Simon de Pury pays homage to Hans Neuendorf, the visionary founder of Artnet, following the announcement of Artnet's sale at the end of May. De Pury recounts Neuendorf's background as a successful art dealer who championed underappreciated artists like Francis Picabia, and describes how Neuendorf revolutionized the art world by creating the world's most comprehensive auction results database in 1989 (initially called Centrox). The article contrasts the pre-digital era of manually filing auction results with the instant access Artnet now provides, and notes that Neuendorf later expanded the platform with Artnet News and Artnet online auctions.
This matters because Artnet's price database has become an indispensable, trusted tool across the entire art market, used daily by professionals and collectors alike. De Pury uses the occasion to reflect on the art market's historical resistance to change, positioning Neuendorf alongside other rare visionaries like Sotheby's former chairman Peter Wilson. The article underscores how Artnet fundamentally transformed art market transparency and accessibility, making decades of auction data available at a click—a shift that permanently altered how art is bought, sold, and valued.