The 10 inch tall gold Benvenuto Cellini Renaissance sculpture that was one of the top 10 most wanted works of art by the FBI has been returned. The thief was an expert in alarms, which helped in the theft. He was also described as a “funny guy” that did not realize that he had taken a Renaissance masterpiece worth an estimated $60 million.
Strange case of the £35m saltcellar
“The raid was one of the most embarrassing in art history, but it was only several days later, through the media, that the thiefrealizedd he had made off with a Renaissance masterpiece. He later tried to blackmail the insurance company, Mr Geiger alleged, demanding first €5m (£3.4m), then €10m. Guardian

Search Engine Optimization expert Aaron Wall recently published an article discussing how he would go about marketing art online over at his SEO blog. He talks about how he marketed an artist’s site when he was first learning the ropes in regards to SEO, and how he would do it now that he has a few more years experience.
Not so long ago it used to be very easy to trick the search engines into sending you more traffic with all kinds of black hat SEO techniques, but they’re getting smarter now, which means webmasters have to look for different ways of getting visitors.
One suggestion that Aaron comes up with is to start a blog. That way you can please the search engines with regularly updated content (they love that), and you can build a relationship with those that are interested in your art.
I think it’s something that has to be thought about carefully for an artist. I agree that getting to know an artist influences your opinion towards their art, but it can also be a negative influence. I haven’t really seen many artist blogs that made me feel closer to the artist. That doesn’t mean it’s not possible though.
This blog here by Audrey Kawasaki works really well I think. She doesn’t use it as a boring personal diary, but shares enough of herself to let her visitors/collectors feel some kind of connection, she shares her new works, and creates plenty of discussion (feedback, criticism, or praise) about her art with the comments that visitors leave.
It’s all about Feelings
“What I am saying is that story telling matters. Giving people a reason to come back and learn more about you and get to know you matters. Letting people feel they can know you and trust you and know what your motives are is really just about the cheapest for of marketing you can come across.
In the same way that SEO as a standalone bolt on product has largely died and is dying I think walls blocking off distribution to artwork will prevent many artists from succeeding.” SEO Book
>> Internet News

Here’s an article over at Linkism.com discussing a couple reasons why and how to put your art online.. (I think most artists have already done that, right?)
Getting Your Art Online
“Having an online portfolio of art is now almost essential for artists worldwide. It was once the territory of the brave and adventurous to have your art displayed online, but now it is only the foolish that do NOT have their work online. Many savvy artists are even bypassing traditional art galleries and making a comfortable living selling their work online.
Telling your traditional art gallery to go jump isn’t recommended just yet, but having your work online can open many new doors and get your work seen by a whole new audience that would have never seen it hanging in a traditional gallery. It can be a complimentary marketing tool with your gallery if you have one, or it can be a portfolio to get you noticed if you are just starting out.”
Read the rest of the art online article here.

Carol Pentleton of thedigitalartist.com has a list of 10 things to think about when designing your website (if you’re an artist). They include:

1. Make it easy to use
2. Be consistent
3. Skip the ornate backgrounds
4. No goofy type
5. Check your readability
6. Keep the load times fast
7. Your images should be clear
8. Quiet please!
9. Stop dancing around
10. Make sure they can find you

See the rest of the details of the tips here..
Generally I think the message should be to keep things subtle and clean looking. Let your paintings speak louder than your website. If your website has loud colors and blinking, flashing images everywhere, it will take away from the paintings / artwork that you’re trying to show to people.
Think of it as a real “gallery” with clean backgrounds and nothing much else around.