Inside the Rise in Demand for Travel Art

Original article posted at Architectural Digest by  Charu Suri.

With people traveling far less this year than in 2019, it’s little surprise that more collectors have sought travel-related art to remind them of their journeys. The fine art and jewelry e-commerce site 1stdibs saw 2,625 orders of fine artwork between June 1 to July 26, 2020, an increase of 56 percent from the previous year that generated over $7.4 million in sales for the company. One of the high-ticket items sold was the tranquil Seascape Near Atlantic City by William Trost Richards, an American landscape artist who was associated with the Hudson River School. The oil painting, which sold for $195,000, shows luminous ocean waves in sunlight and instantly transports the viewer to a peaceful place. Several artists have noted that although some galleries still remain closed, the pandemic has actually helped them sell travel-related art.