Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

William Powhida Doesn’t Think Much of Your Online Art

May 27, 2015 by Marion Maneker

powhida

One of the central themes of the art market’s explosion over the last decade has been a visceral resentment from many incumbent artists, critics and gallerists who feel overwhelmed by the onslaught of new and, as they see it, misguided buyers. The phrase “too much money chasing bad art” creeps up again and again. Here the artist and vocal opponent of the art market—and almost anyone involved it in it—extends his critique to the broadening audience looking to buy art online:

The downside, of course, is getting art lovers to connect with a piece of art viscerally through a computer screen, says artist and former art critic William Powhida.

“That’s harder to do online,” he mulls, adding that, in a hierarchical and elitist art world, it’s hard to see how online art sales will even work if they sideline critics, shows and the pleasure of seeing art with other art lovers.

“It becomes so much more transactional,” he says. […]

Powhida believes that much of the art sold online seems meant to appeal to a mass audience. As a result, it’s generally not particularly challenging. “Most of the work I saw was sort of colorful and decorative and had a strong visual appeal,” he says. “That’s probably the nicest way I can say it.”

Online Art Sites Aim To Fill Gap Between Etsy And Sotheby’s  (NPR)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Scully on Solid GroundScully on Solid Ground
  • Myers Collection to Feature at Sotheby'sMyers Collection to Feature at Sotheby's
  • Fisk Loses; Can Nashville Win?Fisk Loses; Can Nashville Win?
  • Spruth Magers Takes on Zero Group’s Otto PieneSpruth Magers Takes on Zero Group’s Otto Piene
  • How David Bowie Became a ConnoisseurHow David Bowie Became a Connoisseur
  • Interpol Goes Public on Stolen ArtInterpol Goes Public on Stolen Art

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • Christie's to Sell $12m Yves Klein to Benefit The Water Academy
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • How to Chant Like an Auctioneer
  • Re-discovered John Constable Painting at Sotheby's in December
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor