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Comment by adregan | Hacker News Reader

I wonder what the Artsy (http://artsy.net/) folks think of this?

I won't speak to the quality of art on the Amazon site as I browsed rather shallowly and don't have anything nice to say. Rather I will comment on the presentation.

This is certainly a time when Amazon's one size fits all store presentation falls flat. There is a whole field of expertise involving the presentation of art, and they haven't done a great job of making it look appealing.

Then again, maybe it's appropriate that a search for Warhol paintings share a layout with a search for Campbell's soup:

Warhol: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D6685299011...

Soup: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_hi_4?rh=n%3A16310101%2Cn%3A64...

Edit: adding a link to Arsty for those who are unfamiliar.

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I wonder what the Artsy (http://artsy.net/) folks think of this?

Probably not much. After a certain amount, selling art is a relationship business and the seller's reputation is paramount. Artsy is very well connected and do a great job in their presentation.

Also, this might answer the question of potential acquirers...

Other sites tend to make "viewing" part of the experience, and I'm guessing this doesn't actually lead to sales most of the time. Anyway the best way to view a painting is in person.

Making the commercial aspect of buying art just like any other purchase is appealing to me (instead of a mediated experience). I think the benefit of this is similar to the buy it now button on eBay; its for people who just want to buy and don't want to mess about.

For expensive art this is just going to be a friendlier alternative to auction. For cheaper stuff it could make buying original art like any other purchase. For that you need a good returns policy that every one trusts. Who is better than Amazon for that?

That's an interesting thought concerning what leads to sales. Galleries don't really A/B test, and aesthetics and appearance are perhaps more important than sales.

I wonder if Amazon will be able to create bridges to the galleries in the same way that a site like Artsy might? The fine art world cares a great deal about the image it projects—will galleries want to be on Amazon (will people spend 10s of thousands of dollars via 1 click shopping)?

Part of me is excited about this as it might knock the crazy fine arts world down a few notches. I highly recommend the documentary with the late great Robert Hughes "The Mona Lisa Curse." It explores the extreme amount of capital that flooded the art world, drove up prices, and led to a world of less than stellar art. Maybe if Koons or Hirst start selling on Amazon, things will start to even out.

I'm not sure it's altogether bad news for Artsy. On the one hand, it makes negotiating deals with galleries more difficult, but this move validates Artsy's central premise to its investors – that there's money to be made helping people find art.

I want to agree, but I can't help but not find their current layout to fit perfectly with what and how people will experience the Amazon shopping experience. If people are reviewing / analyzing art to potentially buy / see how much they like it, they aren't going to be in a mindset to take in the whole viewing area - they will be focused on the bounds of the art, else they will shop differently and perhaps not be able to appreciate the art if and once they had it on their own wall - because unless they live in an art gallery, there will be other living things around them, and so they would need to focus on the art within the same scope of view.

Maybe their strategy is to build generic stores, but let affiliates do customizations ?

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