Similar to the concept of members-only sale sites such as Gilt and Ideeli, newly-launched Artspace is set to take the contemporary art world into the homes of many. Artspace is the brainchild of the former COO of DailyCandy, Harvard MBA grad Catherine Levine and her business partner Chris Vroom. Back in 2008, Comcast purchased DailyCandy for $125 million and 8 months after the acquisition, Levine decided to leave the company in search of the next start-up venture. Levine set off to travel the world and during her stay in Madrid studied art history. This, along with a passion for the arts led her to create Artspace.
The website’s mission states:
At Artspace, we're changing the way the world experiences art. Our mission is to help collectors and aspiring collectors discover, learn about and collect fine art. Our curators collaborate with top museums, galleries and cultural institutions to provide the best collection of contemporary art in the world. We offer limited editions and original works from the most recognized artists to rising stars and make them available for sale online, at affordable prices.
It will be interesting to see the impact this business model will have over art buying culture in the US. Artspace's reputation is already off to a great start with collaborations listed with notable galleries such as The Guggenheim. What are your thoughts on this new model for the art market?