Artnet.com is an

art market The art market is the marketplace of buyers and sellers trading in commodities, services, and works of art. The art market operates in an economic model that considers more than supply and demand: it is a hybrid type of prediction market where ...

website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, in the United States, and is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly traded company based in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

that is listed on the

Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Locat ...

. The company increased revenues by 25.3% to 17.3 million EUR in 2015 compared with a year before.

Company history

The company was founded as Centrox Corporation in 1989 by Pierre Sernet, a French collector who developed database software which allowed images of artworks to be associated with market prices. Hans Neuendorf, a German

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

, began to invest in the company in the 1990s; he became chairman in 1992 and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in 1995. That same year, the name was changed to Artnet Worldwide Corporation. It was taken over by Artnet AG in 1998. Neuendorf's son, Jacob Pabst, became chief executive officer in July 2012.

Website

Artnet operates an international research and trading platform for the art market, including works of

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

and

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

. Its services allow users to research art, contact galleries directly, and attain price transparency in the art market. The platform caters to art dealers as well as buyers. In 2008, Artnet launched the first online auctions platform exclusively for works of art. In 2015, the site saw a 120% increase in new registrations, rising sell-through rates, and a notable increase in numbers of lots sold. A French version of the site, artnet.fr, was launched in October 2008. It included a French-language magazine which offers a critical overview of the art market in France. In February 2014, the company launched a 24-hour news site, Artnet News.

Benjamin Genocchio Benjamin Genocchio (born 1969) is an Australian art critic and non-fiction writer. Since October 2019 he has been director-at-large for Shoshana Wayne in Los Angeles and New York. He worked as an art critic for ''The New York Times'', and then ...

, former editorial director of

Louise Blouin Media Louise Blouin Media is an art magazine and book publishing company based in New York City. Founded by Louise Blouin,. Archived March 18, 2006. it publishes the magazines '' Art+Auction'', ''Gallery Guide'' and ''Modern Painters''. It owns , a ...

, was appointed editor-in-chief.

Services

Artnet's primary service is online auctions. The Artnet Fine Art and Design Price Database and the Artnet Decorative Art Price Database contain over 10 million auction sale results dating back to 1985 from over 1700 international

auction houses An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition exi ...

. Market value and long-term price developments of artworks can be researched online. An additional product is the Artnet online Gallery Network, an online platform that connects galleries and collectors from around the world. With over 35,000 artists and 2,200 international galleries worldwide, it is the largest network of its kind, and generates inquiries from both collectors and first-time buyers. Subscribing galleries can list works for sale on the site.

Collaborations

In 2004, Artnet and the international auction house

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

began a collaboration. A collaboration with Art Basel/Art Basel Miami Beach was launched in 2007.Liberman, Gail. "Managing your Future. How to buy art in today's market". ''Palm Beach Daily News'', 24 January 2010.

References

{{Authority control Companies based in Berlin Companies based in New York City Online databases Art websites