UPDATE: February 2022
We no longer work with Artsy. Mainly due to them having a large American user base and the gallery being situated in Europe. In the long term, we might join them again, due to the value of the algorithm in regards to the larger database of art and how it connects art and artists through galleries, museums and auction houses. However, as a sales platform we sadly did not realise any sales from our partnership.
Buying a painting at an online gallery
Gallery Sorelle Sciarone is an online art gallery. How does that work? Well, the same as all other galleries. We present art or in our case paintings that we admire to collectors. In the form of a websop and at art fairs. As art fairs all over the wolrd become unaccessible, because of the health risk they pose, more of the art world is forced to go online. Our gallery is still young, and as we build our reputation in the art world, the art world is there to help us. Artsy is one of the oldest online platforms for art. For more than 20 years, Artsy has been connecting collectors with art.
Buying paintings from our gallery
Recently, due to our success, we have been able to join Artsy in their roster of the world's top galleries, auction houses, and museums. Gallery Sorelle is featured alongside Sotheby's, Heritage Auctions, Gagosian Gallery and to my delight Goodman Gallery. If you are unfamiliar with some of those names, suffice to say they are all industry leaders. We are very proud to be part of this world-renowned network.
We look forward to adding our curated selection of paintings to their collection. They have an impressive algorithm for buying and selling art. The algorithm matches art to collectors taste. Making it much easier to find exactly what they are looking for, from anywhere in the world. They have changed the gallery world as it has made collecting art more achievable for many. All while making the art world more transparent in the process.
It is all about transparancy
We believe in transparency in the art world as art can seem too far away for most people. But by ensuring transparency, we hope to make people feel more at ease and engage in art. "Online buyers actively seek price information and ease of purchase when looking for art to buy online." Has helped bring the art world into the 21st century.
We pay Artsy €250- a month for their services and a commission for any works sold through their platform. The fee is a special price for more tech-savvy galleries (me!) and the pressure of COVID-19 on the art world. The original subscriptions were far above what we could pay as a young gallery but are also more bespoke to an individual gallery. They, in turn, continue to develop exciting ways to connect art and people. Their most recent project: The Art Genome Project is especially impressive.
The Art Genome Project
What it is and how it helps
The Art Genome Project connects art all over the world and time in its database. (Art)Specialists and AI technology work together to capture different aspects of art and artist with each other. Which means that even though you might love Van Gogh, but are unable to find or afford one, the algorithm has access to millions of art world worldwide, that can narrow a bespoke selection of artwork that might help you scratch that itch. It is still an ongoing process, and some artists are not happy with how the algorithm bundles their work with other work. But I do not think it is for the artist to decide who their work is associated with or not. And Mia Goa has her own critique of the system, that in essence boils down to: that the project does not replicate associations as humans would, but rather flat word associations. We are not entirely satisfied with the process is ourselves. Even though it is an extensive and ongoing project that is continously evolving.
Their algorithm is extensive and inclusive in its subject matter (more than 1.0000 terms). After the May/June Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest, it has become clear that AI discrimination is a huge problem. AI discrimination, which mimics societal discrimination, as it learns from real life. Which further creates a unseen barrier in an seemingly neutral process. Artsy mailed all galleries that they are actively engaging to create a more inclusive system. In fairness, since June 2020, we at the gallery have become more aware of our lack of inclusivity. Not that we did not have plans for it in the future, but it is simply not an excuse. Which further fuels algorithms and AI/real-life discriminatory practices on Artsy and the art world in general. So we have taken active steps in combating our narrow selection. As has Artsy to combat AI discrimination and adress other internal practices to be more inclusive. They had been busy with it in leaps and bounds before June 2020, but has put extra dedication to their practices.
Printscreen of Artsy's The Art Genome Project; highlighting three important subjects African Art, Diaspora, the Enviroment and Identity.
Excited for the future!
We are very excited to join the ranks of Artsy and their genome project. We are dedicated to being a cog in the weel of progressive change. And steadfast in our work to bring art by marginalised artists to the forefront. Because if your feminism is not intersectional, it's not feminism at all. Because at the heart of the gallery, our goal is to promote she/her, pronoun artists. As Artists, not as mother's, partner's or creative types that happen to paint, but Artists. Full Stop. Which is still something women and marginalised communities are dealing with.
Thank you!
We are thankful for Artsy for thinking ahead of the curve when it comes to incorporating small galleries into their fold during a pandemic. We are also grateful for them for listening and actively taking steps to change thanks to the many voices of the BLM movement. We hope to keep ourselves as well as Artsy accountable in the years to come. Too many happy and fruitful years in the arts together!
And finally thank you for everyone that has been buying paintings from us for making all of this possible! :)
With love,
Tascha Sciarone
Gallery Manager and Art Historian
And an individual that has
benefited from the
circumstances of her
being born as a well off
white South African
educated in Europe.
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