Art: from artwork to experience

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The facts

For centuries, art has been defined by the creation of a unique physical object meant to outlive generations. A master’s canvas or a marble sculpture stood the test of time to pass on a creator’s vision to posterity. Today, this material permanence faces the rise of immersive formats and interactive digital media. Visitors no longer seek merely to contemplate a masterpiece from a distance in the quiet of a hushed gallery; they want to experience an enveloping visual and sensory moment. Monumental light projections draw millions of curious visitors looking for immediate emotions to share. This shift fundamentally redefines our relationship with visual culture, raising questions about the future role of tangible objects.

Even so, the market for physical artworks has rarely seemed stronger at the apex of its financial pyramid. In the first half of 2026, auction sales of physical art surged by 71% according to Deloitte, reaching $6.7B in revenue for major auction houses like Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips. In 2025, the global art market had already rebounded to $59.6B according to the benchmark report published by Art Basel & UBS. Collectors continue to pay fortunes to own the authentic physical substance of a historic painting. The aura* of an original piece—its unique, irreplaceable existence in real space—retains immense economic and symbolic value.

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At the same time, new forms of experiential exhibitions are enjoying widespread, runaway success with the general public and families. Private operator Culturespaces, which runs the Atelier des Lumières in Paris and the Bassins des Lumières in Bordeaux, welcomed over 5 million visitors in 2025. These venues hold no permanent collections and no precious canvases in storage. Instead, they project giant 360-degree digital animations onto industrial walls set to an immersive soundtrack*. Audiences do not come to purchase a physical good or study art history, but to experience an ephemeral spectacle designed to leave a lasting impression and be shared on social media.

Traditional, historic museums refuse to be confined to the role of dusty shrines to the past. The Louvre recorded nearly 9 million visitors in 2025, confirming the enduring draw of major masterpieces like the Mona Lisa. To rekindle the interest of younger generations, heritage institutions are integrating virtual reality headsets, interactive trails, and digital reconstructions directly into their historic galleries. Museums are adopting a hybrid approach where technological mediation enriches direct dialogue with the original canvas without ever attempting to erase it. The physical monument remains the indispensable anchor of the visitor’s journey.

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The massive arrival of generative AI and ephemeral visual works is further accelerating this pivot toward instant cultural consumption. When a striking image can be generated in seconds from a text prompt before vanishing in the newsfeed, material scarcity takes on a new meaning. Visitors often spend less than thirty seconds looking at a painting in a packed room—just long enough to snap a souvenir photo with a smartphone. Human attention has become the most contested resource between traditional creators and digital visual show designers. The central question is no longer just whether an object survives through the centuries, but how long a viewer’s gaze actually lingers on it.

Faced with these profound changes, the future of the art world hangs between three contrasting paths. On one hand, screen fatigue could trigger a powerful return to the tangible, where the physical object regains renewed prestige against all-digital media. On the other, a balanced hybridization could take hold, allowing physical canvases and digital spectacles to coexist harmoniously. Finally, a more radical pivot toward ephemeral event-based art could gradually marginalize heritage conservation in favor of perishable visual sensations. We explore these three forward-looking scenarios to understand how society will choose to experience beauty in the coming decades.