After being an art dealer for 20 years Hung Ping-tao (
Hung runs Gallery.com.tw (
Since the online venture came out, visitors to his chain of galleries have increased. Moreover, they are a more art savvy audience, having read the reviews and the background information of artists and perused the artwork online. This has encouraged Hung to consider the bigger picture of online marketing and pursue his belief that the Net can help change the way people think about art.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"To some, art galleries are like beautiful women behind a veil -- mystical. To others, they are caviar to the general -- hard to comprehend," says Hung, who runs Caves Art Center (
Gallery.com.tw was born three years ago as a simple Web-based art database for gallery frequenters who wanted background information on artists and their works. A year ago, Hung conducted a telephone survey and found that more than 95 percent of those polled, randomly chosen, had never been to a private gallery. So he decided to focus more on the site as an outreach tool.
First the database was expanded into an information center with more up-to-date news and features about artists and exhibitions. And then, auctions were carried out online with daily and weekly items going on sale for art collectors and buyers on the Internet.
Most of the online surfers who purchased art were under age 40 and 25 percent of them bought a piece in the price range of NT$60,000 and NT$100,000. It was a far cry from traditional gallery frequenters, who are mostly collectors or investors, aged above 40 and targeting far more expensive artwork. "We are tapping into a population that is full of mostly young professionals," says Hung.
Hung has auctioned a total of 525 pieces of artwork during the first six months of the auction house's operation, resulting in revenues of NT$12 million. Bolstered by positive early interest, an e-business company has been formed to absorb more capital for the online auction house. Backers include a technology company and two venture capital firms.
Web surfers who visit Gallery.com.tw today are still entering the country's first online art auction house, but others are soon to follow. Cheng Chun-deh (
Using eBay as an example, Chou Hai-shen (
Goran Hsieh (
Compared with going into a gallery and buying art at an exhibition, Hsieh says the online auction house offers more choices and prices are known right at the beginning, as opposed to regular galleries that usually don't tag a price to the artwork.
Though it is a fledgling concept in Taiwan, and its success is difficult to qualify, some of Hung's peers nevertheless compliment his endeavor. "It's a faster and more convenient way of disseminating information to the clients," says Vinci Chang (
Christie's has Web site of its own but only as a channel for customer service. No auctioning takes place online. "It's still hard to say at this primary stage whether they will become a challenge for us in the long run. It decides on what direction they will take," Chang says.
Currently Gallery.com.tw's auction house delivers mostly oil and watercolor paintings from local artists. Its limited scope is far from becoming a threat to international art dealers like Christie's and Sotheby's, which deal in more expensive items that buyers wouldn't want to buy online.
Chang's suspicion is shared by many who see art as concrete reality, something that must be seen in person and not on a computer screen. Tackling the doubt that online images do not represent actual paintings, Hung acknowledged that customers have different, and sometimes surprising, reactions. "One customer actually asked to return a painting he purchased through the Net because he thinks the colors on the Net look better," Hung says.
But such instances don't bother the art dealer, for it still shows that people are warming up to the notion of online art, which is his main goal. "When someone returns a piece of art, we introduce another to them. And most of them find something they like."
Hung's ambition is not limited to dot.tw. In fact, he has ventured into another larger project -- Artenter.com -- which will be a portal for accessing online galleries. "The Internet will become an indispensable part of our lives in the next several years," Hung says. "The circle of art, often thought of as an adversary to technology, can not escape [this trend]."
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