|
||||
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Art World - 8th Feb 2005 NEW INTERNET SERVICE LAUNCHED TO ENABLE ART GALLERIES TO FIND NEW CUSTOMERS AND INCREASE SALES· Survey conducted at London Art Fair shows that 78% of art buyers now use the internet to research art · 40% intend to spend more on art in 2005 than they did in 2004. A new service is launched today - The Online British Art Gallery (www.obag.co.uk) – designed to give art galleries access to new customers and increase their sales. The most comprehensive art search engine available on the net, it enables buyers to search for art held by the galleries throughout the UK who subscribe to the service. Galleries, who must have a retail presence in the UK, have the opportunity to display art from their current and future exhibitions. At time of launch 45 galleries, located from Inverness to Padstow, are displaying artwork on the Online British Art Gallery. Leading regional galleries such as The Leith Gallery in Edinburgh, The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle, Cambridge Contemporary Art in East Anglia, and edgarmodern Fine Art in Bath have already joined the service, as have The Gallery Beckenham and Gallery One in London. Buyers can search for art using 14 different criteria including artist’s name, size of artwork, style, price through to regional location of each gallery. Once a user has found a piece of art they like, they make contact directly with the gallery, either by using the contact information available on the site or through links provided to each gallery’s own website. It is up to each gallery and buyer to agree how the art can be viewed in person and any resulting art sales are handled by the gallery. Iain Cross, Managing Director and founder of The Online British Art Gallery commented “It’s effectively on-line art dating – we act as matchmaker by providing the facilities to get the initial introduction underway. It’s up to each gallery to develop the relationship directly with the buyer and make a date to view the art in person. Serious art buyers don’t want to buy art on-line, but they do want to use the internet to research and locate it – the fact that 78% of respondents in our survey used the internet to research art demonstrates there is strong demand for this new service”. The market for original art appears likely to grow in 2005. The survey revealed that 40% of respondents thought they would spend more on art in 2005 compared to 2004, with 44% thinking they would spend about the same. When asked what they perceived as the main advantage of the Online British Art Gallery, 38% thought it was time saved by not having to access the web-sites of numerous individual art galleries and artists. 23% thought it was the ability to tailor their art requirements very specifically using any of the 14 search criteria available and 27% thought it was the ability to discover more art galleries in their local region. Collin Addy, owner of The New Gallery in Birmingham commented “I see real value in displaying art on the Online British Art Gallery. I hope that it will enable me to expand my customer base throughout the UK and bring more customers to my door.” ENDS For more information please contact: Sally Brown pressoffice@obag.co.uk About the Online British Art Gallery (www.obag.co.uk) Launched in February 2005, The On-line British Art Gallery (www.obag.co.uk)is the most comprehensive art search engine available on the net. It is an on-line art dating service with the sole goal of introducing interested buyers to art galleries that are exhibiting specific works of interest. Art galleries located around the UK display their art on the site. Potential buyers register to join the service and can then search for pieces of art using 14 different criteria, such as galleries most local to them, individual artist or by the type of art they want, such as still life or watercolour. Once a buyer has found a piece of art they are interested in the site enables them to discover the name of the gallery selling the piece. They then contact the gallery direct to arrange to view the piece in person, either using the contact information on the screen or via links to each gallery’s own website. The gallery then arranges for the buyer to view the art and is responsible for making any sale directly with the buyer. The Online British Art Gallery has been designed for researching and locating art, but not buying art on the internet. About the survey The survey was conducted at the London Art Fair on 22nd and 23rd January and attracted 80 respondents.
|
|
|
| ©2008 OnlineBritishArtGallery. All rights reserved. Privacy policy. Use of this site is subject to our Terms & Conditions. Comments & Feedback. Site Map. |
|
|