Costco is selling Fine Art. A friend forwarded me an article that appeared in the New York Times on Sunday, February 22: "In Search of Fine Art Amid the Paper Towels" by Martin Forstenzer.
Since last spring, [Costco] has been selling fine art, including limited-edition lithographs by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Joan Miro. ... Greg Moors, an art dealer in San Francisco, began selling art at some of the company's stores in brief experiments last spring, and for the last two months has been selling on the company's web site, Costco.com. The artwork is museum quality, matted and framed. ... Mr. Moors sold 43 pieces of art during appearances at Costco stores -- in the La Jolla area of San Diego, as well as Concord and Mountain View, Calif., and Issaquah, Wash. "I consistently did fairly well," he said, "considering that people are coming in to buy hamburger and walking out with a $1,200 work of art." ... The art being sold through Mr. Moors is priced between $450 to $15,000, and averages $1,500.
You, too, can own a limited edition Chagall lithograph for $1,649.99 by going to Costco.com and entering 'fine art' in the product search box on their home page.
I find this extremely intriguing. The art snob in me was appalled by this news... Who in their right mind would buy a Chagall at Costco? Is nothing sacred?! The sky is falling! The sky is falling! After stuffing the snob back in her box I found myself grinning at this news. Why would I have a problem with art selling at Costco? Mr. Moors is a reputable dealer (according to Costco and the background check they did on him). He is introducing art to a new audience and creating a new experience around the process of buying art. Where is it written that art can only be sold in a gallery or auction house? I started a web site to create a new art buying experience and audience. Art on the web was at one time just as odd as art at Costco, right? So I embrace Mr. Moors and his Chagalls at Costco. The more people we can introduce to collecting art the better, for collectors as well as for galleries and dealers.
For a copy of the complete New York Times article (at a cost of $2.95) click here.
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