“Young people are conditioned to seeing things on screens, so artists are producing works that really pop on screen. Having less expensive works available, or at least viewable, online has democratized the art world.”
Art websites, such as Artnet.com and Uprise Art, have sprung up to meet the online demand. And galleries that exhibit artwork online have started putting prices on the pieces, something that was unheard of in the past. Uprise Art even has a page of works for less than $800.
And this trend has prompted Axa Art, the art insurance line for Axa insurance company, to develop a new insurance product to cover collectors who are just beginning to acquire lower-priced pieces. It launched in March with premiums as low as $75 a year and can be purchased online. Insurance for higher-end works of art have costly minimums that young collectors can’t afford and don’t need, says David Thompson, an underwriter for Axa Art.
“Galleries are trying to figure out how to target the millennial market,” says Thompson. “Galleries want the young collectors because these are the big purchase collectors of the future. If they don’t adapt to the new purchasers, they will not exist in a few years.”
Amber Boissonneault, a salesperson at Taglialatella Galleries in New York City and a beginning collector herself, says that when galleries hold big events, smaller satellite shows now often pop up around them selling less expensive works of art for $1,000 or less.
“A collector who is just starting out can put the art pieces that cost a few hundred or a couple of thousand dollars on a homeowners insurance policy, but that does not give you the best art insurance,” Boissonneault says. “A small collection can add up in value very quickly.”
Thompson says even beginning collectors want artwork restored if something happens to it, rather than getting money for it. “Ninety percent of claims we get are partial losses, and most happen when something is being transported.”
For instance, Axa Art had one claim for a painting of pink poppies that was shipped in bubble wrapping. When it was unwrapped, the imprint of the wrap had transferred to cover the painting with spots.