Video art is a narrative form born in America and arrived in Italy in the first half of the seventies.

He immediately gained the interest of fans and collectors because is the medium of our time , which finds its shape, its construction and the diffusion of a message in technology.

The first collectors of video art were the museums, the New York MoMA with the curator Barbara London , who immediately acquired and exhibited works by Bruce Nauman and John Baldassari .

Today among collectors mainly, if not exclusively, focused on video art we find Diego Bergamaschi which he founded in the  2013 with others you are passionate anonymous collectors the Seven Gravity Collection , a shared collection of video works that also includes the awarding of a VISIO art prize on the occasion of ” The Screen of the Art “Film Festival of Florence.

Internationally, we find the German heiress Julia Stoschek,, whose collection is among the richest in the world in the sector of “time-based” works, namely films, videos, multimedia installations, web projects and performances. Started in 2003, the collection has over 860 works signed by 282 international artists, with a prevalence of American and European authors, made from the 1960s to the present day.

Recently the Founder of the  Julia Stoschek Collection chose to share his video art works online , available for free viewing.

Since the sixties of the twentieth century many artists have started to record their performances: the video has proven to be an instrument to witness contemporary art. In addition to documenting a certain artistic event that takes place over time, the video was also used to resume the reactions of the public, thus also including spectators in the work.

In the early days, video art caught the attention of collectors, but not until the acquisition. The gallery owners are far-sighted Leo Castelli and Ileana Sonnabend that had been offering video art works since 1968 with prices under $ 250.

A great expansion occurs in the Nineties, with the Internet, which although allows a reproducibility and diffusion on a wide range, pushes the artists to realize more and more limited editions to protect their works. .

Over time, the artist’s videos have gone from self-production to a true almost cinematographic production with much wider circuits, where often the same collectors and gallery owners are involved, also placing photographs and props on the market.

Examples include Matthew Barney’s Cremaster cycle or Vanessa Beecroft’s performances.

Collecting video art is possible, keeping in mind a condition, a precaution and a suggestion:

• Provided it concerns the rapid technological development that makes video supports obsolete in a short time;
• The precaution concerns the same condition and copyright regulations, for which it is good to also acquire consent to reproduction
• as always, also for video art, the presence of the Certificate of Authenticity becomes essential where the technical and peculiar characteristics provided for the specific artistic medium will be reported

Are you ready to collect video art?