How Art Collection has changed with time?

by Neha Gupta I am a great Art Lover and believe in the natural

The talent of art collection comes with the apprehension of art itself. The person who cannot grasp what art is will fail miserably in the art collection. However, art collectors all over the world have different motives. Some do it just because they love the aesthetics and the exquisiteness of the artworks while others do it because they want to do smart investments.

Whatever the bottom line is, art collection is a sacred process of understanding the artist’s expression, adhering the same with your own life experience, and seeing if a particular piece is able to evoke some emotion out of you.

For the collectors who look to make a nimble investment through artworks, proper research on some aspects like the genre, previous sale record, texture, canvas, artist’s background, the demand of that specific art style, etc is needed.

Art collectors

However, the practice of art collection has transformed from what it was a few decades ago.

Art collection: A few decades ago

The art collection was quite different around 20 or 30 years back from what it is now. If you would look at the art history from the last century, you would find that collectors were not much in numbers as they are now. They were regarded as the elitists and one with power and prestige.

Art collectors in those times used to attend as many art exhibitions as possible to avoid missing out any phenomenal piece (as art exhibitions were not as prevalent as they are now). Also, art collection was confined to first-world countries and only a few other nations used to conduct these conventions.

Mainly European and American nations were the active hosts of these exhibitions. Along with this, the burning topics amongst the prominent collectors of the artists in those times was discussing the next hot art exhibitions. People who collected art were few in number and were considered the illustrious experts.

Art collection: Now

Technological advancements have transformed everything about the art world. The accessibility of the artworks is the first thing that has taken a U-turn. Previously, artworks were easily accessible by only a bunch of people.

Today, anyone can explore artworks. Previously, if you wished to observe the artwork of a prominent artist you would have to book a place in the art museum or the art exhibition where his/her work is being showcased.

Today, all you need to do is take your smartphone out of your pocket, search the online gallery, virtual shop, websites, or any other web-based daises where the artist’s work is displayed. The transition is quite drastic and it has impacted the community of art collectors too.

The practice of art collection has been diversified now. People have started collecting artworks on the web and the need to be physically present at the time of purchase has completely washed off. Collectors and artist sometimes do not meet or even interact.

Also, the number of people collecting art has increased phenomenally too. Reason for this is the availability of affordable artworks at multiple platforms on the internet. People don’t need to be a millionaire or a billionaire anymore to score a painting. They can collect four or five impeccable paintings by spending a few thousand dollars too.

Also, the rise of contemporary art has revamped the definition of art collection altogether. Today, art collectors are segmented based on their preferences, objectives, and lookouts. The art collection is still a revered practice; the only difference is that anyone can do it.

Is the transition good?

People often give a mix of opinions on this change. On one hand, art collection, which was exclusive and a status-quo symbol has now become just another profession and on the other, the market of art has expanded tremendously, all thanks to the burst of technology.

While some advocate the case of technology that it has given employment opportunities to a larger section of people, others say it has diluted the blissfulness of art. There is also criticism that art has become much of a commodity now, which goes against the very purpose of creating it.

IMHO, change is good, the art market has evolved and with it, art collectors have flourished too. Few may not agree but then again, change is something we all fear from. What’s your take? Do you think that art collection was better before or is it okay now? Share your views with us. Thanks!