Art Biz Blog

Secrets to buying art now

Edward Winkleman has a great post on his blog: How to Buy Art in a Recession: Part I. He gives you a look at behind-the-scenes gallery dealings such as discounting, payment plans, and down payments (or pre-orders). I am looking forward to Part II.

8 Ways to appreciate your Gold Star collectors

Some people will buy one piece of art from you and you'll never hear from them again. Others will purchase more frequently and invest more in your career. It's that group that you want to be sure you're not neglecting.

If someone buys a single set of note cards from you, I'd discourage you from making a big fuss over it. But if someone commissions you for a $10,000 sculpture, they get a gold star in your inventory and they need to be appreciated at a higher level than others who buy from you. They're your Gold Star collectors. Take care of them.

1. Send more frequent mailings to your Gold Star group. Not annoying mailings. But something that's interesting. Maybe just an interesting article with a note saying you're thinking about them.

2. Set up a Gold Star Web page on your site. Put your most recent work there and email your Gold Star group to let them have first choice.

3. Instead of #2, send a CD of your new  images to your Gold Star collectors.

4. Send a handwritten note to your Gold Star collectors telling them that you're happy they're fans.

5. Invite your Gold Star collectors to a special preview of your next opening--before anyone else sees it.

6. Instead of #5, ask your Gold Star collectors to a reception at your studio before you deliver the work to your next show.

7. While everyone else on your list gets postcards or email blasts, your Gold Star collectors get special hand-printed invitations and holiday greetings.

8. Remember birthdays and specially occasions for your Gold Star members. Keep this information in a database and add reminders to your calendar.

Taking care of art while it's in someone else's hands

Okay, first I read this article about rip-off auctions on cruises. Amazing! I guess I'm slightly amazed that people on a cruise buy $30,000 art at an auction. But I'm flabbergasted that naive bidders have no problem dropping $30,000--on "fine art" they know nothing about. And I'm dumbfounded that an auction house would tell bidders that the values are 5x what they actually are.

That led me to the Fine Art Registry, which I confess I've never visited. Great site! I got caught up in this article: Gallery Damage to Consigned Work. Yikes! Can you imagine leaving a piece of art and having the gallery cut out a square (to be tested) without your consent? Artists, beware! This is why you need to put everything in writing. Which led me to . . .

The Andenken Gallery site. It's here in Denver and they post their contracts online (click on PDFs in the left column). Also, don't forget about the wonderful Professional Guidelines from the Society of North American Goldsmiths. They have a model consignment contract under Contracts.

Deep Thought Thursday: Is there anything we can count on in the art market?

Damien Hirst has done it again. He's defied tradition--this time by circumventing his galleries and offering new work for sale through Sotheby's. New work. Never-before-owned work. This is quite an interesting turn of events in the contemporary art market. What does it mean? Read the article about Hirst and the Sotheby's sale. (Thanks to Brian Kliewer for the heads up.)

We've known for years that things, because of the Internet, are changing in the art market. But we still can't put a finger on it.

What can we count on? What will remain the same? What can we say goodbye to forever?

Tips for collecting art

Lyn Bishop offers 5 tips for starting an art collection on her blog.

Deep Thought Thursday: Commissioned art

Is commissioned art inherently of lesser quality?

Does the fact that you, the artist, must please another person with the work make it less important? Or does it mean that it is somehow tainted, impure?

So, you've sold a piece of art. Now what?

Image (c) Tracy Wall

Side note: Last night I purchased a work very much like this one (not sure it’s the same one since I had to leave it on the wall!) at Tracy Wall’s opening reception. I think, gasp, that it's my first pastel. It even made an appearance in my dream.

An email from a reader wants to know what you give to the person who buys art from you--”without going overboard.”

Consider leaving your collectors with these items.

• A receipt
• Your business card
• A brochure or “one sheet” (more on the one sheet later) or statement and bio
• Instructions on caring for the art
• Resources they might be interested in
• Something that says that you retain copyright and what this means if they want to use the image on a holiday card or blow it up and make posters out of it (hey, it happens!). See the Legal Guide for Visual Artists to get the lingo. I would say this is one of the most important pieces of paper you can give a buyer. Most people have no clue about intellectual property, and why should they?

Some artists will include a “Certificate of Authenticity,” which some collectors might find to be pretty neat. However (warning!), it’s my experience that very sophisticated collectors (truly, those purchasing thousands and thousands of dollars worth of art every year) will find this kind of odd. It just isn’t done at that level.

Follow-up with collectors.

I would say that you probably shouldn’t give your buyers--upon purchase--anything more than the items above. The challenge will be following up and staying on their radar screens. (Addition: As Tina noted in the comments and I chillingly forgot when I published this: Send thank-you notes immediately! Don't neglect this step.) Every couple of months you could send your buyers any of the following.

• Articles about you, about art, about collecting
• Articles about anything else you come across that you know they’re interested in (I was just thinking of you . . . )
• Changes in your contact information
• Invitations
• Newsletters
• Announcements of awards
• Postcards from your art travels

What have I forgotten? How do you follow up with buyers, whether it’s immediately upon purchase or at a later date?

Are they not buying your art because they have no more wall space?

A while back, I wrote about people who don’t buy your art because, they say, “I can’t afford it.”

Anne Leuck Feldhaus commented that she often hears this from potential art collectors: "I don't have any more wall space". To this, Anne replies, "Stats that show if you do not move your art around you stop seeing it." She adds, "I also tell them of my recent move and how rejuvenating it was to hang and rotate in new art work. Maybe they too are just saying it's not worth it to replace the art they already have."

I agree, Anne. I think this is just another way of saying that they aren’t ready or willing to buy.

I often quote George Bogart, my favorite painting professor at the University of Oklahoma. At the time, we were college kids with small living spaces painting 4’ canvases. Someone in our class asked what we were going to do with all of those big paintings. “If it’s good enough, you’ll find a place for it,” he said. I’ve never forgotten that. I think people find spaces for art they want to live with.

Image (c) George Bogart,  Golden.

Deep Thought Thursday

Is it still art if the artist’s vision is obliterated?

And what happens when municipal laws interfere with the artwork that was commissioned?

Read what happened with artist Sharon Louden’s work at the Yahoo! Sunnyvale, CA offices in this Wall Street Journal article. Then read Edward Winkelman's take on this (read the comments, too).

Would you sell art to a kid?

Check out this Wall Street Journal article about kids collecting art. (Don’t miss the video!)

These are kids whose families are, of course, very well off, but the same appreciation for art could be instilled by any parent. And, as you see, there are tax benefits involved.