Friday, January 07, 2005
Giclee and art galleries
As promised in one of the previous posts dealing with art shows, I will discuss art galleries in the realm of marketing original and giclee work.
Permanent galleries in high traffic area provide a great means to expose your art to a local market. Most gallery owners will propose a "show opening" to kickstart the artist's work. The costs are usually absorbed by the business. The art gallery, in exchange for the real estate and the promotion, will take 40-50% of the sale price. Normally the artist's showcase will be up for display a few weeks. The advantages of having a storefront for your art and giclees are many: continuous exposure, a respectable environment, the grand opening focusing on the artist. Also, the chance to interact with show attendees in a friendly and warm "party environment" at the opening.
Now the disadvantages: your art and prints have to be significantly be marked up to make up for the gallery fees. Also, many galleries will be extremely unhappy if they find out you are privately marketing a giclee from the same edition they have displayed for less money. Galleries have a point in asking for price consistency as it provides a more stable buyer's market. Would you like to find out that the limited edition giclee you bought at the gallery for $300 is also being sold directly by the artist for $200?
In short, galleries are a useful way to increase exposure but do not expect to get rich: the high markup fees make it hard to profit well from such sales. Our clients who make decent money from this channels are the ones who have work in dozens of galleries at any given time: it is a numbers game!
Permanent galleries in high traffic area provide a great means to expose your art to a local market. Most gallery owners will propose a "show opening" to kickstart the artist's work. The costs are usually absorbed by the business. The art gallery, in exchange for the real estate and the promotion, will take 40-50% of the sale price. Normally the artist's showcase will be up for display a few weeks. The advantages of having a storefront for your art and giclees are many: continuous exposure, a respectable environment, the grand opening focusing on the artist. Also, the chance to interact with show attendees in a friendly and warm "party environment" at the opening.
Now the disadvantages: your art and prints have to be significantly be marked up to make up for the gallery fees. Also, many galleries will be extremely unhappy if they find out you are privately marketing a giclee from the same edition they have displayed for less money. Galleries have a point in asking for price consistency as it provides a more stable buyer's market. Would you like to find out that the limited edition giclee you bought at the gallery for $300 is also being sold directly by the artist for $200?
In short, galleries are a useful way to increase exposure but do not expect to get rich: the high markup fees make it hard to profit well from such sales. Our clients who make decent money from this channels are the ones who have work in dozens of galleries at any given time: it is a numbers game!
