Aesthetic responses

Over the past month I’ve strolled through Berlin’s Alte Nationalgalerie to examine Edouard Manet’s ‘In the Conservatory’ in close detail.

Over the past month I’ve strolled through Berlin’s Alte Nationalgalerie to examine Edouard Manet’s ‘In the Conservatory’ in close detail. I’ve taken a look at what’s on offer on the stands of international art dealers including Gagosian and White Cube at the VIP art fair. I have also considered buying shares in a 1988 gouache by Sol LeWitt. And I’ve done all these things from my front room thanks to an internet revolution in the art world.

In December, the first stock exchange for art opened up with shares in two works (the LeWitt and a work by the Italian prankster Francesco Vezzoli) available online for ten euros per share. In January, the VIP art fair opened, the first to take place entirely online. And a few days later, amid much media fanfare, Google’s Art Project launched, allowing visitors to take virtual tours of 17 well-known international museums.