Cutting Out The Middlemen In The Art Market

For decades, the art world revolved around gatekeepers, galleries, dealers, and managers who decided which voices got heard. Many times it was based on who you know, or what art school you attended. Politics seemed to play more of a role into a person's success in the art world, versus their sheer talent. But today, that model is being challenged and rewritten in real time to the chagrin of the art establishment.

With personal websites, social media pages, and worldwide shipping options, artists can now build direct relationships with collectors and fans. A spare bedroom or a garage studio can function as a global gallery, where buyers from New York, London, Tokyo, or Sydney can discover and purchase work with a few clicks, and can base their decision more on merit than reputation or restricted accessibility. This shift is more than just convenience -- it’s empowerment. Artists can now create and develop their own brand, market their own work, and build their own customer list with interacting with clients over the internet, rather than having to go through a gatekeeper.

Not surprisingly, some legacy galleries, such as Blum, Clearing, and L.A. Louver, have been forced to close as of recent because of this breakdown in the traditional art supply chain. They are not needed like they used to be, and therefore they can no longer put a stranglehold on the art market and artificially fix prices and control supply as a cartel would. The traditional gallery world is essentially an art cartel. Picking winners based on abstract concepts (pun intended) of talent and popularity, versus what the people actually want. As they continue to fall by the wayside, art popularity will increasingly be based more on merit and basic supply and demand principles than artificial indicators and market controls.

The change isn’t about one cause, but digital commerce is a big part of the story. Just like many other industries, art too will be challenged and reshaped by the internet age. The bottom line: Success no longer requires waiting for permission. In a connected world, the artists who show up authentically and consistently can thrive without intermediaries, turning local studios into international destinations.