International art auction house
Sotheby's and online marketplace
eBay will create a web platform to
allow viewers to bid on and buy art.
国际艺术品拍卖行苏士比拍卖行与网上市场易趣将联合创建一个网络平台，供网民拍卖、购买艺术品。
Sotheby's chief operating officer
Bruno Vinciguerra said Sotheby's
hoped to reach "the broadest possible audience around the world" with
the move.
Sotheby's said the number of lots purchased online increased 36% in 2013.
Online art sales
are expected to reach $13bn by 2020.
In April, John James Audubon's elephant-folio The Birds of America
sold for $3.5m online via a live auction at Sotheby's - a record for the
firm.
Jewelry, watches
The venture will start with live auctions
streamed from Sotheby's
New York headquarters, which will allow "real-time bidding from anywhere
around the world".
Sotheby's will offer 18 categories to start, focusing jewelry,
watches
, prints, wine, photographs
and 20th century design - categories
the firm says have been particularly appealing to online buyers.
The move comes just ahead of eBay's earnings, which are set to be
released on Wednesday, and as more and more start-ups, such as Artsy,
Artspace and Paddle8 allow consumers to buy art on the web.
Last year, Amazon announced it would sell works by artists such as Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol on its website.
The two companies declined to give a firm start date for the service.