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There is an unprecedented amount of art and artists in the world, as well as the number of people who are attracted by art, however, the art world is generally still seen as something as fascinating as it is incomprehensible and inaccessible. Those who buy art, according to a survey by Artsy, are mainly driven by the intention to build a collection or to decorate their spaces as well as the willingness to support artists and be inspired, and to make an investment.
Supporting artists is something ancient, dating back to Roman times when Gaius Cilnius Maecenas nurtured artists such as Horace or Virgilus, and gave the name to the practice of patronage, Maecenatism. Like any philanthropic activity, in addition to the gratification of the pure philanthropic aspect, there is generally also the purpose of increasing one’s social prestige. Art, however, attracts especially for the creative and intellectual stimuli that one gets from dealing with its beauty, uniqueness and rarity. In this regard, for an art lover, doing patronage work is among the most fascinating and rewarding ways to approach art. First of all, having a direct relationship with the artist whose works you own gives you the possibility to appreciate even more the beauty and understand the meaning. Intellectuals such as Thomas Aquinas already pointed out the importance of looking into the person of the artist in order to understand his art, or Martin Heidegger who asserted that the circular relationship between the artist and the work as the artist is the origin of the work, and the work is the origin of the artist.
People who participate economically in the art world are still a minority compared to the number of art lovers in the world. Here’s where the art market takes on that elitist aspect, where the many do not even try to approach it. Democratizing accessibility to the art market also means distributing more equally to a growing number of art lovers the influence of the trend in the value of works, especially on the primary market, i.e first sale of an artwork, and aims to create a secondary market for a growing number of living artists that could give impetus to a new Renaissance.
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