If you’re an artist, you have the same problem as most other artists — no buyers, and little chance to exhibit your work, much less sell it.
There are a couple of things you might do:
- You might interest some museum curators in acquiring your art for their museums. Good luck on this one, unless you have a special relationship with one of the style-makers and trend-setters, meaning a rich and powerful art dealer working out of the swankiest gallery on 57th and 5th.
- You might get lucky and attract the attention of an Influencer, although you’d better have something that fulfills their need — the balance has to be in their favor.
- You might just develop a local market that you can work to expand, by making it worth their while to tell others about you.
- You might very well actually run into the right people at the right time, and join the ranks of Rembrandt, Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, DaVinci, Tintoretto and those guys.
The thing is, for the Fine Art Originals gallery director, every inch of wall space is critical and has a street value, which is the percentage of the total cost that it takes to put a Picasso original in that spot.
Now, that in fact is what I can do — put an original by a modern master up on the wall, but that doesn’t bring the customer in.
As a matter of fact, openings and shows are intended to bring back already satisfied customers, to share the congeniality of an art showing.
The thing is, what actually supports a gallery these days is a loyal following and a narrow path in the selection of artists — you want to be totally in the marketplace, not out with the art critics and the free-drinks crowd.
You don’t sell a Rembrandt off the wall, even a famous and celebrated gallery. The customer sits in the Closing Room, and is presented with various suggestions, much as they conduct fashion sales for a valued clientele.
There is another way to work with fine art, other than collecting original oils — forget that. Get hold of some original lithos by the Big Guys, and be prepared to demonstrate a climbing hill of value for these pieces.
Why is there so much more money to be made in prints?
Simple. A painting goes up on public auction maybe once every 80 years, while a print is a multiple, and it goes up and up in price, sometimes selling four or five times in a year, and it’s all registered in Gordon’s, which you can show your customer.
The real trick is knowing in advance who is going to make it, like Andy Warhol. I knew him because when he first arrived in NYC, he took a job illustrating my Dad, Horace’s stories and books. I still have the originals, and I have had a LOT of Warhol prints pass through my custom gallery.
Sometimes it’s not so much knowing who is likely to win the race, as in knowing where to obtain reliably authentic rare prints in excellent unrepaired condition, such as my ultra-rare Rembrandts, Renoirs and Degas prints, all guaranteed authentic.
So right now, if it were me, I’d be collecting what will sell well right now, and hope that it increases in the future if you do hold onto it, whatever it is.
The way I select is this:
- Collect only the artist prints you actually like, and can live with.
- Make sure they are absolutely authentic — no “probably”.
- Determine by inspection that they are in perfect condition.
- Decide on a “right” price and pay only that, no more.
It’s all in the resale, and that depends on your ability to find collectors who will appreciate the art and who also know how to resell it so they can perfect and expand their collection.
Why else would someone accumulate something totally gratuitous — a piece of art? Of course it’s to improve the collection, to upgrade it, and that’s when it starts to get to be fun, when your guesses turn out to be right, and you have a million-dollar print in your hand.
I did once. I was at Sotheby’s New York, and my friend, who was one of their experts, came out of her office carrying a framed print, which she put in my hands with hers under mine. What I was holding was the rarest Rembrandt I’ve ever actually touched, albeit through frame and glass.
I have a Rembrandt St. Jerome in a Dark Chamber, for which I paid $4,500 back in 1983, and which is currently valued at $38,500, just enough to keep up with inflation, eh?
Art can be used as currency and as personal wealth, especially when traveling in dangerous places.
I have a 3″ x 2/12″ Rembrandt etching valued at $65,000. It’s small enough to tuck in between the pages of a pocket Bible.
I bought a 6′ tall Miro in New York, and sold it in Germany, where they bring a LOT more than they do in the States.
I did the same with cameras, and still have a prewar Leica iii C in my camera collection.
If you would like some guidance on how to sell art without ever actually owning the artwork, I’m happy to oblige at any of our morning zoom meetings.
If you have three hours to spare, you might find this funny.
See You At The Top!!!
gorby