For years, one of the best kept secrets of buying great original art has been Next Monet. The site features an online marketplace of up and coming artists, and original works available for purchase from them. They used to have a fantastic feature, which is now strangely absent: you could choose artwork by “hue”, which meant that you could choose the color in your home you were trying to coordinate to, and it would filter the results with a matching pallette.

Still, Next Monet follows the traditional model of merchandising — where one or two opinions create the majority of the assortment, and the wisdom of crowds is never used.

Which is why I’m so happy to write about Humble Voice. It is a beautiful, collaborative collection of art (photography, illustrations, paintings, music and written word) from artists all around the world. The better pieces and standout inidividuals are bubbled up by opinion, and artists get to present their own work in the way they want to present it.

My suggestion for them? Quickly add a marketplace component that includes straight purchase and auctions. This will generate an even greater interest in the site from active art collectors, and it could become the first every truly collaborative Web 2.0-centric bazaar for great art.