So you're more comfy Net surfing than schmoozing with artists at a gallery opening, yet you want to trade in those generic framed posters of Monet's waterlilies for some "real" art. Myrna Nickelsen, CEO of NextMonet.com, an e-commerce site that sells contemporary art to newbie collectors, feels your pain.
"When I was ready to graduate from posters, I went to several galleries and was never more intimidated. I thought I had a great vocabulary, but I realized I didn't know much about art. I felt really dumb," said Nickelsen, a perfect poster child for the art-starved, Net-savvy masses who lack access into the clubby world of contemporary art.
"Because I was working all the time, I couldn't enroll in an art history class and have my hand held while I learned," continued Nickelsen, who worked as a tech-sector marketing consultant before co-founding NextMonet.com. Her partner, Michael Muller, is a former president of Apple Computer's Information Services.
With funding from CMG@Ventures (which has also invested in GeoCities and Lycos), Nickelsen and Muller launched NextMonet.com. The site goes live Monday, with a goal of not only selling works of art online but of cultivating legions of regular collectors -- a whopping 1 million new collectors by 2003, to be exact. And they're not just targeting the young, post-IPO fat cats looking to redecorate. They want anyone with a modem.
Nickelsen believes such a large, mainstream audience is possible because NextMonet.com's mission isn't just to make a fast e-buck. In addition to presenting work for sale by three featured artists each week, the site offers news stories, artist profiles, collecting tips, and exhibition reviews intended as "primers" for the uninitiated.
"We joke around in the office that the 'e' in e-commerce should stand for education," says Nickelsen. "After all, the Web provides us with the first opportunity of its kind to educate people about what we're selling, in such an easy way."
The artwork for sale on NextMonet.com generally ranges in price from three figures to five figures and can be returned for a full refund after five days. The pieces showcased on the site, which come courtesy of a growing list of affiliated galleries, are selected by a pool of experienced art historians, curators, and academics. Galleries and artists pay nothing to have their work posted on NextMonet.com, and the site makes a commission only if a work sells online.
Though the works on NextMonet.com don't fit neatly into any one category, says Nickelsen, the site does offer a particular "brand" of art.
"You won't find Fisherman's Wharf paintings that you'd see in a tourist gallery, or pigs sawed in half," she says, the latter referring to a macabre sculpture (actually utilizing cows) by the British artist Damien Hirst, a current darling of the contemporary art world. "We look for art that conveys brand-new ideas and concepts, yet remains accessible."
Unusual still lifes or portraits are one example of what you might see on the site, such as a slightly abstract, black-and-white rendering of Jackson Pollock's face.
Hugh Eakin, an editor at ARTnews, believes NextMonet.com's approach reflects current trends in the art market.
"It definitely looks like it's filling a potential niche. Online sales seems to be a direction in which the art world is going. It makes sense, since the major auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's have launched e-commerce sites in the last year."
But beyond the business and shopping opportunities, NextMonet.com may be most beneficial for struggling, under-exposed artists.
"It will make life easier for artists by expanding the collector base and generating more income for artists, thus enabling them to devote more time to making their art," says Ray Beldner, who serves as manager of artist relations at NextMonet.com and whose own work has shown nationally and internationally.
Nickelsen agrees.
"Even if we only got 20 percent of the population to be more interested in art, the artists would benefit," she says. "If we indeed succeed, we just might get rid of the notion of the starving artist."
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