Auctioning has been a part of the world culture since we started collecting history. It all started in 500 BC with the ancient Greeks when they would auction women off as wives and occasionally slaves. This trend followed through the years, at one point even making it illegal to marry without being bought by auction. Over time, other cultures picked up on the idea of auctioning, but the first recorded art auctions were during the Roman times. This practice continued until the early period of Christianity but started falling off due to the Middle Ages.

The idea of auctioning art didn’t pick back up until the 17^th century when the market began to flourish again within Europe. This time around, art auctioning stuck and ran its course through the decades. This became a huge asset for those in the industry as it gave us a method to selling “entertainment”. Artists relied heavily on these types of auctions, and they were very successful up until the Great Depression and World War II put a hold on the market. This would go on to effect artists and auctioneers heavily as everyone began to be a lot more frugal with their money, especially in the United States.

Prior to this happening, east Asia was not as heavy into the market as the surrounding countries, but at this time they began creating a market for it. They stayed local for the most part, so it wasn’t a huge market for them. They also took the route of street markets rather than traditional auctioning, which is why you’ll see a common trend of people in these countries still negotiating price when purchasing regular goods. It’s become a large part of the culture in China, Japan, and Korea.

The auctioning in Europe and the United States started picking back up again once they started to re-invent auctioning houses.  They created a more luxurious space for those purchasing art, in hopes of creating a more expensive market, and it worked. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s Charles Saatchi was able to open the Tate Modern which helped to bring the rise of contemporary art. This idea has stayed just as youthful as ever, and we don’t expect to see a decline in it during our lifetime.

However, with the new wave of technology that has developed through the years, we have grown with it and found new ways to create new sources for auctioning. Along with auctioning, the internet has also picked up on the idea of virtual reality exhibitions as well. This further reinforces the idea that people will continue to use the internet as an outlet to buy and sell art, which keeps the market open and growing. Much like the use of this website, we want to make sure that there is always a source for artists to feel successful. We are creating a comfortable and open environment for people of all mediums to come in and partner with us to sell their art. We hope that you find this website just as useful as we intend it to be.