To buy or not to buy from an online art fair?

…An interesting question to consider since artwork acquisition seems to be most comfortable when a piece is viewed in person.   Scale, palette, texture and that invisible connection between collector and artwork…can this be accurately conveyed virtually? (And remember, for all of you collectors who reside outside of the DC area, this is precisely why MFA ships artwork on approval so you can view it prior to acquisition).

VIP Art Fair – the first virtual art fair featuring a number of blue chip international galleries – launched an interesting concept but had mixed reviews after closing last week.

Here is a link to the fair website as well as a few interesting articles:

http://vipartfair.com/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-01/world-s-first-online-art-fair-draws-fire-from-galleries-as-works-languish.html

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a34be1d2-2eb5-11e0-9877-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1DUmxFyb8