The Old Dog Asks: How Can Artists Sell Their Work?
To Sell it People Have to See it!
Do the upscale offices and studios of Doctors, Dentists and Financial services offer artists an opportunity?
I have a relative of mine who is a very talented artist. He has done all kinds of schooling in fine arts and he works at it with great passion. It's been a tough go to make a living and he's often had to take on other jobs. It seems to me that one of the problems that artists have is getting their work in front of the "right" eyes.
More established artists may manage to have a showing in a gallery but this is no easy task for a newer artist.
This colorful piece adorned what otherwise would have been a much starker environment! All photos by @kus-knee
Although this area of the office has windows not much light enters and the painting offers a brighter reception!
Could The Offices of Doctors Lawyers and Financial Institutions Hold The Key?
Today, while doing some work for a dentist in Lugano I admired some of the art that he had on the wall. The art work changes regularly and there is a price list for the pieces on display in the waiting room.
I know that at least some pieces do sell because about a year ago I saw a piece that I liked and was looking to purchase it for @lellabird as an anniversary gift. After consulting the price I expressed my interest in the painting but I was told: "I'm sorry, it's already sold!
Location, Location Location!
The expression location, location, location is usually applied to real-estate but in the case of art it needs to capture the eyes of those that not only appreciate it but can afford it! In this case the Dental office in question is the the wealthiest area of Lugano and caters to posh clients.
The view from all but one of the dental studios looks directly onto the lake. Would this put you in a buying mood?
Maybe not while your teeth are being drilled or pulled out!
Here is Some More of The Work That Was on Display
This piece is about 1 meter long, is hung in the hallway and lit form above.
This was my favorite piece although I didn't get a good shot of it.
I like the different shades of blue in this painting.
This painting also added color and interest to the hallway!
The artist is obviously fascinated with swirls!
What Are The Advantages of This Type of Gallery?
- The artist gets a place to show their work
- The office gets free decoration that they can change form time to time
- The work is put before the eyes of those with the means to purchase it
- The artist can leave their business cards and other sales material in the office
What Are The Disadvantages of This Type of Gallery?
- There is a lot of work involved in delivering and displaying he work
- The customers have not gone to a gallery "looking" to make a purchase
- There is no salesperson there to prod the curious customer into making a purchase.
Does This Type of Gallery Actually Work?
Depending on the location and the type of clientele or patients it could work rather well. Here is the link to an article that I found which debates the usefulness of this type of display.
What Has Your Experience Been?
- Have you ever seen art for sale in this type of setting?
- Have you ever purchase art work in this type of setting?
- If you're an artist would you consider using these offices as a gallery?
- As an artist have you made any sales this way?
I hope that you enjoyed this article which asks: " How Can Artists Sell Their Work?"
Until next time,
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
Interestingly enough, last night, I was in an Indian restaurant thinking about posting my photography there as there were a bunch of framed pictures definitely not of high quality and thought, maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't mind having some extra sceneries in their establishment...
As always, a very good posting. You keep on inspiring me to post and post more often! Thanks a lot for another good opportunity to share, namaste :)
Go for it @eric-boucher! Have you already moved?
More on the topic of moving possibly in the next post! I've been on Vancouver Island for 2 months now and there is only one thing missing, a job! Otherwise, this is it, I'm set.
Namaste :)
Hmmm a job! Surely they are in much need of a professional encourager like you!
Vancouver island is a beautiful place. I had a nice tour there about 6 years ago. Are you near Victoria?
Thanks a lot for the warm thoughts, I'm in Nanaimo, about an hour and a half from downtown Victoria. The island is a very beautiful place in deed and come back here after having lived here for 2.5 years before living up in the Northwest. What a treat!
Namaste :)
wow....great idea for exposing artist's work....sometimes one finds what one likes without looking for it....that's the best kind of acquiring...
It's a novel idea to utilize these spaces on mutually beneficial terms. Customers find the art work in a live setting and need not specially go to any gallery. And the affinity or liking so developed towards the art piece is very intuitive when you are not actually looking to purchase it. This way customer may even want to pay higher price.
In HIndi there is a saying that "jo dikhta, vahi bikta" (Only that things sell which are visible!).
I like the Hindi saying! By the way there is an Indian Cultural show in Lugano on Saturday!!!
I’ve often wonder why artwork is not sold in larger social gathers myself.
Perhaps it’s merrily because of lack of security or the art work does did not fit well with the typical cliental the venue was geared for.
I think it would be really cool if restaurants had artwork that was for sale. It help change the backdrop and give people a conversation piece every so often new to talk about.
American restaurants the lower to medium end of the scale tend to have a gumball machine, or a claw machine. I can only imagen they don’t bring in much money at all anymore; even more so, since we are starting to go more as a cashless society.
Selling a painting on the walls of where such old and classic machines are standing now would be more performed at least for me.
Imagen the kind of artwork a McDonald’s would be selling lol. Would you like a $5 painting along with your kid’s happy meal :)
"Imagen the kind of artwork a McDonald’s would be selling lol. Would you like a $5 painting along with your kid’s happy meal :)" Hahaha
Yes different venues can be used!
Why is it that artists truly become famous after being dead several decades later?
There work becomes very rare! Like when the last of the 21 million bitcoins gets minted!
That is not so comforting when these artists have mouths to feed.
My Dentist is an art collector and he has many beautiful piece of art from his collection in his studio! I think every place can be a good place to show art. I admit that I watched art exhibition in many different place as abandoned buildings and church, in the train stations, in many bookstores and yes, in the studio of my dentist :D
You and your husband are the experts in this!
Awesome art bro its make that room more beautiful resteemed and voted thank for posting this post waiting for your next post. Thanks
Hi, i think artist can be anybody, but not all of them can live from his art. So it depends by artist how many his want and how many is possible to do . All the time we choosing what to do, what the way to choose to go right. Art has no rules, everything depends on artist what a value his giving on his works.
Basic thing is to have a flow from making own art , if not, its only job for money, but not expression of life.
to be honest i have never seen or even if i have i didn't even knew about the art selling in this fashion to make a living for anyone is important and for artist this may become quite challenging sometime i guess if this thing used more and create some kind of awareness among people the word of mouth will play an important role here.
As proprietor of a small independent art gallery, I can attest that it is very difficult for an artist to make a living completely from their art. Of about 40 or so artists we have contact with, only 3-4 make significant income enough that art is their primary job.
One of the best uses of public space as art gallery I have seen was at a small hospital in Hudson, Wisconsin, which used almost the entire hospital as a public (juried) art show-- especially the waiting areas were more like a museum/art gallery than a hospital.
There were two great effects from this: excellent exposure for artists because people spend a lot of time "waiting" at hospitals, so it was "something to do," with basically a captive audience AND it served to make the hospital feel almost "homey" as opposed to cold and institutional.
A small description and price was listed next to each painting/art piece, and if you wanted to make a purchase, you simply took a small card with the identification from a holder (like a business card) to the hospital gift/snack shop and purchased it there.
I think for this kind of setting to work, both the artist and the "host" has to be interested in making it work. It's not a place for pushy sales... it's more about passive exposure; and the artist(s) and host need to really work out how art ("soothing" and "restful") is of benefit to everyone, not just a sales opportunity for the artist.
Thanks for your great and insightful comment. It's good to have feedback from someone in the know!