The Art Institute of Chicago Has Put 50k High-Res Images Online
This is pretty incredible.<p>There was once a time when the only way for the average person to see a beautiful painting was to go to church.  Later on this role was taken up by art galleries. Now anyone can see this stuff from the comfort of their own home.<p>What do you think this means for the future of art galleries? What are they <i>for</i>?  Different ones are answering this question in different ways.  Some are reinventing themselves successfully, others not so much.<p>I am particularly interested in the destiny of galleries in smaller markets. They are easier to sustain in large cities. In cities with fewer than a million people, the struggle for relevance makes for a challenging environment.<p>(My questions aren’t rhetorical - I sit on the board of directors for a Canadian gallery in a city of 500k people - we have one of Canada’s largest collections and an incredible program, but nothing is easy...)