eBay Teams Up with Perrotin to Offer Contemporary Art (and Tchoktchkes) Online

On the heels of opening its new Los Angeles gallery, Perrotin has announced a collaboration with eBay in a bid to make contemporary art more accessible. This partnership will see the launch of the Perrotin Store on eBay.fr, featuring a selection of artists’ editions from the gallery’s roster including works by renowned names like Takashi Murakami and Daniel Arsham.

The move reflects an effort to broaden the reach of art beyond traditional galleries and into the digital realm. Laura Simhon, eBay’s art and collection manager in France, said in a press release that the partnership served as an “opportunity to open the doors of an internationally renowned gallery to as many people as possible! Democratizing access to fine objects and helping our users to find hidden gems is an essential part of our mission.”

Emmanuel Perrotin, the gallery’s founder, said working with eBay would not only raise the Perrotin Store’s visibility but also help make art more accessible. “I grew up in a family that couldn’t afford to buy art, but my parents had such an appreciation of culture that when we went to museums we always found something to buy in the shop. Our house was full of posters,” he said in the release. “This idea has stayed with me throughout the development of the gallery.”  

The gallery opened in Paris in 1990 and has since opened locations from New York to Shanghai. Perrotin Store opened in Paris in 2011, primarily as a book shop. Soon prints, editions, accessories, and apparel became available and additional stores opened in New York, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai.

Like the Perrotin Store’s regular website, where a magnet featuring Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Gold Lotus (Produced by Réunion de Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais) goes for $5 plus shipping, the eBay store seems aimed at shoppers in every tax bracket.

Of the 97 items listed, among the least expensive items is the second printing of the Barry McGee fanzine Fuzz Gathering, which costs €18 (about $19.50). An Elmgreen & Dragset sculpture made of waxed synthetic plaster, stainless steel, and plexiglass, Untitled (After the Lovers) (Produced by Perrotin, 2023), runs for €6,000 (about $6,500).