Next weekend, the VIP Art Fair, an online-only event where collectors can browse through blue-chip modern and contemporary art by the likes of Jackson Pollock, Louise Bourgeois, Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst, will debut as the first-of-its-kind internet art show.

About 140 top-tier galleries from 30 countries, including David Zwirner, Larry Gagosian and the Pace Gallery, have signed up for virtual booths. Potential buyers can pay $100 for access to the dealers through instant messaging and other modes. Some of the art will be viewable by all who visit the event site; other works will be hidden in virtual back rooms for the dealers' best clients.

An advantage for dealers: Booth prices for the VIP Art Fair run between $5,000 and $20,000, less than many of the leading international fairs, and shipping and set-up costs are not an added cost.

In the increasingly global marketplace for high-end art, where the internet is the fastest and most convenient way to reach a new set of farflung buyers, this virtual type of fair seems to meet a market need.

But dealers and collectors question whether an online fair can deliver the energy, buzz, and excitement of a fair's preview opening plus the value of personal relationships with dealers. And will buyers be lured to spend large sums on pieces they haven't inspected personally?

VIP Art Fair is January 22 to 30, visit http://vipartfair.com/.