The difference, in a word, is access. Like painters in antiquity, YouTube has no filters. History has shown that even some of the greatest artists, such as Mozart, struggled to get their work known in their lifetimes.

Even though Rachmaninoff was widely known in the art world, two pop versions of his work by Eric Carmen, “All By Myself” and “Never Going To Fall Again,” brought his work to millions more.

Who hasn’t been stunned by some of what is created for the Internet?

YouTube, working with the Guggenheim museums, is bringing some of the best of this art together in what it calls “YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video.”

Online video artists have been invited to send their work to YouTube, and on the eve of the final date for submission 8,600 works had been offered from 69 countries.

“Maybe what is in your head is the next thing,” said Andy Berndt, vice president of managing director of Google’s Creative Lab. “Show us something that hasn’t been before ...”

A wide range of celebrated artists and art experts will winnow the submissions down and ultimately pick 20 to be displayed at the Guggenheim museums in New York, Bilbao, Venice and Berlin. The works will be displayed along side Picasso and Van Gogh.

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