Amazon adds art to its offerings

New York, Aug 9 (IANS/EFE) Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has launched Amazon Art, offering shoppers a catalogue of more than 45,000 works by 4,000 artists in association with 150 galleries and merchants from around the world.

Amazon Art has search features that allow shoppers to browse all types of art works.

Prices for the initial works available on the site range from $150 to $4.85 million for an oil painting by American artist Norman Rockwell, Amzazon said in a statement.

Works by famous artists, such as Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Marc Chagall, are up for sale on the site.

The vast majority of the works are recent, but there are Impressionist paintings, such as a Monet going for $2.5 million, and works by Spanish master Pablo Picasso.

Amazon Art allows shoppers to search by gallery, artist, type of work or material, price and even by colour.

Amazon, which previously tried to break into the art gallery business via an alliance with Sotheby's, is competing with online galleries like Artsy and Artnet.

--IANS/EFE

rd/dg