By DONNA WILKINSON - New York Times
ON HBO's ''Sex and the City,'' Mr. Big's bedroom eyes may set some female hearts aflutter, but it's his bedroom walls that interest Laurie Friedman and Elenor Trifon. Their Web site, www.artformedia.com, supplies much of the artwork that adorns the elusive hunk's apartment.
In fact, you could say Mr. Big's taste in art was the inspiration for their company.
''When 'Sex and the City' began, the show's set decorator rented about five pieces of mine,'' said Ms. Friedman, an artist and set decorator. ''One piece, a drawing, hangs behind his bed, and they just kept renting and re-renting it.''
Ms. Trifon, a screenwriter with an art history background, added: ''We always got a chuckle out of it. We knew every time Mr. Big was coming on the show because they wanted Laurie's art for his bedroom.''
Rentals became so frequent ''we realized it would be easier for us to do it from a Web site,'' Ms. Friedman said. ''That's when we partnered up.''
The two friends saw a need for a service they could provide. Ms. Friedman had film and art contacts, and Ms. Trifon knew many artists and the art business. Why not rent and sell artwork for use in films and TV programs?
For behind-the-scenes professionals like set decorators and set designers, finding art or props can be demanding, given the constraints of tight schedules and budgets.
''It's a lot of running around, going from artists' studios to galleries, shopping, phone calls and generally pulling your hair out,'' said Ms. Friedman, who worked on films like ''Dead Man Walking'' and ''Before Night Falls.''
Ms. Friedman and Ms. Trifon saw their site as a one-stop shopping service. ''Having worked as a set decorator,'' Ms. Trifon said, ''Laurie knows how hard it is to find art, the main problem being that you can't find cleared art, which means the artist has to give permission for the art to be used.''
The Internet was an obvious way to speed the process. Artformedia, which started more than a year ago in New York, rents and sells contemporary paintings, sculpture and photography to television, film and commercial studios. Clients include the TV shows ''Ed,'' ''Third Watch,'' ''Law & Order'' and last season's short-lived series ''Madigan Men,'' as well as coming films like Ben Stiller's ''Zoolander,'' ''What's the Worst That Could Happen?'' with Danny DeVito and ''People I Know'' with Al Pacino.
With about 70 artists, the site offers a selection of about 700 cleared artworks. The artists receive a percentage of the rental fee, based on the length of the rental; if the art is sold, the artists receive a percentage similar to what a gallery pays, usually 50 percent to 60 percent.
The Internet is also proving to be useful for other specialized art businesses. About a year ago, Troubetzkoy Paintings, which copies original paintings for movie sets, art galleries, auction houses and others, opened Troubetz koypaintings.com, a Web site.
The company, established in 1978, has offices in Paris and New York and a staff of 12 painters and restorers. Its recent film projects include Martin Scorsese's ''Gangs of New York,'' ''City By the Sea'' with Robert De Niro and ''Changing Lanes'' with Ben Affleck.
''We are not an e-business,'' said the firm's president, Christopher Moore. ''But particularly in the movie industry, where people want things immediately, I have to think Internet. You have a $25 million actor showing up on a set and if the painting isn't behind him, you're in trouble.''
The Web provides more immediate access. As Mr. Moore said: ''I can show a client a picture on the site of a ballroom scene and I can say, 'This is what we're going to do,' and I can show them a frame and e-mail it to them. And they'll say, 'Perfect, this is what we want.' ''
In a business that has little time to spare, a Web site like Artformedia.com can help.
''Set decorating is basically a lonely job,'' said Diana White, a set decorator. ''I spend most of my day in a car shopping.''
During the run of ''Madigan Men,'' which she worked on and was canceled last December, Ms. White rented about 17 pieces from Artformedia. ''Before, when we needed art, we had to have a messenger get photographs or slides of the artist's work or we had to make several trips around Manhattan. Now I can just go to the site.''
She also uses Newel.com, the Web site of Newel Art Galleries, an antiques business in Manhattan established in 1939. The site sells and leases period furnishings to film companies, decorators, architects and collectors.
''Since we've been up, we've had more than 10.2 million hits,'' the president of Newel, Bruce Newman, said. ''Eighteen percent of our business this year has been done on the Internet. If you had told me that two years ago, I would've thought you were crazy.''
In Los Angeles and the West Coast, the Web is also changing how things are done, but the business is much bigger there.
''There are maybe four or five studios that have prop houses, and there are about 50 independent prop houses, each with a different specialty,'' said Debbie Hemela, the editor of ''The Source Book'' and a Web site called Debbiesbook.com, which lists companies that offer props and set dressings. ''All of them have Web links. The major studios have sophisticated computer systems, but some of the independents may not have pictures of their stock online.''
What hasn't changed on either coast, Ms. Hemela said, is the personal side. ''This is a relationship business,'' she said. ''You still need to talk to someone on the phone. No company is going to allow an unknown to walk out with a one-of-a-kind piece of art or precious antique.''
Ms. Trifon and Ms. Friedman of Artformedia agreed. ''When we began, Laurie had an established group of people she knew -- set designers, decorators and stylists,'' Ms. Trifon said. ''We still have to use the phone. Our clients often want to talk to us or see us because they need something special.''
For ''Sex and the City'' fans, the question is: Is Mr. Big coming back next season? Well, has Artformedia received any requests about renting a certain drawing for a certain person's bedroom?
''We haven't heard anything yet,'' Ms. Trifon said. ''But we'll let you know.'
