Art suggestions for gallery

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dandydon07
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Art suggestions for gallery

Post by dandydon07 »

Hi All,
Looking for some advice on art for my shop/gallery in Aberdeen.

During these difficult times I have decided to re-evaluate the way I want to run my business.

I have dealt with artwork before which hasn’t always worked but I put that down to stocking the artwork I like instead of what is ‘in’ at the moment.

I see art is doing extremely well with the top artists, but I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on the type of art I could take in?
I have dealt with mainly local artists that paint local scenes but find the public are mainly looking for more modern artwork now.

As I have been left with a lot of stock previously I would prefer to take things in on a sale or return basis.
Does anyone know if there’s companies out there that offer this service and maybe swap artwork out every few months?

Apologies if I’ve not worded this post correctly but hopefully you all understand what I’m trying to ask.

Thanks for any advice and hope everyone is staying safe.

Ian
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Not your average framer »

I think that not all art is holding it's value very well in this present crisis and art buyers will be reassessing what is worth buying according to how well it is likely to retain it's value in these difficult times. In affluent times a lot of things will sell according to what is fashionable, because money is plentiful, but fashion it a bit of a luxury, when money becomes more scarce.

I used to do a bit of repairing antiques, so I know a little bit about antiques, maybe not as much as some, but antiques have generally held their value to some extent due to their rarity. Things which are hard to come by are generally more expensive that things which more easy to come by. Artist which have been dead a while are not going to be producing any new original works of art, so the total number of their original works of art is all that is and all there ever will be.

In short, there is a limited availability of work by such artists and as long as there is a good level of demand for their work, customers will probably recognise that this might be a safe haven in which to invest their money in these difficult times. It is therefore that I am suggesting that you look to stock original artwork by big name artists, who are no longer producing new original artworks. I would be interested to hear what you think of my logic about this.
Mark Lacey

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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by dandydon07 »

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your reply.

I understand what you are suggesting but ‘original artwork by big names artists’ sounds like big bucks to me.

I am a framer first and foremost and usually busy enough to keep me going but as I have a retail shop with plenty wall space it makes sense to have something on the wall for the potential extra income.

Will see if any other member have any suggestions.

Thanks,

Ian
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Steve N »

I would champion local artist, not necessarily local views , just look on Instagram, for local artists, art trails, they are producing a wide rang of work look for original and also prints, I'm have a few bits of work in at the moment, all from local artists, brought by local people, it's becoming the "in thing" to support local independent business ( local artists are local business )

Also think about after all this is over, get some local artists etc to hold workshop, at your place, even after school art clubs for the kids, I working with a local gallery, in the town where I used to be based before relocating, they are taking in custom framing orders, but before this virus, they were running workshops, after school art clubs, weekend art demo, workshops, it's fantastic

Have you heard about the Artist Pledge, where artist , craft workers and makers, pledge to sell thier work, when they have sold £1000.00 worth, they buy £200.00 from other artists, craters and makers,
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi Ian,

What you say makes perfect sense. Are you able to identify what would be the price range which customers are likely to currently pay for artwords in these present difficult times? If so, this might be very helpful to you, as it may define for you what is worth aiming to stock in terms of it's retail value. As for what subject matter would work best for you to be stocking, well that's another issue and I'm not really sure how you would determine that.
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi Iam,

I don't know about you, but I get approached by artists, who are looking for somewhere to display and sell their art. Maybe it's the same for you. Unfortunately most of my local artists that have approached me, have so far not been very realistic in terms of what will work for both them and me. Many seem to have already framed their artwork in old frames that they have got from charity shops and junk shops and are not interested in having me re-frame these properly. Also some seem to think that they can still cut me out of the deal and sell the same artwork via the internet, leaving me with any frame which I have made and just to walk away from any deal they may have made with me. As a result, none of this has so far been very helpful to me. Added to this, my insurance company are not prepared to insure anything on my premises, which is not owned by me, so at the moment this idea is currently going nowhere at all for me. I sell a few ready made frames, deep box frames, display boxes, plus a few framed prints.

In terms of sales volumes and money coming in from this. It ticks over, but is not what you would call of major significance. I used to get some useful tourist trade at one time, but the tourist trade is almost non existent these days and has been so since the credit crunch of 2008. Most of the town's businesses, which were heavily dependent on the tourist trade have long since gone out of business. Selling anything which is ready to go, depends a lot up on it being something both very special and stunning. I avoid anything which can be even remotely be considered as " run of the mill" type stuff, like the plague. It's very largely the niche end of the market, which really works for me. I do quite a lot of hand finished, of semi hand finished stuff with a good amount of stacked moulding type frames as well. I try hard to be creating things which are different, as stuff like this gets noticed. I make a bit of a big thing about doing various things inspired by the techniques and ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement and I am also well known for my vintage style rustic style frames and mirrors.

It's also been a rather long learning curve finding out, what still will sell around here. I also make silly amounts of old looking stacked moulding frames made out of mainly pine mouldings, which local people buy as part of their craft projects which are to sell on the internet. There's a lot of local people, who are making all sorts of things for selling on the internet and I try really hard to supply in to this market. What I now depend up on selling to make a living, is very different to what it was about 12 years ago. It's a lower volume of sales and much more quality oriented prices and I'm finding that customers will pay more, if something is special enough. For me, special is really what it's all about in these times!
Mark Lacey

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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by dandydon07 »

Yes I have in the past offered wall and window space to artists and we agreed on a commission.
I would frame their art work whatever way they require and if the artwork sells, we take the commission and frame costs off the total however if the artwork doesn’t sell they have to pay for the framing. I thought that was a good deal for everyone involved.

Everything was agreed but my big mistake was that I didn’t make up a contract and our deal was a ‘verbal contract’

When they came to take away their artwork they refused to pay for the framing and stated that there was no contract in place and they aren’t required to pay anything.
I was then left with a frame that was no use and therefore decided not to offer that service anymore.

I hadn’t long started the business so was probably naive in thinking people wouldn’t rip me off but several years down the line I think I could potentially try it again.....but with contracts in place.
I wonder if anyone on here offers similar and would be willing to send me a copy of the information/contract they send out to the artists?

I do like the idea of offering wall and window space to local artists but want to make sure I’m covered this time around.
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by prospero »

I second all that Mark says. Some budding artists have not really got a grasp on the business side and tend to behave in a
very unprofessional manner. If you sell their work or X£s and deduct a commission, they will sell direct and only charge the
equivalent of what they get from you. This is very bad, but they can't seem to understand why.
It's sad that some do very fine work but put it in any old frame. I try and advise them that a properly presented painting will
demand a good price but you get comments like, "people won't pay that". Very often you'll take in work and offer it for sale
and they will ring up every day saying, "Have you sold any yet?....".
Youi have to establish a price structure from the outset. You have to knock into them the principle that if you sell a work for
£500, then they must sell equivalent work for the same price. You earn your commission from getting as much as you can and
thus furthering their career. If they pull the rug out under you then that does no one any good. :evil:
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Not your average framer »

I find trying to do business with local artist deeply frustrating. They not only are extremely happy to undercut you to get a sale, but will even undercut there own prices to secure a sale. I've never made any money whatsoever from being able to sell artworks from local artists in all of the time that I have been trading.

There's also the feeling that they don't like the idea that you might be making money out of selling their art and somehow equate this with you stitching them up somehow. For me the whole idea was a total waste of my time and I won't be thinking of trying it again, any time soon. Making other items to sell, other than picture frames does at least work, even if it's harder work.
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by prospero »

I fully agree as I am an artist myself and therefore can see things from the other perspective. :P

I never begrudge paying commission on a sale. The gallery or agent (if they are any good) will have a portfolio of
clients to sell to. It is in their interest to get the most for your work and advance your career. A good agent will
do at lot more than sit on their bum and take the money.
The good thing is that if I sell from my gallery then I am in fact acting as my own agent and collect the 'commission'. :lol:

It's a cost of doing business and if an artist doesn't appreciate this then they aren't going to get very far, no matter how good
the work is.

* Some high-profile galleries charge 90% + commission. Sounds extreme, but they generally have massive overheads. An artist
doesn't have to pay Bond Street rates and all the associated costs. They might sell a painting for £100K. You get 10. As long as
you know that and accept it then they aren't being greedy or ripping anyone off. :D
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Gesso&Bole »

I no longer have a gallery, as I work from home, but I can definitely say that I haven't missed hanging artist's work.

Having said that, I have had some significant success and some major frustrations with selling artist's work over the years.

Here's my thoughts.

There are two types of artist that framers/small galleries generally come across.

Those that are minded to sell, and those that are too busy being artists to ever sell their work in any quantity.

By this I mean in order to sell pictures regularly the artist needs to be reasonably business-like in terms of what they produce, and how they present it, in terms of sizes, current trends, price-points and availability of product. In other words, they need to be able to see their work as a 'product' that needs to be packaged, and priced in such a manner as to make it saleable.

If they are not able to see that my framing is a significant part of the proposition, then I won't get involved.

The successful deals that I have offered artists have been along the lines of;

1) Everything displayed on my walls is 100% framed by me, and to my professional standards.
2) The framing specification is agreed between framer and artist, but will be 'aspirational' (in other words I can use the art on the wall to upsell framing orders)
3) We agree a price that I will pay the artist when I sell the art.
4) We agree a minimum period of time before the artist can take the picture back (3 months usually)
5) We agree the price the artist has to pay for the framing if they take the picture back (somewhere between cost and trade price)

This approach has worked reasonably well, but does still end in tears with some artists.

My strong advice would be not to hang ANYTHING on your shop/gallery walls that isn't framed to a standard that you are hoping that your framing customers will choose. Some interesting local/individual artwork presented beautifully will help you to sell good framing, even if you never actually sell the pictures.
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by dandydon07 »

Some very good information/suggestions there and ones I totally understand and have come across myself.

I even had the idea of ‘renting’ out my window and wall space space but decided against it as it gives the artist the idea that they can hang whatever they want and in whatever frame it’s already in.
I guess I could put stipulations in there but as you’ve put it, that could end in tears.

Will keep thinking about options but at the end of the day, it’s my business and if I put together an ‘offer’ to budding artists then they can take it or leave it.
I always believe that if they themselves believed in their own work then they would be happy to pay for the framing to get it up on the shop wall, and then in turn pay the commission agreed.
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by GeoSpectrum »

Have a good Rummage on Instagram. See
What is popular. In my experience
It’s contemporary landscapes and abstracts. Don’t worry about local scenes, good quality is the place to be.

You can show some of mine if you like!

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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Framerpicture »

I run a gallery and Gesso and Bole's advice is good.

If you have a window try regularly changing your display, people will notice and might well attract more artists and/or more framing.
Most artist offer work in galleries on commission (sale or return) I'd suggest choosing artist's who you think are ''good enough' rather than you necessarily like, have more than 1 piece available to view and be prepared to talk! Get as much background information about the artist, the way they paint etc and find the best way to relay this during the sales process. Some customers point and say 'I'll have it' but even those often like to have more information about the artist, when offered.

Try changing styles/price points until you find which sort of pieces are engaging with your customer. We currently sell more oils than watercolours but original prints are doing well at the moment,but all these things change .If you're selling, artists will approach you soon enough and your window is great advert, as all the pictures will have been framed by you or to at least your standards. Commission stock is in-effect on loan and hopefully you've convinced the artist that the beautiful frame they've just bought from you will sell it in your gallery!

But I've also been known to provide frames for paintings to hang on our gallery walls and we only receive the funds if and when the picture sells . If it does we then get full retail price for the frame, but it's more of a gamble as I don't insist on the artist having to buy the frame from me when they are due to take a picture away from the gallery



Of course a lot of all this depends on your location and the demographic of your customers and I guess, your desire to sell art!
Good luck with whatever you do :D
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Not your average framer »

In my part of Devon, I have seen some Galleries come and go. Probably the most common reason for change has been retirement, but it is a fairly specialist market and there are some who have very definitely got their fingers on the pulse and know what's happening and how to run things really well. You may be forgiven for thinking that many are selling artworks mainly produced by local artists, but this is not always true. Some artists selling well around here can come from a very long way away from here. I know a few Devon gallery owners personally and many of them are collectors and even artists themselves and plenty of them have a very different feel for what they are looking for than is always what you might expect. Not all are framers as well as selling art, but some are. Many of the fairly sucessful galleries, are not framers themselves at all and from time to time go out on buying trips looking for stock. I tried a bit of this in the earier days of my business, but it's not a very easy thing to do. You really have to have a nose for finding the right stuff.

I have been told where some of these owners have tended to go looking. It's a mixture of auctions and other places. There are a couple of auctions down the far end of Cornwall. I can't remember the names of both of them, but one is called David Lay and this is the cheaper one of the two auctions. It's a mixture of old with a few new items as well from time to time. Some Newlyn, St Ives and other artists from the general area, sell some artworks there at times. The Cotswolds and the railings along one side of Hyde park in London were popular buying locations, I don't know if this is still true after Covid. I have personally bought older artworks to restore and sell from more local general auctions, but times change and I have not done this since my stroke. I would not claim to be an expert at this and use to indulge in a bit of cutting up larger painting to produce tryptichs as these seem to sell quite well. I have noticed that there is a bit of a market for tryptichs and small pictures, which make up sets. It has a certain appeal with interior designers and also with customer looking for items with a decorative intrest.

I used to run a second hand bookshop, which also sold mounted prints, book plate and engravings and I got the idea of selling small sets of prints as this was popular with my customers from this shop and I also sold mounted sets of prints at a local auctions as well. It was during this time, that I discovered the interior designer's connection and I've tended to stay with it a bit since them. Since becoming a picture framer, the interior design market has changed from mounted prints to mounted and framed prints , often while employing hand finished and stacked moulding frames. Coordinated frames with sets of artworks, or with tryptichs is a very definite winning connection which sells steadily into the interior design market. It is a market that you have to be fairly comfortable with, professional interior designers are always looking to buy everything at the right price and there is commonly an expectation that you will be open to some measure of negociating of prices. I always assumed that these people would be a good market for framed mirrors, but they buy them from specific suppliers and I can't get anywhere near their prices.

Is the interior design market likely to be something, which could work well with the art gallery market? I don't know! I suspect that it might not appeal particularly to many, or even most gallery owners, but a large part of the art market has interior design connections and possibilities, so maybe it's the way that it is presented to different potential markets, that makes it a possibility that might be a good fit into an existing business looking for something new and perhaps a little different as well. It seems to work reasonable well for me, but it largely came about in an unplanned, almost acidental way and I never had much of a plan about where his could be going. I recognise that most other businesses have some sort of idea about how they want to see things developing in to the future and I never had that. I often seemed to be surviving by the skin of my teeth and largely took the money from anywhere I could get it. Actual business strategy only came along much later.
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by sisters »

Buckingham fine arts would do a swap for what you couldnt sell
but i havent seen a rep for around 3 years so no idea if they still do
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Not your average framer »

Whilst that may be true, is that really an answer to the real problems which some art galleries are like to be facing. There has more than likely been a major shift what's happening in the real world and the world which many of our business models were designed to work with. What happen, whena large part of our stock for our businesses are no longer selling like they were originally were doing so.

I think that the answer might be a completely new business strategy, which could well include selling of the dead stock for what ever it can still be sold for. This very likely will involve selling at a loss, but eventually that dead stock may eventually become impossible to sell even at a reduced price. If it's true that gallery businesses are feeling under pressure at this time, perhaps it's better to sell some deal stock now to provide to extra cash to give you the cash to re-capitise the business and make any necessary changes to get through what's ahead in better shape.

The main problem is that customers are re-assessing their financial options and will some still have good reserves of cash, they are choosing not to spend like the did before. This current phase may not last forever, but businesses need to remain solvent during however long this unfortunate phase may still have to run. Maybe some of this dead stock can be slowly fed in to some auction sales to at least yeid a bit of useful income, while weathering the storm.

I'm not really an art gallery, but mostly just a picture framer who also makes various bits and pieces on the side, but I'm already changing my plans to get through these hard times. I think that a lot of us will be needing to make some quite significant adjustments to how we do business, if we are going to survive this. Now is a pretty good time to be working on a plan B, I would think.
Mark Lacey

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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Gesso&Bole »

What are you basing the above comments on Mark? I thought you weren’t trading at the moment.
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Not your average framer »

Well I have not closed by business and I am still purchasing some stock items, paying my overheads and I have done a bit of making some frames for one of my regular customers. I'm not currently working as normal, it just does not make very much sense right now. It is extremely cold in the shop and heating it at the moment is not completely practical, so I go down in to my shop when the temperatures are not so severe and when my health is up to working in colder temperatures. My premises are very old and not easy to keep warm. Also the shop needs to be sorted out quite a lot more, before it is fully useable as it's still somewhat a work in progress. I am technically trading, but only at a limited level.
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Re: Art suggestions for gallery

Post by Max Roberts »

Art is a three letter word, but represents so many different things! The majority of Framer galleries will be selling "Decorative" art and as such, if you want to successfully cater for that market, you're going to have to identify your buying clientele & find out what's the decor that they want. Sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many of us, me included sometimes don't do our homework properly. You have to remember that the Castle Gallery/ Whitewall galleries of this world without any disrespect, are basically marketing companies and the commodity happens to be art, so if you want a Bob Dylon, you know where to go! In the same way that Ikea caters for a different market. They do it very well. The majority of us don't have the luxury of marketing budgets, but we also can't be everything for everyone. My advice would be to look at lots of the work your customers are bringing in. There's a clue there and though dealing in high end value work is risky and demands far more than sticking a picture up on your wall and hoping someone will come in and buy, set a theme and style for your gallery space in the artworks you display and tweak it gradually until you feel comfortable and your customer base do too. Is that a bit vague? Probably, but there isn't any quick success route. Each gallery is different and it's not easy, but go for it!!
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