film Presentations and many more treats for one to indulge in. 2. 7th Singapore International Photography Festival This festival aims at uniting various visual artists under one roof and initiate discussions on various critical issues that the world faces today. It will be taking place at a number of venues in parallel, the major venues will be DECK, 120A Princep Street, 37 Emerald Hill, Downtown Line (various venues), Art Science Museum and Esplanade Tunnel.Timings at various venues differ and the information can be gathered from https://sipf.sg/. Admission charges may apply depending on the exhibition and venue. 3. A Familiar Forest This event is a 34 multilayer image showcase by environmental artist Zen Teh. The exhibition is based on modern scientific research which guarantees to touch your multiplesenses and invoke love for mother nature. This exhibition can be seen at NTU Museum, 50 Nanyang Avenue, North Spine 3, Level 5. Hours to visit are Monday-Friday 8.30 AM -9.15 PM, Saturday 8.30 AM – 4.45 PM and Sunday closed. Admission is free. 4. Aliwal Tracks Aliwal Tracks is a video web series program which touches upon the hidden street art, old-stories of residents and sounds of Kampong Glam. This is an online art event and the admission is free. 5. Time Passes @ Singapore Art Museum Up next, an art attraction to catch is at the Singapore Art Museum, where a guest curated exhibition by Samantha Yap is put up called Time Passes, named after a chapter of Virginia Wolfe’s novel to The Lighthouse. This exhibition will take the audience through the Pandemic that the world has gone through and how we as a human race have adapted to it and still survived the trials of time. The event can be caught at City Hall Wing, Level 3, Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery B, National Gallery Singapore. The exhibition will be live till the 21st February 2021, all days from 10 AM- 7 PM. Admission is free for all Singapore citizens and PRs and no prior registrations are required. 6. Films by Trinh T Min-ha If you are an art film connoisseur, then you have to head to NTU Center for Contemporary Art where one can catch all the films by Trinh T Min-ha. She is a renowned film maker, composer, photographer,anthropologist and feminist who picks real world issues from all over the globe and uses her film making skills to present these harsh realities to the wider global audience. The exhibition is live till the 28th of February 2021, and the other details of the exhibition can be found here Link. 7. THINK & Perfect Stranger @ Asian Civilizations Museum Asian Civilizations Museum also has a lot to offer for an art lover’s palette. Special mention needs to be made of two very unique exhibitions that are running there. These are THINK: Chinese Calligraphy, Connoisseurship and Collecting and the second one is titled Perfect Stranger. THINK Chinese Calligraphy,Connoisseurship and Collecting exhibition - is a very eloquent display of artefacts from Ming and Qing Period in a very contemporary and display while the Perfect Stranger is a narrative time capsule of a vast sea of paper washed in words and gradients of different colors and a phosphorescence arises out of each sheet due to the synthesis of shades unique to each script. THINK: Chinese Calligraphy, Connoisseurship and Collecting is live till the 25th of April 2021 and the Perfect Stranger will be on till the 28th February 2021. The museum is open daily from 10 AM – 7 PM and on Fridays it is open from 10 AM – 9 PM. Entry from citizens and PRs is free while for tourists it’s 20 SGD per head. 8. Planet or Plastic @ Art Science Museum Even after all these attractions if your creative thirst is not quenched then you should definitely head to the Art Science Museum, where an environmental awareness exhibition has been put up called Planet or Plastic. This is an initiative by the National Geographic under which 70 photographs and videos are displayed to show the repercussions of the Plastic Pollution on our planet. This event is live till the 28th of March 2021, and the visiting hours are Sunday – Thursday 10 AM- 7 PM and Friday-Saturday 10 AM – 9 AM. There is an admission ticket which costs 16 SDG for citizens and 12 SDG as concessional rate for the same, while for tourists its 19 SDG and 14 SDG at a concessional price. 9. Georgette Chen: At Home in the World This showcase displays the fascinating world of Georgette Chen (1906-1993), who travelled the world and imbibed all the different styles of art in her work and left a lasting legacy on Singaporean artists. The event is running till 26 September 2021 at National Gallery Singapore, City Hall Wing, Level 4 Gallery and Wu Guangzhong Gallery. The admission for the Singaporean citizens and PRs is free. If you are an art enthusiast in Singapore, we have summarized the top 9 art events happening in 2021. Kick-start your 2021 on a good note with visiting these events and indulging in the creativity thatSingapore has to offer in a safe and responsible manner. Author: Kush Dhebar RtistiQ is a digital art gallery that connects art enthusiasts with renowned artists worldwide. Our marketplace has a wide variety of artworks for sale, from abstract art paintings to contemporary art. Check out our recent guide for amateur art collectors who have an active interest in art collections here. Shop art online for your home or office décor.

RtistiQ

22 Jan 2021

5 min to read

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What is art forgery and why is it wrong? One of the main reasons why high-end art, especially by the masters, is revered is because of its originality, that undefinable touch, which is so unique to that artist and which sets it apart from the rest. The concept of imitation of art has been going on for hundreds of years, where an artist or student copies the artwork of a master they admire. There is nothing wrong or illegal in this. Art forgeries however are a different ball game altogether. In this, the artist or institution tries to pass off their artwork under the name of an established or famous artist, usually for financial gains. A forged Picasso painting can look as aesthetically pleasing and refined as the original one, sometimes even to a trained eye. Then why is authenticity so important in the art world? The primary reason why it is crucial to distinguish between an original and counterfeit piece is due to the monetary value attached to the piece. Each piece of art would be inspired from a unique creative source and it then passes through the personal cognitive skills of the artist before it is translated onto the medium. This gives the artist an intellectual property right over his piece of work. To study a false piece of art as an original work by a revered artist, would at the very least, taint our understanding of the artist as well as the evolution of that piece of work. The financial and moral implications of this duplicity have the power to disrupt the very fibre of the art world. Notable Art forgeries that rocked the Art world Art forgery is every art collector’s or art institution’s worst nightmare. Yet, despite the best efforts by experts and security personnel, widespread fabrication of artworks continues to be a looming menace. Some notable instances of art forgery in recent times, exploring the techniques employed, the consequences faced, and the lessons learned The Wolfgang Beltracchi Scandal: One of our time's most notorious art forgers, Wolfgang Beltracchi, stunned the art world with his impeccable reproductions of famous artworks. From Van Gogh to Picasso, Beltracchi masterfully replicated renowned artists' styles, materials, and signatures. It was only in 2010 that his deception was uncovered, leading to his arrest and a significant blow to the art market. The case shed light on the vulnerabilities of authentication processes and the allure of owning a "lost masterpiece." The Knoedler Gallery Case: The Knoedler Gallery, a prestigious art institution in New York, fell victim to one of the largest forgery scandals in recent history. Over 15 years, the gallery unknowingly sold dozens of fake paintings by artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning. The elaborate scheme involved a art dealer from Long Island named Glafira Rosales got the help of a Chinese artist based in queens to paint abstract expressionist style paintings, in the style of famous masters . She managed to pass them off to the reputed Knoedler gallery, as part of the unlisted works of the artists, which they had sold directly to an anonymous buyer. This resulted in collectors spending around eighty million dollars on these forged pieces. This case highlighted the challenges galleries and experts face in verifying the authenticity of artworks. Zhang Daqian's Fake Scroll Paintings: Zhang Daqian, a highly esteemed Chinese painter, became a victim of forgery even after his passing. Forgers capitalized on his distinctive style and subjects, creating convincing imitations of his scroll paintings. Before experts detected the fraud, these counterfeit works entered prestigious auctions and private collections. This incident emphasized the importance of extensive research, provenance verification, and scientific analysis to prevent the circulation of fake artwork. The Modigliani Forgery Ring: A group of skilled forgers in Italy produced a series of remarkable fake Amedeo Modigliani paintings, successfully infiltrating the art market. Their sophisticated techniques and attention to detail fooled collectors, experts, and auction houses. The operation was eventually dismantled, leading to arrests and confiscation of numerous counterfeit works. The Modigliani forgery ring revealed the lengths to which forgers will go to imitate the unique styles of celebrated artists. The Fake Frans Hals Portrait case: One of the biggest scandals to rock the art world in recent times, was the ten million dollar Frans Hal portrait sold through a private sale in which modern day materials was found to be used, when tested by Orion Analytical, a US based company which investigates art work. Sotheby’s refunded the buyer after this unfathomable forgery came to light. This forgery circle is rumoured to involve works of up to 25 old masters, escalating the amount collectors are said to have spent on these fake pieces, to an outrageous 255 million US dollars. The most surprising facet in this whole issue was that most of the reputed art institutions accepted these paintings as genuine masterpieces and even displayed these pieces in their galleries. The total lack of provenance for most of these paintings was a red flag in this multi-million dollar scandal. This casts a shadow on the effectiveness of age-old techniques like connoisseurship, which uses less of scientific methods and relies on intangible elements, like the ability of the expert to detect the ‘hand of the artist’ in the painting. In this case the technical analysis done by Orion Analytical, helped bring the forged pieces to light. Other Major forgery cases In another startling case, The Uzbek state museum discovered that many of its original art pieces was replaced by forged pieces by their own staff. They had sold the original pieces in the black market for a fraction of the cost. The State Art and cultural museum in Ankara, Turkey was also a victim to forgery when almost 302 of the original works were planned to be swapped by its staff in association with some art criminals. The case came to light when the museum discovered that many pieces in its collection were copies. The forgery case was solved with the help of a tip by an anonymous caller. In an equally sensational scam, dubbed operation Voyeurs, the Spanish authorities busted an operation selling counterfeit works by world renowned artists including Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. A Zaragoza based art dealer, was planning to sell these for millions of Euros. How Technology Can Prove An Effective Weapon Against Art Forgery Art forgeries continue to challenge the authenticity and integrity of the art world. Recent cases of forgery remind us of the intricate techniques employed by skilled forgers, the vulnerabilities within authentication processes, and the enduring allure of owning a genuine masterpiece. These incidents have prompted art institutions, experts, and collectors to strengthen their efforts in research, provenance verification, and technological advancements for the detection and prevention of art fraud. With modern technological breakthroughs, many online art platforms and institutions can now be prepared to protect themselves and their investors from such hoodwinkers. Digital art is now a formidable name in the art world, with both collectors and reputed online platforms waking up to its value in the modern art market. The universal concern when dealing with such art is the plagiarism concerns which arises, when a copy of it exists on the internet. To solve this issue, many high-end online art platforms like Rtistiq, employ blockchain technology in their art asset management. Using this technology, once the provenance and ownership details of a particular artwork have been uploaded onto the company’s secure and distributed database, it can be tracked and verified online and in real time. Thus, every single event that has occurred in the lifetime of the artwork now becomes a digital block, which is linked to a previous block of information. This enables prospective clients to confirm the authenticity and provenance of the piece of artwork. Rtistiq, a digital online platform for art connoisseurs, and investors is one such enterprise which employs technological prowess to ensure that their clients have a secure space to conduct their dealings. Using blockchain technology it records every piece of information connected to a piece of artwork and the digital fingerprint thus created would be impossible to duplicate. The unique architecture of this technology ensures immutability so that data once fed cannot be altered while allowing the users to maintain anonymity. NFC tags are another highly effective way to counter forgery. In this method NFC tags or microchips, like the ones used in passports or credit cards are attached to the piece of artwork. The chip, which is invisible to the naked eye, holds a private key with a corresponding public key stored on a blockchain. This forms a sort of digital link, connecting the artwork and the information about it. It is stored on a secured network and is virtually tamper proof and nearly impossible to replicate. This data can be accessed by a potential client at any time by scanning the chip with the help of relevant apps. Using these tags, the artists can authenticate their latest piece of work by attaching them to the art work or an art gallery can use this to authenticate the provenance of an old renowned piece of work and also provide their customers with a bona fide certificate. Art forgeries other than having a severe monetary impact, can have a profound effect on the art market. It can damage the hard-earned reputation of many people involved in the process. So, effective methods to identify and prevent forgeries is the need of the hour. With new technological advancements, more and more fool proof methods are being introduced. The stakeholders in the art world must embrace these new techniques to stay one step ahead of these forging masterminds and safeguard their assets in this ever evolving and volatile art industry. Author: Anupama

RtistiQ

27 Nov 2020

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Who Are Millennials? The term millennial describes a section of people born between 1981 and 1996. The term millennial came to be used because the oldest members of this generation turned adults at the turn of the third millennium AD. They are also referred to as Gen Y, as they are the set of people who succeed Gen X. One of the most defining characteristics of this generation is the ease of access and usage of digital devices, the internet, and social media. They are also likely to be better educated than the previous generation. Millennials have also managed to bring about a massive shift in how art markets worldwide operate. With their new set of attitudes, preferences, and modes of operation, these young, influential collectors have transformed how art is perceived and consumed. Here, we explore how millennials view art and culture and how that paved the way for dramatic shifts within the art market. More Likely To Prefer Affordable And Accessible Art Pieces Although millennials tend to be better educated than their previous generation, this has not translated to higher access to financial resources. The volatile economic situations, the pressure to acquire relevant skill sets, and the steering away from the classic, traditional career paths, have all resulted in lesser income levels compared to the previous generation at the same age. This makes them shy away from the expensive upper crust, old masters, and seek more affordable and easily accessible art pieces. More Likely To Be Interested In Art Than The Older Generation Millennials enjoy expressing their styles through their surroundings and collections. Art is one medium that helps them showcase their interests and aesthetic sensibilities, which explains their natural affinity to art. These youngsters value personal experiences, and unique art pieces appeal to their intense and passionate emotional landscapes. They love art as an experience as well as an investment and also as a medium to enhance their brand equity. They do not shy away from seeing art as an asset that can build wealth and value it for its resale potential. Impact Of Social Media Like in most other aspects of their life, it is no surprise that millennials discover most of their art online. Millennial collectors are continually active social net-workers, both online and offline. They are tech-savvy and prefer getting information and access to artwork with the least possible mediation possible. They often like connecting directly to the artist or the gallery and getting acquainted with the piece of art before deciding. Access to technology and social media makes this possible. This trend has been a driving factor in many prominent art galleries and museums, now sharing their collections online. This, in turn, has translated to increased public awareness and the opportunity to share artwork and its history with many more potential customers. Many artists and galleries are now interacting directly with customers, making it easy for a potential collector or critic to access and evaluate art pieces.Social media channels like Instagram and Pinterest make it relatively easy for customers to discover new artists or art institutions. Museums and galleries also go the extra mile in social media outreach to grab customer attention and reach a critical audience. Most high-end galleries have an online viewing room, in addition to the traditional brick-and-mortar institutions. Purchasing art online also appeals to Gen Y due to the often-lower price tag at which art is available online and the freedom to connect with the artist directly. This also allows them to share their latest artistic acquisitions with their peers and feeds their 'if you haven't gram it, did you even do it?' mentality. Impact Of Culture Surprisingly, millennials are mostly thought of as less empathetic and often selfish and more interested in culture and art than they are given credit for. In an age when technological advances usually manage to strip a person of his own identity, millennials are now, more than ever, interested in highlighting their own unique identities. Culture, in a way, is a medium to preserve the past, and millennials thrive on nostalgia or their idea of a time when lives were more straightforward. This manifests in ways like their efforts to be a part of the renovation of historical buildings, retaining their original characters while making them currently usable, and their willingness to support regional handicrafts and artisans. The social and political actions taken by millennials, like online activism and pushing for reforms on issues that matter to them, prove that they deeply mesh into the socio-political and cultural fabric of the society in which they live and also show their profound impact on their lives. Kind Of Art That Interests Gen Y Millennials often tend to gravitate towards pieces of art that they can connect with on a personal level. They tend to value an art piece based on its aesthetic appeal and the emotion it manages to evoke in them and not just because it has thename of a famous artist attached to it. This generation seems to be drawn toward contemporary pieces of artwork and towards works of art that steer away from traditional methods and employ unusual materials and mediums.Millennials are changing how art is perceived, and the art markets operate. With their novel characteristics, these tech-savvy Gen Y art connoisseurs are driving substantial changes in the traditional art markets across the globe. They have succeeded in leaving their own distinctive and indelible mark on the art industry. Author: Anupama Vijayakumar

RtistiQ

26 Nov 2020

5 min to read

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South East Asian Art Market Trends Over The Past Decade Over the past ten years, the Southeast Asian art industry has blossomed and managed to carve a niche for itself in the ever-evolving world of fine arts. Factors like the uniqueness of the artwork, its place of origin or provenance, and its existing condition and quality continue to decide its value and worth in the ever-evolving art market. The rich and diverse culture of the artists of this region adds an undeniable appeal to the artistic creation and is, in a way, seen as a celebration of their roots and cultural heritage. Here, we explore some of the trends this sector has witnessed over the past decade. A Shift In Collector Preferences, To Include Contemporary Works Of Art Along With Traditional Creations The steady economic growth in the recent times has translated to a flourish in art appreciation, investment and therefore artistic creations. The increasing affluence and greater influence in matters of global politics and economics of this region, has played a part in the flush of contemporary art from this region. It is often seen as a platform to find a foot hold for region specific art, in the global art world and to showcase the new, modern face of Asia to the world. More than galleries or auction houses, it is the educated, well-heeled and wealthy collectors, who are driving this trend. The strength of contemporary art lies in its ability to highlight both local and global concerns, while remaining rooted to or influenced by a unique culture or heritage. A Shift In The Way Artists Approach Their Work The last few years has seen more artists use their art, as a voice to respond to the social and political tensions in their societies. Their art has captured the socio cultural and political landscape to create powerful works of art, while staying true to their roots.The previous few years has also seen artists experimenting with different medium, combining traditional art forms with contemporary expressions. The visual vocabulary created by these artists often reemphasize the fact that creative work can often act as a catalyst for positive change, while simultaneously managing to shine the spotlight on traditional artistic methods. The last ten years have also witnessed artists getting more attuned to market trends and collector preferences, while retaining their own artistic liberties, thereby creating pieces of art that have a global appeal. A Shift In Customer Engagement Channels These art markets have been garnering a lot of global attention in recent times. One of the main trends in this respect, witnessed over this time frame is the ease of visibility and accessibility of these art works for potential customers, through increased number of exhibitions, biennale, museums, and private patronage.What the South East Asian art market was lacking, was not talented artists, but a strong and internationally competitive art ecosystem, to showcase its plethora of fine arts. The past years have seen a dramatic change in this aspect, with Singapore emerging as a sort of cultural hub for art from this region and forming a veritable ecosystem, to showcase its delightful offerings. Art fairs are a major attraction for visitors and help hundreds of galleries, curators, artists and collectors to show, buy and sell the best of the regional art. These art fairs act as a channel to connect the artists and potential customers. A Shift In The Perspective, Where Art Is Seen As A Resilient Investment Option The recent years have seen a huge shift in the way collectors, mainly Asian collectors, view art as a solid investment choice. There is also a widespread notion that investing in South East Asian art, may offer a bargain for the collector, as they can get a quality art piece from a blue chip artist here, for a fraction of the cost when compared to established artists in the west. The rise of the tech savvy, globetrotting collector who values art not just in terms of monetary investments, but also in terms of its human and intellectual potential, has also been a major game changer. The relative stability of art in a volatile economic scenario, has also boosted its status as a solid investment option. The last few years have seen a dramatic change in the buying and selling of artwork from this region, releasing it from geographical constraints and making it globally diversified. This trend has in many ways buffered the risks, enabling the local art markets, to bounce back better after a recession. A Shift In The Customer Landscape To Include A Wider Range Of Customers, Who Understands The Value And Nuances Of The Artwork The past few years have seen a sizable increase in collectors who are young, well-traveled and social media savvy. They are better informed about the subtle nuances of the art creations and their value; money being a part of it, and not the whole. These collectors, in many cases millennial's, are a force to reckon with, driving gallery sales, aiding in museum developments, both public and private. The local art market’s strength lies in the face that most of its patrons hail from that region itself. This makes their collections more focused and often these collectors are well informed of the nuances of art, specific to that region.This time frame has seen a significant positive trend, with respect to elements such as individual buying capacity, development in cultural infrastructures, rise of art institutions and support services, to enhance the art markets. It has also witnessed favorable government regulatory climate, both within the region and internationally.These favorable trends will play a significant role in helping these regional specific markets find a foot hold in the global art markets. Author: Anupama Vijayakumar

RtistiQ

26 Nov 2020

5 min to read

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