The master's thesis delves into the online contemporary art market. Beginning with a brief historical overview it acquaints the reader with the development of the Western art market and how the roles of individuals in the art business were changing through time. It questions the concept of an artwork as a commodity and presents the process of determining the value of art pieces. At the end of the 20th century, the social and political movements and the information revolution triggered major changes in the art market. At the same time the art world (as well as art market) was greatly impacted by the emergence of internet, which quickly became one of the most important communication, promotion and marketing channels. Individual market players in the primary and secondary art market adapted to it and adopted its use. Consequently, new tools for art sales began developing and led to new market trends, especially in the field of contemporary fine arts, based on general digital marketing rules. This has several, even adverse effects on this market. In the thesis, integration of Slovenian art traders in online markets, their characteristics and their inclination towards changes are discussed. For better understanding of the circumstances of the art market in Slovenia, a brief outline of the history of Slovenian galleries is included, particularly exclusively privately funded galleries. The online presence of art necessarily calls for the consideration about consequences of rapid development of the web and about challenges that these new forms of online art sales present (e.g. democratisation and desacralisation of art).
|
