Internet databases have helped the art world in numerous ways. Websites such as ARTstor and Olga’s Gallery allow art enthusiasts across the globe to view famous works with the click of a mouse. Audiences do not have to rely on exhibits and galleries to view their favorite artists’ artwork anymore. The genteel pastime of traveling to large cities to visit museums and admire famous masterpieces has been matched by these extensive art databases. Art lovers from all walks of life and economic backgrounds are granted access to millions of paintings and sculptures for free. On ARTstor, the picture quality is so sharp that you can see cracks in the paintings and small areas that have been restored. These details might go unnoticed by many gallery visitors.
Often times, databases offer more information than museums concerning the art and artists. Unlike museums which are restricted by their amount of interior space, there is no limit to the size of these databases. These “websites never have to be complete…they always grow” (Kocur and Leung 410). Museums, unlike databases, cannot display 100 new paintings a day. Extensive biographical information about the artists and symbolic references are often available through database links, and there are search features that make browsing fast and more specific. One may search “chronologically, by country, or by artist” (Kocur and Leung 409). Museum visitors' viewing sequence is at the mercy of the curator. If one is unsatisfied with the computer screen resolution, then most databases also tell you where to find the actual piece. The possibilities are endless, and the art field is only one small group benefiting from these sophisticated databases.
Kocur, Zoya, and Simon Leung. Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985. 1st ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2005. 409-410. Print.
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This makes me wonder what future museums are going to look like. Catherine says that digital screens, and the databases they link to, have such inherent quality that "you can see cracks in the paintings." Why bother spending a lot of money and risk damaging the artwork if you could show your visitors practically the same thing? Since technology is becoming a creative medium, will a canvas be replaced by a high definition liquid crystal screen?
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