Virtually seeking art
The Web has ensured that artists and art
lovers are now no longer separated by geographical boundaries.
Here are a few virtual museums where artists can showcase their
works and sell them to anyone across the globe
Globalart
For a small fee, artists can
submit their work to Global Art, a Florida, USA, Web gallery,
with a small write-up, for exhibition and sale -- all exhibits
here are for sale. Global Art specialises in custom design and
exhibition of contemporary artists seeking to establish an
Internet presence and promotion of their art. Each presentation
is made with its creator in mind and carefully chosen to enhance
and compliment exhibited artworks. The Global Art site is
extensively promoted so an artist, however obscure, has a better
chance of being seen on the Net than if he goes it alone. Besides,
he is saved the time and expense of maintaining his own site.
There is no commission payable and so the artist keeps the entire
proceeds from any sale. At the moment there are ten artists
featured with a sizeable number of their works.
Artstall 
Artstall, the art portal from NuCent Technologies, was launched
just last month. It currently holds some 750 paintings and
sculptures by Indian artists and the Webmasters here expect the
number to go to 5,000 by the year end. Sections here include art
news, offering up-to-date coverage of art and related topics; art
events, listing art shows and events taking place in India; art
gallery, displaying paintings, sculptures and graphics for sale;
and art auctions, featuring online bidding for selected works.
Artists are invited to submit their works for sale. If you are
not inclined to buy a piece of art, you can send e-greetings,
using the paintings displayed here.
Indian Art Source
The attractively-designed
Indian Art Source owes its existence to a journalist, an interior
decorator, and a poet. It features all forms of Indian art --
paintings, sculptures, artefacts, antiques, Tanjore statues and
antique arts. The site positions itself not just as an art
gallery but also an international forum to break down barriers
between artists and collectors providing a glimpse of the artists'
latest works and an insight into their techniques. Here you will
find not only the works of well known artists like the 91-year-old
P A Dhond, Akbar Padamsee (computer-generated art), Altaf Arzan
Khambatta, K H Ara and S S Shaikh, but also that of unknown
aboriginals. All the works are for sale, and you can surely hit
on some bargains as the costs are sans middleman and exhibitor
fees. One thing we didn't find here is an index of artists.
India Art Mart
The selling line of India Art
Mart is: "A place to buy Indian Heritage." The major
feature of the site is the exhibition of prints and oleographs of
Raja Ravi Verma, a member of Travancore royalty who took to
making some of the most evocative paintings on Indian themes.
Other sections include Indian miniatures, Kalighat paintings,
mixed media prints, Sikh Gurus and soldiers of the Raj. Yes,
there are contemporary paintings too, like when we accessed the
site the work of Delhi photographer and artist, Kitty Hazuria was
featured.
Sothebys
Now you can make a deal at
Sothebys right online. At the Sothebys Website there is a section
feturing online auctions. The painting under the hammer, so to
say, is depicted with a short description of the medium used --
oil, canvass, water colour, pencil and ink etc -- and the
condition of the painting ("Good, restored tear(0.5inch) on
the upper right corner; traces of frame on the edges"). You
are told at what amount the auction starts, what is the current
bid and the final date and time (to the minute) when it closes.
Logisearch - Art
If you are an artist with
your own Web page, and don't really want to exhibit on a general
gallery, but still want your presence on the Web to be known,
your best bet would be to join a WebRing. That's just what the
wwwARTchannel lets you do. By joining a WebRing, you become a
member of a community which specialises in a particular field of
art, thus making it so much easier for someone to find you in the
morass of Websites. This site covers not just the fine arts, but
14 other fields including antiques, dance, fashion and music,
each of which has its own WebRing. As a WebRing member you are
also entitled to submit your URL with your Logo to be displayed
in the wwwARTchannel search results in a prominent position. You
will also enjoy a wide range of common Web promotional facilities
and activities which will ultimately help to sell your work.
Contact: Manuel Fernandes
HOME
Updated 21/May/2000