Low Cost Art for Rent

The NY Times has an interesting article about new online offerings for novice collectors that hope to disrupt the way art becomes available.  The online applications offer low cost art which can be inexpensively rented.  One group, Artify It is basing its art subscription service on the Netflix model. Artsicle is another online firm offering inexpensive art for rent.

The NY Times reports

They are trying an end run around the gallery system, an idea that has enticed a number of entrepreneurs recently. This spring, Artify It began offering an art subscription service, on the Netflix model, in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.

“I thought the art market was ready for innovation and disruption,” said Idan Cohen, one of several investors who put a total of $390,000 into Artsicle last November. “I thought that Artsicle could reach young people not exposed to the art world yet, but who still want something that looks good in their home, to which they have an emotional attachment, that has a story behind it.”

Ms. Tryon knows their predicament. Just a few years ago, she went shopping for a print by Jock Sturges, known for his photographs of adolescents and their families taken at California communes and nudist colonies.

She got nowhere fast. “The galleries made it very clear that they were not very interested in a young buyer with a budget of $1,000,” she said. “I encountered a lot of attitude everywhere I went. At the same time, I met a lot of young people interested in art. There seemed like a disconnect, an inefficiency in the market.”

“Inefficiency in the market” is business code for “moneymaking opportunity.” Ms. Tryon thought of creating an online business that was inexpensive and accommodating, what she calls a “Zappos for art.”

Mr. Carleton became her unlikely partner in the venture. The two met when she was studying communications and art history at the University of Pennsylvania and he was majoring in mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon. On a weekend trip to Philadelphia with a classmate, he ended up sleeping on Ms. Tryon’s couch. “Uninvited,” she pointed out.

Source: The NY Times