The democratization of art: making art accessible to everyone
This article draws on my master's thesis: Verdier, D. (2024). How to serve the democratization of Art among citizens in the digital context of 2024? M.Sc. in Management of Social Innovation, HEC Montréal (supervisor: Rafael Ziegler).
Democracy means sharing power equally among citizens. Applied to art, democratization is not only equal access to works — it is equal participation in their creation. The whole tension of the subject lives there: between fairly paying artists and opening art to the greatest number.
Two meanings: access and participation
Most institutions read democratization as wider access — cheaper tickets, online viewing rooms, augmented-reality shows. Useful, but the data is sober: museums and galleries still struggle to attract less-advantaged audiences. True democratization also means giving citizens the tools to think art for and by themselves, not just to consume it.
The digital promise — and its filters
Only about 18% of art transactions happen online (Art Spoon, 2024): buying art is an emotional, context-heavy decision. Digital platforms widen access and let artists speak outside institutions — but the gatekeeper is no longer the gallery, it is the referencing algorithm of the big tech platforms. Democratization without critical engagement can flatten taste rather than enrich it.
What it means at L'Original
L'Original was built around this thesis: represent living, professional artists, keep prices that make sense for a real home, and turn collectors into participants — through custom commissions and tools like PickArt. Lipovetsky (1982) and Booth (2014) frame democratization as a cultural project; Colbert & d'Astous (HEC, 2021) show how to match it to real audiences. That is the bridge between research and a working gallery.
