When I worked in the art business, I talked on the telephone constantly. So much for the glamorous life! Who knew that cauliflower ear was an occupational hazard for art dealers? But I was moving and shaking, baby! I needed to be on that phone. I couldn’t be disconnected! My phone defined my life. I recently read a study suggesting…
Maximizing trade sales to broaden your distribution and give you more time to create art The traditional way of selling art through brick-and-mortar galleries works. But if you find yourself creating marketing materials, building websites, packing boxes, and accounting for your sales when you’d rather be painting, sculpting, or blowing glass, then it’s time to consider selling to the trade.…
Aspiring to be an art dealer? Eric Smith, CEO of Redwood Media Group gives us the scoop on how to be the next best art dealer. “So, you’ve decided to become an art dealer. What’s next? Well, let me tell you, it takes a lot of hard work, long hours, and knowledge to make it as a professional, but if…
It happened again. An artist wrote to me about a project she was offered, excited by the opportunity. She wasn’t going to be paid, mind you, but it would be “good exposure.” Ah good exposure! The two words that should make every artist cringe. I get it. Trust me, I still do things for good exposure. And I find it…
Here are a few of the ways that I’ve found artists price their work: By being so traumatized by the very question of pricing that you decide to wait for posthumous fame and hide your work – lest anyone ask the price. By having angst about it until, fortified by chardonnay, you finally decide on a number. Any number. Just…
Emerging artists with little sales and exhibition experience often struggle to find doors that will open. It’s difficult to break into the art business! In a recent interview with art superstar William Wegman, I asked him how he was able to get into an art gallery when he started out? He said, “Other artists recommended me to their galleries. I…
–By Peri Schwartz Back in 1999, when I was 25 years into my career, a good friend came to visit me at my studio. I complained bitterly to her about my lack of success in the art world. I’d experienced some success with commercial galleries, but I wasn’t getting the level of recognition I wanted, and I was disappointed and…
An artist recently spoke with me about her work. She tearfully admitted that she’d been too busy to create new work of any substance. She was afraid. Afraid she won’t be able to connect with the muse again. Afraid she’d made a choice to have a family, a proper job, and now that part of herself; that wonderful, wild artist…
