Will new art do away with old art?

There is no doubt that new forms of communication are putting pressure on old forms of communication to ship up. Or shut down. Every week there seems to be another newspaper folding (excuse the pun) or another magazine going online. Will art have to do the same? Will new art forms, like digital art, street art and installation art be the end to oil on canvas? We hope not. But they will definitely dilute the mix.

As new art forms emerge, old art forms will have to make way. Will have to make room for their younger siblings on the art stage of the world. Galleries are already doing it. Even the most traditional galleries like the Louvre and The Metropolitan in NYC are in on the act. Embracing new art forms. Maybe not because they want to. Maybe because they have to.

If www.artfido.com is any indication, the purveyors of canvas and oil paints and easels shouldn’t be too concerned. Artists like Ben Sherer, David Giles, Geoff Winckle and Jennifer Gabbay will surely keep them in business for some time yet. Of the hundreds of pieces of art currently listed for sale online on www.artfido.com, the overwhelming majority take a very traditional form. Yes there are works by street artists and mixed media artists like Karlo Henry, but they are still on the rare side. 9 in 10 pieces still sit on canvas and have the textured hallmarks of oil paints.

However, in the last two months even we have had to make room for a new art form. We had to create an entirely new category of art. Tattoo Inspired Art. And it’s not because we like tattoos (although we do like tattoos). It’s because there was a need in the market to recognize them as art and to create a place for them to be admired, shared and traded. And we don’t expect that will be the last art category we add to the site. There will be more. And we’re actually excited about it.

Whether old art will survive the onslaught of the digital and street age is yet to be seen. Regardless, we will continue to sell art online and promote buying art online of any sort, digital art, traditional art, affordable art, collectable art or otherwise. Because, in the end. If it’s art. It’s worth it.