14 DAY TRIAL // It was bound to happen sooner or later – Amazon has just launched its art store, enabling users to buy multi-million dollar paintings online.
Forget the auction houses and famed art sellers and head over to your computer. The Amazon art store offers about 40,000 works from over 4,500 artists.
While the cheapest works of art are in the low $20s (€15), there are also more expensive paintings. And when I say expensive, I mean up to nearly $5 million (€3.8 million).
A Normal Rockwell oil painting takes the number one spot with $4.85 million (€3.65 million), while Monet’s “Fragment of Nympheas” takes the second with a $2.5 million (€1.88 million) price tag. Other famed painters that take up the first places are Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, and Nelson Shanks, to name just a few.
The new storefront makes it possible for users to search for specific collections easier. Thanks to the several existing filters, it’s even easier to narrow down on a particular work of art you’re interested in. For instance, it’s possible to search for drawings, paintings, photographs, or prints.
The subject of the work can also be narrowed down (abstract, nature, architecture, etc.), as well as the style. The size, orientation, and predominant color can also be used as filters.
Of course, there are many voices who will say that such artwork has no place in an online store and perhaps even more than express their astonishment over finding such prices on Amazon.
However, the new move from Amazon should make everyone consider just what can and cannot be bought online anymore, especially since traditional businesses all tend to head for the Internet.
Earlier today it was announced that Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, had purchased the Washington Post for $250 million (€188 million). The news came as a shock to most employees.