It's fair to say that Amazon.com has changed the way Americans shop. The new question is whether the company will have the same type of effect in fine art as it has on books and other categories?
Yesterday, the e-tailer announced the launch of Amazon Art (www.amazon.com/art) a marketplace for more than 40,000 works of fine art from more than 4,500 artists and 150 dealers and galleries. Amazon claims the store is one of the largest collections of original art sold online. Works of art are grouped by featured artist, type, subject, style, frame type, size, orientation and price. There are pieces under $99 (503 total) to more than $10,000 (2,373). Pieces such from famous artists including Claude Monet and Norman Rockwell sell in the millions of dollars.
"We're pleased to share our expertise in ecommerce with galleries and dealers looking to expand their reach," said Peter Faricy, vice president for the Amazon Marketplace, in a statement. "In working directly with galleries, we've heard their desire to connect with new customers and be able to share their artists and creativity with the world. We look forward to working with them to reach customers who previously would not have had access to their collections of art."
As a New York Times piece points out, this is not Amazon's first foray into fine art. Back in 1999, it worked with Sotheby's for a short time before discontinuing the effort. It also has existing competition from many of the sellers it is working with on Amazon Art and such sites as Artsy (online market), Artnet (auction site) and Artspace, "which has partnerships with dozens of prestigious galleries and museums offering works from $100 prints to a $2.5 million Cy Twombly painting."
Competition also includes companies like the online auction site Paddle8, which is part of Amazon Art.
"Paddle8 Editions sells works by internationally renowned artists to benefit the world's leading non-profits and cultural institutions. Through our new relationship with Amazon, we can dramatically expand our audience while simultaneously providing access to affordable, limited-edition works by some of the most significant artists working today," said Osman Khan, COO and founding partner of Paddle8. "We're excited to list our artwork on Amazon to make it more convenient for our existing clientele, and to help us reach new clientele."