The art of the online auction

Konstanze Wolter

Sourcing, appraising, checking authenticity, putting online, packing, shipping: Konstanze Wolter started small in an attic and built up her company e.artis single-handedly. She now has nine employees from four countries, was nominated for the Saxon Female Founder Award and opened the e.artis contemporary gallery four years ago alongside the auction house. In the Maker of the Week interview, she explains how the Chemnitz native became a successful entrepreneur and what obstacles were placed in her way.

How did the digital auction house e.artis come about ten years ago?
Konstanze Wolter: My school friend, who deals in luxury watches on the secondary market, suggested that we set up a company together. I had just finished my degree in psychology and my doctorate was actually imminent. I then decided against the doctorate and in favour of founding a company. I probably have an entrepreneurial gene in me. In the beginning, I orientated myself a lot on my partner's business model. However, the watch market is completely different to the art market. So I started to create my own concept. Learning from mistakes is very sustainable.

A short time later (2011), a large new online auction house was founded, which went through the roof with investors and had completely different market opportunities with a lot of venture capital. That really scared me as a young entrepreneur at the time. But because I always focussed on organic growth in small steps, e.artis still exists today and the big competitor at the time has since gone bankrupt. So we did everything right.

Looking back over the last ten years, what has been the biggest challenge, the most difficult setback, but also the greatest success during this time?
It is of course difficult to remember the past without distorting it. It was a challenge when the balance between investment and return was very uneven. But that's part of being an entrepreneur: You have to endure the existential.
Of course, there were and are setbacks from time to time. For example, when the VAT on art is increased or parcel services are not allowed to stop in front of our gallery. The city could offer better framework conditions for the latter by promoting the energy and efforts of the citizens more and by communicating the mayor's enthusiasm to all parts of the administration.
I consider it a great success that my company is growing on its own. We are not dependent on outside capital, the concept is working and the team is behind me. Our greatest success was when a great exhibition by Fritz Winter was on display at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and we offered a painting by this artist at our auction at the same time. As always, the starting bid was 1 euro and it sold for 35,051 euros. I thought to myself, yes, my system works.

The special thing about the auction house is that everything is priced at one euro at the start. Konstanze Wolter has done this consistently in order to make art accessible to everyone. With a lot of persuasion, she also managed to include well-known artists in her auction repertoire. Because one question has always preoccupied Konstanze Wolter: How do you make people realise that they can buy individual art made by a person instead of mass-produced prints from a Swedish furniture shop?

Why do many people shy away from buying art?
Most people have the idea that art is expensive. Of course, that's not the case. The price of art depends on many factors and there is something original for every budget. You have to make it easier for people to approach art. Art and value have their own dynamic, but art enriches life.

What do you think of the artistic landscape in Chemnitz?
I think it is very passionate and diverse. We have the Chemnitz artist Michael Goller in our repertoire. But I actually have fewer Chemnitz artists in my gallery programme because I pay attention to other criteria when making my selection. I have a degree in psychology and am more interested in artists who address psychological aspects. I am attracted by artworks that raise questions such as: Why are we here? What is reality? What is a life worth living and what is quality of life? I am less interested in political and decorative art.
As an online retailer, you can set up camp anywhere. Born in Karl-Marx-Stadt, she decided in 2015 in favour of a shop space on the Kaßberg driveway. The corner building in the Gründerzeit style at Theaterstraße 58 has four large shop windows that flood the rooms with light. Konstanze Wolter thought that this view was too good to be used for packaging pictures and quickly opened her own gallery for contemporary art. In 2015, e.artis contemporary opened and joined the auction house as a new business segment.

Your aim is to make art accessible to everyone: Has that worked over the last ten years?
Yes, many young people who would never have thought of buying art use the online auction house. It is important that artists are supported. Many in the industry are confronted with dying galleries and collapsing sales. So why buy a mass-produced poster when you can buy a customised piece of art you made yourself for a similar price? An original work touches you much more than an offset print. I want to publicise this. We have established a significant discount on our gallery art especially for young art lovers before their 40th birthday.
For many people, the idea of buying a work of art with an overpriced historical painting in an ornate gold frame is perhaps too rigid. I keep hearing the two sentences: "I don't know anything about art." or, "I can't afford that anyway." But you don't have to know anything about art history just to have an opinion on a painting. The dialogue about the artwork is the exciting thing. And of course you can also just find a picture stupid.
I clearly serve a niche market. The famous auction houses in Germany and England have such an enormous cost apparatus that they can only sell high-priced works by famous artists in purely economic terms. Only a select number of clients can afford that. But half of all art sales are under 1000 euros. Almost nobody knows that. The big auction houses advertise their sales so highly in the media that the image has become ingrained in people's minds.

Chemnitz is applying to be European Capital of Culture 2025? What are your hopes for e.artis and the city until then?
I thought it was great that many of the stakeholders' ideas were directly involved and incorporated into the cultural strategy. It is important to communicate to people that everyone can participate. Transparency is crucial so that people understand that the Capital of Culture is something for everyone. The be-all and end-all for Chemnitz is organic growth. The meadow must be cleared so that the city can grow on its own. If a mile of pubs is artificially created and shops in the city centre die, not everything is going well, you simply have to let people do more. Everyone likes to make themselves at home. So I am firmly convinced that the people of Chemnitz also want to make their city beautiful. I would like the city to be more like a mum who lets her child run around rather than a helicopter mum.

Opening hours: Mon: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tue to Fri: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.