Artfinder's Impact: 2021

2020 was not the year that any of us expected, but we made it through it as a stronger, better business. From planting a tree for every artwork sold to helping more artists than ever before, we are proud to launch our second B Corp Annual Impact Report, about all the good we do.

This year's highlights

Tree Planting

In a year that turned so many things on its head, we’re really proud to have made one big step toward our goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. On 25th November, 2020, we started funding the planting of one tree for every artwork sold through our partner, Ecologi.

Our 2020 report identified ‘allowing customers to make a donation to offset’ as one of our planet goals, but we went one better than that and now fund the planting of a tree for every artwork sold through the site. This moment represents a key milestone in Artfinder's pledge to making a positive long-term impact on the environment, with a projected 100,000+ trees to be planted in 2021.

8 months climate positive

136.8T carbon reduction

56,739 trees in the forest

We have joined The Million Tree Pledge as a founder member, committing to Artfinder planting one million trees by 2030. We’re also a ‘climate positive workforce’ meaning that carbon is offset for every Artfinder employee, including one tree planted per employee, per month.

More artists than ever before making a living!

Artfinder's overall sales grew over 100% through the pandemic. Every quarter since Q2 2020 has been our best ever for total sales. Whilst that's great for our business, our mission is to help more artists make a living.

We're proud to say that 88.3% of Artfinder artists said we contributed to their income in 2020 (that's a 30% increase on 2019). 18% of our artists now make the majority of their art income from Artfinder, up 55% since 2019. We've also set targets to increase the overall number of artists selling by 5% each quarter in 2021.

James' story

53.7% of artists surveyed said that world events from the past year have had more of an impact on the kind of art they are creating and sharing with customers.
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One such artist is James Earley, based in Salisbury, who has created a series of portraits in 2020 of people he's met who have been affected by the pandemic. Earley is entirely self taught, and was honoured to be awarded The First Prize at the prestigious London Biennale in 2019. In 2022 he will be showing his work at the Venice Biennale.

Julia's story

Artist Julia Swaby has found international sales success throughout the pandemic, selling 50 pieces of art to countries all over the world, including the UK, the US, New Zealand and Norway, after joining Artfinder in 2019.

“It's been nothing less than a miracle to have sold so much art at this difficult time. I've sold more than ever before and this has meant I can keep my studio afloat and not only that, it has reinforced my belief that art is essential to our well-being. Many of the pieces I've sold have been expressivist works, depicting joy and hope. I currently exhibit through several major online galleries but the vast majority of my total sales come through Artfinder and during the pandemic this has been a God-send.”

$8.3m

Paid to artists in 2020

$34.3m

Paid to artists since launch in 2013

57k

Trees in the Artfinder forest

210k+

Artworks sold in 8 years

80k+

Customers

1m+

Fans, followers and subscribers

Changing artist perceptions

Do you see digital platforms like Artfinder as more or less important for sharing and selling your work, compared to galleries?

Over 61.5% of artists said it's more important, 32% said it's equally important and only 6% said it's less important

Pie chart illustrating 61.5% of artists who said it's more important, 32% said it's equally important and only 6% said it's less important

What has been most effective in gaining
attention for your work?

68% of artists aid Artfinder and other online marketplaces; 21% said social media; 6% said real life exhibitions and fairs; 3% said word of mouth

Pie chart illustrating 68% of artists aid Artfinder and other online marketplaces; 21% said social media; 6% said real life exhibitions and fairs; 3% said word of mouth

Download the full report

2020 was not the year that any of us expected, but we made it through it as a stronger, better business. From planting a tree for every artwork sold to helping more artists than ever before, we are proud to launch our second B Corp Annual Impact Report, about all the good we do.

Download the report