Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Artnet to Add Gallery Sale Information to its Price Database
That's the plan, at least according to an article in the Telegraph.
Auction sale results (which Artnet already has) are a matter of public record. The real trick is going to be to get dealers to provide Artnet with information about private transactions.
Having this information would be a boon to potential buyers evaluating the purchase of a work. But I can't imagine that gallerists or their clients are going to be eager to play along by providing purchase prices. I, for one, would be very uncomfortable about that. I would think twice before inviting guests into my home if I knew that with ten minutes of Internet research they would be able to figure out the exact value of what I have hanging on my walls.
It will be interesting to see if Artnet can actually bring this data to market.
While I'm on the topic of Artnet, can someone with connections there please ask them to re-redesign the interface and add XML feeds to their Magazine section.
Auction sale results (which Artnet already has) are a matter of public record. The real trick is going to be to get dealers to provide Artnet with information about private transactions.
Having this information would be a boon to potential buyers evaluating the purchase of a work. But I can't imagine that gallerists or their clients are going to be eager to play along by providing purchase prices. I, for one, would be very uncomfortable about that. I would think twice before inviting guests into my home if I knew that with ten minutes of Internet research they would be able to figure out the exact value of what I have hanging on my walls.
It will be interesting to see if Artnet can actually bring this data to market.
While I'm on the topic of Artnet, can someone with connections there please ask them to re-redesign the interface and add XML feeds to their Magazine section.
