An art gallery with an infinite number of rooms, but where you never get lost. This is the latest crazy project that Maurice Lévy, a fifty-year career at Publicis, brought to life by mixing creation and technology. Launched nine months ago, this online art platform, called YourArt, arrives in a congested area. Artsy, Artsper, Singulart…, competition is strong. But the market is booming. The average age of buyers has fallen significantly, going from 63 to 41 in around twenty years. New customers who have no reluctance to place orders on the Internet, quite the contrary. Sales there jumped 285% in 2023, according to the latest report from Artprice, the online listing reference. The figures revealed by YourArt in mid-March, along with new features, show promising beginnings. Since May 2023, the platform has attracted more than 2,000 artists – 40% amateurs and 60% professionals, independent or represented -, 83 galleries and more than 7,000 enthusiasts and collectors.
Sleek aesthetics, well-thought-out functions, YourArt is a sales platform, a social network and a media dedicated to art. Internet users can easily navigate the catalog where paintings, drawings or photographs alternate, and artists create their “metagallery”, a real virtual exhibition room where their works are presented in an immersive setting. YourArt also offers them the opportunity to create their “imaginary museum”, a virtual place where they can display their influences and explain, via audio recordings, what they represent for them.
“That art is open to all, and that everyone is open to art, that is the promise of YourArt,” explains Maurice Lévy. Apart from classic moderation of illicit content, the platform does not refuse any work. A bias that sets it apart, but can become a challenge if everyone starts massively publishing productions of… varying quality. The selections of curators or collectors highlighted each week, however, help fans navigate this vast virtual universe.
With its new artificial intelligence assistant, the team has carefully exploited the latest progress in this area. Named Iris, he proves to be an artistic advisor as enlightened as he is zealous, capable of understanding the most conceptual requests, of providing information on an artist or a movement and of finding works similar to those that the Internet user loves. All you need to do is give information on your tastes – or those of the person to whom you wish to offer a work – as well as a budget to obtain a precise selection. And to answer her questionnaire so that she establishes an “art persona”. Last year, Maurice Lévy raised 9 million euros from family members and friends to create the platform. He now confirms that he is considering a series A raise which would allow YourArt to gain scale in France, then internationally. Other developments are to come: the integration of NFTs for example, or 3D avatars of artists which would present their works and their universe in a more embodied way. A true metaverse.