An art gallery is, by definition, any space that is designated for the purpose of displaying artwork of any kind. The vast majority of art galleries are intended to display paintings, sculptures, murals and other such visible forms of art. Art galleries can be used for purposes other than displaying artwork, but to be an art gallery the display must be their chief concern.
There are several different types of art galleries that exist in contemporary society. First of all, every art gallery falls into one of two categories: public or private. Public galleries are generally nonprofit and are open to the public, sometimes at a nominal fee. Private galleries, on the other hand, are privately owned and can be available to only certain groups or individuals. Private galleries are also often business galleries where the art on display is also for sale. Along with traditional museum art galleries there are also online galleries and vanity galleries (where artists pay the gallery to display their work).
As long as human beings have been creating art, it seems, they have been creating art galleries to display it. No matter how rudimentary or primitive, mankind can trace art galleries back to our earliest beginnings. In fact, the caves in which prehistoric artists created their art also doubled as art galleries for that work. Since then, society has produced ever larger and more ornate art galleries, particularly in the form of public art galleries. Examples of modern art galleries include the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Galeria OMR in Mexico City.
Art galleries exist almost everywhere in the world where the population density is sufficient to support them. Today, there are notable art galleries in every country in North America, throughout Europe, in Asia, in the Middle East, in South America and across the African continent. And, if local and privately owned art galleries are considered, then it can be said that nearly every city in the civilized world contains at least one art gallery.
Art galleries carry with them many different benefits for society. First and foremost, the display of art in galleries brings a level of culture and civilization to a city that would be absent without it. Large cities such as Tokyo, New York, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and London would all lose a certain cultured element if they were to lose their art galleries. In the same way that music helps transform a downtown area into more than just an urban living area, into an artistic center of sorts, art galleries contribute immensely to society. Along with this as well is the fact that many public galleries around the world are nonprofit and are available at either no or very little cost.