The Art Institute of Chicago Has Put 50k High-Res Images Online
This is pretty incredible.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.What do you think this means for the future of art galleries? What are they for?  Different ones are answering this question in different ways.  Some are reinventing themselves successfully, others not so much.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.(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...)