How a digital art portfolio and archive help to document, promote, and sell artworks
Discover the advantages of building a digital art portfolio and archive now — rather than waiting until a career comes to completion.
Digital art portfolios and archives offer numerous advantages for artists, including simplifying the task of organizing physical archives and compiling portfolio materials. They also save valuable resources and play a crucial role in preserving an artist's legacy.
Improve market standing with a digital art portfolio and archive
Publish a digital art portfolio and archive online to connect with buyers
Digital art portfolios and archives provide access to online marketplaces. Today, 80% of consumers research online before making a purchase. Collectors discovered information on online marketplaces about artists or work they eventually bought, as revealed in the Artsy Art Collecting 2021 report. Because digital art portfolios and archives can be published online, more potential buyers can find artists and buy their work.
Integrate ecommerce tools to ease the purchase process
Ecommerce content management systems can be connected to online art portfolios and archives – making art transactions seamless. 37% of collectors favored buying art online in 2022, according to A Survey of Global Collecting in 2022 conducted by Art Basel and UBS. This percentage has grown year over year. Digital art portfolios and archives serve as essential tools for artists and galleries to participate in the burgeoning online art market.
Access new markets
Online digital art portfolios and archives reach a broader audience and enable artists and galleries to tap into new markets. Online art market participation is even higher among Next-Gen Collectors, 91% of whom said they brought art online in the Artsy Art Collecting 2021 report. They are also more likely to research an artist online than rely on traditional art market gatekeepers. Digital art portfolios and archives enable artists and gallerists to connect with this growing group.
Grow an artist’s career – and future-proof it
Artists access better opportunities by sharing digital art portfolios and archives with their networks. As comprehensive and interactive records of an artist’s career, they contain more (and more accurate) information than is possible to fit in a physical catalog or email. This allows readers to understand an artist’s work better and connect them with the right opportunities. From invitations to prestigious art shows to receiving pledges for funding, creating a digital art portfolio and archive is an investment that opens doors.
Inexpensively share an artist’s career in progress with a digital art portfolio and archive
Art portfolios and archives are never finite, and creating them should not have to cost a lot. Because digital art portfolios and archives often cost less than their physical counterparts, users can update and share them as research unfolds. Digital tools remove the risk of a portfolio and archive falling out of date. All that time and money spent creating physical portfolios and archives are lost if new works or research renders them obsolete. Digital art portfolios and archives exist as living documents that artists and researchers can edit and publish with a few clicks. This makes them more accurate records adaptable for different uses.
Evolve content and control narratives
For too long, access to creating a portfolio and archive has been limited to the privileged and the well-known. Digital tools put the power to create and maintain an art portfolio and archive in the hands of more diverse users. They empower more people to curate their own content and share it with audiences worldwide. Update digital art portfolios and archives with the latest information as an artist’s oeuvre grows, and transition them into a catalogue raisonné when their career is complete.
Protect legacy and intellectual property
Digital art portfolios and archives create and protect an artist’s legacy. Greater control over where and how an artist's work is shared leads to appropriate accreditation and compensation. Artists often use social media as a portfolio or to promote their work. This makes them vulnerable to significant losses. Violations and infringements often occur, and platforms are prone to changing their policies without warning. With digital art portfolios and archives, creators remain the authority on their work.
Navigating.art provides features that enable individuals to capture and preserve various materials, presenting a comprehensive overview of an artist's life's work. These materials can be transformed into professional digital portfolios, which can be privately shared or made accessible online.
If you’d like to read more about digital portfolios and archives, download our full guide.
Last updated: October 23, 2023