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What do Cruella deVille and Sylvia White Gallery have in common?

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It’s been 35 years of consulting with artists, 50 articles written and now blogged on ArtAdvice.com, 8 different offices/gallery spaces, hundreds of workshops, thousands of exhibitions and … Continue Reading

Miss Manners: Gallery Etiquette Guide for Artists

Screen Shot 2014-04-03 at 10.24.54 AMI love being a gallerist.  I love art and I love artists.  I’ve devoted the last 30 years to helping artists develop the skills they need to manage their careers.  Yet, still, after all these years, I just can’t believe some of the things artists do.  If you haven’t already done so,  please take a moment to read one of my archived articles, “5 Surefire Ways to Annoy a Gallery”.  I’ve updated the list here, with a few of the most egregious crimes I’ve experienced lately. … Continue Reading

A JUROR’S DILEMMA

Screen Shot 2014-04-06 at 4.03.10 PMA rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success.”  Bo Bennett

Our summer juried shows are a mixed blessing for me.  Each year I marvel at the infinite and diverse ways in which artists find to express themselves.  I admire and respect each and every artist for the extraordinary effort they make every day to share their gift. Again, we were happily overwhelmed with a large number of excellent quality entries, and the competition for this show was very stiff. The … Continue Reading

Surviving the Summer Slump

Screen Shot 2014-04-06 at 4.08.15 PM“It won’t always be summer: build barns.” Hesiod 700 B.C.

A lot of people don’t realize that the art world revolves around a seasonal schedule. Galleries begin their season in September, usually after Labor Day, often opening with their strongest artist and continue until about the middle of June. Many galleries use the summer months to mount group shows of gallery artists, or shows that they wouldn’t consider during their “prime season.” Generally, the magazines and gallery guides follow suit by issuing combined July/August issues. For … Continue Reading

Life is Short, Art is Long

Screen Shot 2014-04-06 at 8.22.47 AM“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count.  It’s the life in your years.” ~Abraham Lincoln

It’s not something we like to think about, but collectors, as well as artists, need to face the fact that owning art, regardless of whether it is yours, or it is acquired, comes with certain responsibilities.  There are the obvious responsibilities concerning documentation, insurance, protection, care and handling.  There are even laws that … Continue Reading

Follow The Money: Treasure Hunt For Grants

Screen Shot 2014-04-06 at 4.33.27 PM“A bank is a place that will lend you money only if you can prove that you don’t need it. ” Bob Hope

There has been a lot of talk lately about the economy improving.  I don’t know about you, but not many people I come in contact with have experienced much change. Nonetheless, change is happening, maybe not as fast as everyone would like, but there is hope on the horizon. One … Continue Reading

It’s A New Day, It’s A New Dawn, It’s A New Decade… New Year’s Resolutions for Artists

“Only put off until tomorrow, what you are willing to die left undone.” Pablo Picasso

The beginning of a new year always puts me in a pensive, introspective mood. It just feels like the right time to sit back and reflect on the accomplishments of the past year, and develop a plan to move forward towards new goals. But, being a creative thinker can have it’s drawbacks during this time of reflection. It’s easy to overlook how far you’ve come, unless you develop a quantifiable system of measuring. For a lot of artists, achieving a goal “doesn’t really count,” because by … Continue Reading

Are You In The Loop? How to Use Social Media as Your Next Level Marketing Tool

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 5.24.30 PM“Anyone who has never made a mistake, has never tried anything new.”  Albert Einstein.

I know what you are saying, “Ok, I give up, I’ve just mastered building a website and using my email, what the heck is social media?”In plain English, it means, the days of direct mailers and catalogs are over. The new generation of artists, gallery owners and consultants are programmed for faster, higher quality marketing techniques. Thanks to social media networking sites like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter, we are able to connect 24/7 with … Continue Reading

5 Things You Can Do For Your Career to Survive the Economic Slump

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 5.40.44 PM“As sure as the spring will follow the winter, prosperity and economic growth will follow recession.” Bo Bennett

Artists are more susceptible than most to the economic downturn as fine art has long been considered a luxury, primarily for an audience with extra discretionary income. In times like these, even the very wealthy feel uncomfortable spending on what may be perceived by others as an extravagance. Smart collectors know this is the best time to buy and fine art is one of the safest places to “park” … Continue Reading

Pricing Your Art

Screen Shot 2014-04-06 at 4.26.28 PM“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”  Henry David Thoreau

The first step in trying to price your work is discussed in detail in a previous ArtAdvice article called Matchmaker, Matchmaker . It involves visiting galleries on a regular basis to determine where your work fits in to the current art market. When going to galleries, study the price lists of artists whose work is similar to yours stylistically, as well as in size and medium. Ask to see … Continue Reading

Creating the Perfect Artists’ Website

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 5.31.16 PM” An artist without a website is virtually homeless.”  Sylvia White

Planning Stage

Long before you talk to any website designers, or start to think about the colors, features and format of your site, you need to spend some time thinking about what your goals are for having a website. Building a website is like building a house. The more time you spend thinking about how the house will be used, and in planning the foundation, the more options you will have. Spend a moment writing the … Continue Reading

Email Address, Blackberry and a Website: The New Essential Art Supplies

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 6.19.01 PM“People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn’t they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines… There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters. ” Bill Gates Every once in awhile, even today, I come across an artist who is still resistant to the idea of using the computer. Okay, there might have been some justifiable excuses 10 years ago, “I don’t want to spend my time learning about something … Continue Reading

Licensing Basics

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 8.31.04 PMArt Licensing is an exciting area in the licensing market and can possibly supplement and artist’s income and increase exposure. Licensing is defined as leasing the right to use a legally protected name, graphic, logo, saying or likeness in conjunction with a product, promotion, or services. It is usually accomplished by a formal agreement between the owner or agent of the mark (the Licensor) and the prospective Licensee who is either a manufacturer, supplier of services or an agent on behalf of them.

Licensing is an industry that … Continue Reading

Rental Galleries: When Is It Worth It?

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 8.27.33 PMArtists often ask me whether or not it is worth it to rent a gallery to put up their own work. In general, I discourage the idea, unless artists have looked realistically at their goals and expectations. In many cases, renting a gallery space can be a very effective way to market yourself to other galleries and generate income from your collector base.

Before I begin the discussion about rental galleries, I need to go over the common practices of conventional galleries. Although there will always be exceptions, … Continue Reading

The Dreaded Artist Statement

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 8.39.41 PM“Artists can no more speak about their work, than plants can speak about horticulture.” Jean Cocteau

There are many times when an artist is asked to compose an artist statement. Sometimes, it is in response to a specific inquiry by a gallery or collector, sometimes in response to a particular grant proposal or in conjunction with a curatorial statement or exhibition. Other times, artists just feel the need to explain their work. Most of the time, however, artists are not the best suited for this particular task. Regardless … Continue Reading

Preparing For An Exhibition- How To Get The Most Out Of This Valued Experience

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 8.12.56 PM“Do not fear failure, or over-estimate success.” Ernest Hemmingway

You’ve worked hard to develop a cohesive body of work. You’ve done your homework, worked diligently to do the research to find a place to exhibit your work. Perhaps you fell into a lucky situation and been offered an exhibition. How do you prepare for it to get the most out of this valuable experience? Well, the first thing is to realize that this is not … Continue Reading

How To Successfully Photograph Your Own Artwork – A Last Resort -

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 7.41.46 PMLearning how to document your own artwork can be time consuming and expensive. Having good quality slides of your work, however, is an absolutely essential first step in seeing yourself as a professional artist. Nine times out of ten you will not have the opportunity to show your original work. Remember that the purpose of sending slides is to generate interest in seeing the actual work. Your slides must adequately reflect the color, detail, texture, and size. Hiring a professional fine arts photographer is the best way … Continue Reading

Giclees, Iris Prints, Litohographs, Monoprints, Seriographs, Posters…sorting it all out.

Utagawa_Kunisada_-_Printmaking_triptychThere are a lot of valid reasons why an artist should think about reproducing their work. There are also a lot of reasons NOT to. In most cases, artists start to think about doing prints of their work as a way to increase sales or generate interest in their work. But, unless you are also prepared to take on the additional burden of marketing, printmaking is not always the right option for artists.

Before the incredible introduction of the technology that led to the iris printer, artists were limited in choosing ways to … Continue Reading

Redefining “Limited Editions” for the 21st Century

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 7.53.37 PMThe advent of digital technology has revolutionized the print market for both artists and collectors. Traditional printmaking techniques such as lithography, intaglio, and other more traditional methods, are very closely monitored by the master printer and/ or the publisher. It was important to specify exactly how many printer proofs there were, how many artist proofs there were and how many numbered prints were made to complete the limited edition. As the prints were distributed or sold, the publisher would document how many went out and to whom. … Continue Reading

Marketing for the Millennium…e-commerce and the Internet

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 8.22.00 PMThe Internet has become an unavoidable fact of life. Over just the last few years we have seen radical changes in the way this new technology is changing the way we live, think and shop. Although many artists, collectors and galleries continue to have fears and concerns, even their reluctance is slowly beginning to erode as they accept the inevitability of this powerful, wide reaching tool. In regards to the artworld, there are basically three different types of websites :

  1. Information related sites-These can be run by non-profit … Continue Reading

Apples and Oranges: The L.A. vs. New York Question

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 6.25.53 PMOriginally published in Artweek, July 1995, Volume 26, Number
7

” . . .artists can no longer sit back and take the attitude that
the work speaks for itself . . .”

After opening a second office and gallery in New York last September,
I have spent a good deal of time accumulating frequent flier miles. On the
average, I spend one week each month in New York, which has been a real
eye-opener for me, a native Angeleno who has been actively involved with
the Los Angeles art scene for twenty years. … Continue Reading