The Changing Landscape of the Art World

I have posted in the past regarding the blurring of lines between the major auction houses and gallery sales, as well as other allied fields.  This includes auction houses owning galleries, the importance of private sales, offering storage and insurance while museums and cultural institutions, galleries and fairs fight back and foundations reinvent themselves.

The NY Times has a very good article looking at the changing landscape of the art world.  It is well worth reading and keeping in mind how the art world has been and continues to change.

The NY Times reports

Galleries are stepping up their game, opening multiple spaces around the globe to offer buyers the same kind of international reach as the auction houses. They are also calling on former museum curators and scholars to organize exhibitions with lavish, erudite catalogs. Often these shows have almost nothing for sale, and a surprising number of artworks are being lent by museums.

Artist foundations are going in new directions, too. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has been selling off its Warhol holdings for years. What’s left has recently been put in the hands of Christie’s to offer at auctions, held mostly online. The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation is using an old Chelsea warehouse to present the show “We The People,” its inaugural exhibition on view through Nov. 9. Organized by Alison Gingeras, an independent curator, and Jonathan Horowitz, an artist, it includes a disparate group of works reflecting in one way or another the American electorate.

Surprisingly, there is only one work on view by Mr. Rauschenberg himself. “We want to be experimental, to try new things and see what happens,” said Christy MacLear, the foundation’s director, who explained that using other artists’ voices helps to understand and connect with what Rauschenberg’s work is all about.

“All the traditional boundaries in every part of the art world have changed,” said William F. Ruprecht, Sotheby’s chief executive. “The art world has grown tremendously. Our clients have gotten much more mobile. Besides travel, they also rely on the Web. Everybody is more informed than ever.”

In the museum world, being an information provider has become a priority, so much so that museums are becoming online publishers. This month the Metropolitan Museum of Art introduced MetPublications, a resource that allows users to search more than 600 catalogs, journals and museum bulletins online by title, keyword, publication type, theme or collection, including, so far, about 140 out-of-print books. And the Met is not alone, as museums across the country are putting more and more scholarly content — along with lavish illustrations — online and available free.A

Source: NY Times