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Endowing the arts on-line

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Low funds, lack of transportation and general feelings of agoraphobia are no longer excuses for missing the world's greatest art.

Mark Harden's Artchive, located at www.artchive.com provides a service to both would-be art historians and curious art novices.

This site exhibits replications and biographies of several hundred artists from Arp to Zurbaran, and it contains indexes on Islamic art, sculpture and cave drawings. Additionally, it has tremendous potential for computer monitor wallpaper.

The site offers thematic informational tours, hypothetical gallery exhibitions and articles on art theory and criticism. Frequent trips to the site can convert any Bob Ross fan to a Tintoretto aficionado.

However, with so much information and such easy access, one must wonder what effects this will have on society.

Though many regard the Internet as the ultimate source of information, it is also destroying personal interaction with the same works of art found on these Web sites.

Why schlep all the way to the Phoenix Art Museum's recent "Monet at Giverny" exhibit when all his major works can be found on the Internet? Why take a boring art history class on the Renaissance when personal interests lean toward Surrealism?

Soon, people will stop taking afternoon outings to the local museum altogether. They will have already seen all the good art on-line without having to pay admission prices.