artnet is the leading online resource for the international art market, and the destination to buy, sell, and research art online. Founded in 1989 by Hans Neuendorf with the goal of bringing transparency to the art world, artnet’s comprehensive suite of products offers a variety of art market resources to our audience of collectors, dealers, and art enthusiasts.
Today, artnet serves as both the gold standard and a secret weapon for the art industry. There is not a gallery, dealer or auction house that doesn't rely on artnet's Price Database. It's actually a verb in the industry. "I am going to artnet that Cindy Sherman portrait."
With its unique combination of data and technology, artnet makes art accessible to people who would have previously believed that buying and selling art was out of their league.
artnet is a brand known internationally to stand for transparency, and its services have set new standards in the global art market. The worldwide positive reputation of artnet as a reliable provider of art trade services is a decisive factor in its success. It provides the best and latest information to its customers, allowing them to make decisions critical to the success of their businesses quickly. The seamless and innovative design of its six key platforms is what makes artnet the leading data and analytics provider, and the only dedicated online auction platform for art.
Three decades ago, artnet started a revolution. The Price Database, the first of its kind, brought price transparency to an opaque art market. It quickly became the industry’s gold standard, and today it features more than 12.5 million auction results and continues to offer a highly reliable and accessible way to assess the value of art. It hosts over 1,700 auction houses and 320,000 artists.
Introduced in 1995, the Gallery Network is an online platform that connects galleries and collectors from around the world. With over 170,000 artworks by 35,000 artists, it is the largest network of its kind, drawing a broad audience and generating inquiries from both serious collectors and first-time buyers.
artnet disrupted other market segments as well. With 24/7 bidding, artnet Auctions was introduced in 2008 as the first online auctions platform for buying and selling modern and contemporary paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and more. Its curated auctions provide a unique collecting experience with instant turnaround and lower commissions, and are accessed by millions of monthly visitors worldwide.
In 2014, artnet launched a 24/7 global art newswire: artnet News – a one-stop platform for the events, trends, and people that shape the art market and global art industry, providing up-to-the-minute analysis and commentary, with the highest possible standards in cultural journalism
Users can be informed about buying opportunities through Market Alerts, which allows them to receive email notifications whenever works by their favorite artists hit the market at any major auction house, gallery, or event. With the Auction Results Alerts add-on, users can also be informed of recent auction results for the artists they follow.
Analytics Reports allow users to create customized reports that delve deeper into specific art market trends. Each report includes graphs and charts that visualize market patterns, drawing from the millions of auction results in the Price Database.
The Auction House Partnerships offer auction houses the ability to showcase their works to artnet’s global community. Each partnership includes links between artnet and the auction house’s proprietary site, driving more traffic and gaining exposure for their sales.
artnet's impact on the $63 billion art industry can't be overstated. As artnet causes the market to become more transparent and international, the growth pace of artists' career accelerates – artists from younger generations are able enter the secondary market and higher price thresholds at a younger age compared to those from older generations. For example, Rokkaku reached $50,000 in auction price at the age of 26 in 2008 (year in which artnet Auctions was launched), whereas Murakami didn't reach that point until he was 40 in 2002.
Additionally, artnet has had a tremendous impact in people's lives. Since taking over in 2012, CEO Jacob Pabst has changed the art world by making art more accessible to more people and demonstrating that buying art at auction isn't limited to the one percent. He has brought inclusion and relatability to an industry that is particularly known for its elitism. Though this impact cannot be measured by numbers, it will forever change the way people include art as part of their cultural essence.
