International art fairs will soon be joined by a virtual one. After a few years of tinkering, James and Jane Cohan, a couple of New York art dealers, have set up the VIP (for Viewing in Private) Art Fair, which will run for a week at the end of this month (“Look, Don’t Touch,” January 15, 2011). As you point out, the virtual art fair promises to cut costs dramatically both for buyers and sellers of contemporary art. Mere browsing will be free, but visitors to the new fair will have to pay for access to price lists and dealers’ private rooms. Given the doldrums in the art market, this is very good news, indeed. The VIP Art Fair may also broaden the art market, capturing those who would never venture to Basel, London, or Madrid. I wonder about the longer term, though. International art fairs are places where both buyers and sellers of contemporary art go to be seen. And to mingle. For many of them the virtual art fair will not do. In the longer term, it may have a chance only in the lower reaches of the art market. Which is nothing to scoff at, anyway.