About Us

ArtLink was conceived and launched by Tal Danai in April 1996. It is the materialization of its founder's dream to make an international cultural impact by bringing young visual artists to the fore, providing available, accessible and affordable quality art of our time.

The company's first step was to construct an international network of art schools that would provide the source and background for promising young artists. The world-renowned School of Visual Arts in New York City was the first to sign on to the new program. Many other institutions in dozens of countries followed suit.

In January 1997 Sotheby's – the world's largest and most established art auction house – made a decision to join the new venture and provide its platform and expertise to the rapidly developing concept. This move was a crucial milestone in what has today become recognized as the global scene of young art.

ArtLink's international young art program was renamed ArtLink@Sotheby's International Young Art.

In January 1998 the companies held the first International Young Art auction at Sotheby's Tel Aviv. The event's success by far exceeded its organizers' expectation, the 137 works offered by forty-five artists from ten countries (catalog 98), none of whom had been familiar to the public prior to the exhibition preceding the sale, were all sold in the course of a two-hour auction, at prices well over their estimates. Moments of the auction were broadcast the world over (video) and the program became a happening.

ArtLink's search for more promising artists in all parts of the world continued. More and more institutions joined the program following its initial success and the relentless efforts by its people to spread the message and find artists in places remote from the main art centers.

In 1999 ArtLink and Sotheby's held a number of auctions: in January two auctions were held in Tel Aviv and Chicago introducing sixty-six new artists, in August the companies held the world's first interactive auction, which was exhibited at Sotheby's Berlin and auctioned live in Rostock, Germany (links to press clips). The live auction was transmitted by video and audio on the World Wide Web, with pre-registered bidders participating in the auction in real time over the Web. The auction was a success. CNN termed the young company the "World's leading promoter of international young art".

The program went on to feature auctions in Tel Aviv, Chicago, New York, Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam and Moscow. Its network of art academies grew to span over 150 institutions in forty-four countries. Artists selected to the program enjoyed a substantial benefit to their careers and many have used the springboard provided to them by ArtLink and Sotheby's.

In 2003 ArtLink introduced a new program – Ar2Go. The program is the first international, royalty based, art-publishing program dedicated to works by young artists. Through Ar2Go ArtLink produces and publishes Giclèe (Giclee) prints of works by finalists of the International Young Art program.

ArtLink offers these high-quality reproductions to the wide public, but its main marketing efforts are directed at working with architects and interior designers on projects where young contemporary art may provide a substantial impact.

Some of the company's main projects carried out since Ar2Go was introduced are the River Bank Park Plaza Hotel and the Victoria Hotel in London, the Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam, the Quentin Hotel in Berlin, the Centre Ville Hotel in Bucharest, Leeds Park Plaza Hotel in Leeds, the Astrid Hotel in Antwerp, The Givataim Shopping Mall in Israel, and the 2006 crown jewel project – the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

In 2004, overloaded with 20,000 works submitted for consideration for the 2005 International Young Art program, the company decided it could no longer manage a selection process capable of meeting its high standards, and announced the freezing of the program until it was ready to re-open it in a slightly different format, one that could handle such high-volume inputs as the program was getting.

A decade after its launch, the cultural impact of ArtLink's pioneering path is clearly evident worldwide. There is hardly a contemporary art gallery today that does not include a number of emerging young artists on its roster. International events boasting young artists from around the world are becoming common. Special fairs are organized specifically to promote and sell works by young artists in London and New York as well as in other locations. Young art is on display in both public and private spaces, and perhaps most important of all – state boundaries are left out of the young art scene and art is exhibited, sold and collected worldwide, no longer coming only from the major art centers such as London, New York, Berlin and Amsterdam.

ArtLink has many more plans for the future and remains dedicated to the task for which it was formed – leading a drive to form a dynamic platform for the promotion of young art worldwide.