The certificate combines the Foundations, Intermediate/Advanced, and Final Project courses in one package for students to earn their certification in Art Business. Throughout the program, students watch lectures from experts in the field, complete knowledge checks and interactive media, and receive invaluable scholarly resources that they can take with them post-completion. In the Foundations course, students will discover the basics of the art market, including topics such as core commercial infrastructures and other major art world players.
The Intermediate and Advanced modules are combined into one comprehensive section and offer profound insights into the ins and outs of art fairs, the legal complexities surrounding buying and selling art, and the role of the curator as a tastemaker as well as an in-depth look at the art world’s future. Once students finish one of the course sections, they earn a badge of completion. The final project allows students to put the skills and expertise acquired throughout the course into action to create a professional proposal on which they receive feedback from an art business faculty member. Obtaining two badges by completing both courses, followed by submitting a successful final project, grants participants a Certificate of Completion of the program.
Once completed, participants will obtain a badge for both the Foundations in Art Business course as well as the Advanced Topics in Art Business course. Further upon submitting a successful final project, participants will earn a Certificate of Completion for the Online Certificate in Art Business and Continuing Education Unit credits.
In this exciting first course of the Online Certificate in Art Business, students will gain a comprehensive foundation in the world of art business. Students will explore the key players shaping the international art world, uncover how art’s value is established, and understand the vital role that art fairs, galleries, and museums play in this dynamic ecosystem. Expert lecturers will provide valuable insights throughout each module. Students will also have the unique opportunity to join a private virtual exhibition tour, enriching their understanding of the art world in a truly immersive way. This course offers a professional, in-depth introduction to the essentials of art business.
The Intermediate and Advanced course of the Online Certificate in Art Business will build on the knowledge gained from the Foundations course and deliver specialized knowledge about how the art world has organized itself to create and retain art’s value and trade on an international scale. Notoriously an obscure network of personal connections, students will discover how new technology is setting off a shift to more transparency and accountability in the industry. Topics include an inside look at the laws that govern the inner workings of an auction house, as well as the rights of the artist in today’s market and the phygital evolution of art.
Director of Art and Technology
Gareth Fletcher is a Lecturer and Seminar Tutor in Art Business. He holds a BA (Art History, History) and BFA (Film) from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), a MA in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute, and is a PhD researcher at Kingston University. Gareth lectures on a range of subjects across art logistics, art business, art crime, and the application and adoption of blockchain systems within the art market. He has received a TECHNE AHRC scholarship to pursue his PhD examining the semiotics of provenance information in the establishment of cultural and economic value in the market for Near Eastern antiquities.
Read MoreFaculty and Director of Academics and Content, New York
Tim Goossens serves as Director of Academics and Content and a faculty member at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Congruently and for almost 20 years, he has continued to also expand his curatorial practice with a variety of public art festivals, triennials, art commissions, and numerous exhibition projects worldwide, all of which inspired his past research as a contributing editor for Oxford University Press. Goossens began his career at The Museum of Modern Art, New York shortly after double graduate school in Paris, France, and in due course moved as assistant curator to MoMA PS1, where he worked closely with the founding director Alanna Heiss, renowned artists, and emerging talent alike. Following these museum positions, he became the founding director and chief curator of Ford Model's art gallery FordProject, on Manhattan's 57th Street, and a gallery director for New York's Envoy Enterprises.
Read MoreAdjunct Faculty, New York
Klaudia Ofwona Draber is a curator and the founder of KODA—a social practice residency for mid-career artists. She has lived and led arts, technology and strategy projects in Europe, Africa, and the United States. Her professional experience includes working as the Head of Public Relations at the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and as a consultant to the British Council Arts. She also worked at UBS, managing global change and local arts CSR projects.
Read MoreThis flexible, self-paced online course consists of recorded lectures and supplementary resources as well as a final project. Participants will have read-only access to the course materials for one year from the date of enrollment.
Module 1: Course Overview & Introduction to Art Business
Introduction to art business concepts, including the scope of the art market and the various components that comprise it.
Module 2: Artist, Artwork, and the Creation of Value
Explore art as culture, its history and its current place in society, as well as an understanding of art as a professional practice.
Module 3: Core Commercial Infrastructures
Define the scope and function of art galleries, art fairs, and the auction house. Look at a brief history of art dealing via the most enigmatic dealers from the 19th and 20th centuries and the interplay between the primary and secondary marketplaces.
Module 4: Private and Public Collectors
Overview of collecting and ownership, addressing the relationship between collectors and the establishment of international museums, analyzing the universal survey museum model, and the transformation of personal collections into private museums.
Module 5: Ownership and Transfer in the Art Market
Discuss the topics of ownership and transfer of cultural objects, in addition to due diligence, art price databases, and the global supply chain.
Module 6: Financialization of the Art Market
Look at the history of art lending models, art funds & fractional ownership models, and speculation.
Module 7: The Auction House
Dive into the inner workings of the auction house, from how the auction actually works step-by-step to new ventures such as art-backed lending, private sales, and primary markets.
Module 8: Kunsthalles, Biennials, and Art World Philanthropy
Understand the difference between Kunsthalles and museums and look at the ethics and responsibilities of collectors and museums as well as art world philanthropy.
Module 9: Artists’ Rights
Discuss the rights of artists, including a historical overview of the development of Artists’ Resale Rights (ARR) , intellectual property, and the artist as brand.
Module 10: Due Diligence
Understand how to implement due diligence and best practice to avoid involvement in illegal or unethical transactions in the art market.
Module 11: Phygital Evolution of the Art Market
Explore phygital display economies, technical display interfaces (AR/VR/XR), and the future identity of cultural institutions as well as their evolving roles.
Module 12: The Curator as Tastemaker
Uncover trends in contemporary curating and look at how curators consider social issues in their work.
Module 13: Art and the Future of the Metaverse
Discover how the metaverse changes the way the global art world interacts, in addition to the impact of AI on the cultural sector and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Module 14: Art Business Careers
The final module of the certificate looks at various careers in the art world and networking tips.
For successfully completing this course, you receive a verified Certificate of Completion from Sotheby’s Institute of Art as well as an IACET badge.
On completing the Foundations, Intermediate and Advanced Courses as well as the Final Project, participants will receive 13bContinuing Education Units. *
Our digital certificates allow you to share new skills with various social media platforms, including LinkedIn. Successful completion is defined by each instructor in the course syllabus and consists, at the least, of regular, thoughtful participation in online activities and timely submission of assigned papers or projects.
*As an IACET Accredited Provider, Sotheby’s Institute of Art offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard.