The internet has provided a whole new avenue for people who sell art, and many have set up shop exclusively online. They are very different types of business from brick and mortar galleries where you can see the art, talk to the dealer and walk out with a purchase.

If the consumer knows what they want, know what prices should be for the work, and is savvy, there are some bargains to be had online. But it is also an area where the novice would be wise to do a lot of research. If a person doesnt know the difference between an original work on canvas and a giclee print, they could lose alot of money and not even end up with a piece they want to hang on their wall. People who deal in vintage photographs or antique prints or even original oil paintings offer up art with ease, and if youve done your homework, youll be fine. The internet has also become an excellent way to search out artists you already collect. Many top galleries also sell on line and comparing prices as well as what is available makes life much easier than phone calls and tramping to galleries all over town to see pieces. Online art galleries can definitely be a convenience but only if the buyer is aware of the pitfalls. Dont worry about checking references, for possible online complaints or other issues. Its all a part of doing online business.

Just like with brick and mortar stores, an online art gallery that is thriving one day will be gone the next. Its just the way of the economy. Besides, in the gallery world, dealers dont usually accept returns from purchases. Its the same online. modern art gallery

Known as openings, receptions or previews, one of the traditional happenings at an art gallery is a type of party given the night before a show opens. Sometimes, these are events where it is by invitation only but thats always been a loose requirement. Theres no one at the door to check those invites. Some galleries even put ads in the newspaper announcing them.

Many art lovers prefer these opening rather than going in during regular hours. Its fun event that you can either linger at for the party and the people or make it just a stop on your way to another event - like dinner at a restaurant. Often, theres a lot of revelry and the mix of people is fascinating. There will be plenty of artists in jeans and funky hair right along side wealthy collectors in their designer clothes with a car and driver waiting outside. And everyone seems to get along. Its one of the great mysteries of the art world but one always assumes that all these people have one thing in common - the art work! Most galleries dont spend big money on these openings since theyve already invested in the work, the staff to manage it all and they are keeping the lights on. Expect that the usual drink fare is a sparkling water or inexpensive white wine - generally chardonnay. If there are hors doeuvres and you are hungry, dont pass up the tray that goes by as it may not come back your way again. Galleries dont over do it on the food front. Gallery owners like to think that they are going to sell something at these shows so be appreciative and look at the art whether you intend to buy or not.

Oh, and those red dots you see around the room. They mean a piece has been sold.
The smiling person will be the artist! african art gallery

As long as there have been artists who are disgruntled with gallery owners, there have been cooperative art galleries. Its one of the art worlds traditions and an interesting one too.

The reasons for cooperatives are many. One of the primary ones is that many artists resent the high percentage traditional art galleries take from the sales of works. It can be as high as 50-60% and for poor artists thats a lot of money. In a coop situation, the artist does give up some percentage of their sales toward rent and utilities but much is saved by the members of the coop doing the gallery sitting, mailing out their own invitations and doing other work usually hired done by a gallery. Sometimes, the bookwork is as simple as an annual fee and days spent working in the gallery but theres every kind of configuration to make it work. The commitment on the part of the artists is important but there is also a great camaraderie too. Each coop tries to come up with a particular manifesto of sorts to say to the world what it is they believe in. You will find coops that are all artisans who work in clay or artists who only work with multi-media imagery. Its almost like a giant collaboration yet artists remain highly individual within the group. The rules for admittance to a coop can seem strict and can be a rigorous process but thats what makes them work. Other members want to ensure that whoever they admit will be like minded and ready to make it work.

Cooperative galleries are an interesting and necessary alternative to traditional art galleries. They are time tested and a wonderful option. native american art gallery

So youve got a passion for art, think you have a good eye for art work, and think you can make a good business out of it. Youve looked and looked at galleries in your own town and in the big cities of the world. You decide to open an art gallery.

This is definitely a profession that is a labor of love. It will take all the passion, patience, and knowledge you have plus a sizable amount of money to invest and connections in place with the art community. The first two things you decide is what kind of art youre going to handle and where your gallery will be, and sometimes these two things work hand in hand. If you want to represent contemporary art, youll likely want to be in a trendier area of town. Even an area undergoing revitalization which is attracting artists. If youre going for a more traditional approach, the neighborhood will be different. Its easier to get people out in their own neighborhoods than getting them to drive across town into a dicey neighborhood. Big loft spaces are excellent for art because you have plenty of room for large pieces and for extra money, you can always rent the space out for parties. Interviewing artists and seeing their work is the next part, and youll have to have all the diplomatic skills you can muster. Artists have delicate egos and need to be nurtured until their work is at a point it is ready to show and sell. Get busy deciding whether youll be doing your own picture framing or hiring it out. Staff up. Set up the art and buy a few cases of white wine. Your first opening will be exciting. art show

Not all art galleries are high end, full of famous artists and expensive work. There are all kinds all over the world and they range from posh places in Manhattan to funky little nooks and crannies in small towns everywhere.

It doesnt take training, a certificate or anything else to open an art gallery. About the only piece of paper you need is a tax certificate and some countries dont even require that. What it requires is a love for some type of art. Visiting art galleries in foreign countries is a wonderful way to gain insight into a culture especially if you choose little places off the beaten tourists tracks. Youll find terrible paintings by people who shouldnt paint for the public and tacky sculptures made out of garbage, but in the middle of it all, there is frequently found a gem of a piece that you end up taking home and looking at for years. Art galleries are important reflections of what art means to any given culture. While youll find art in Manhattan that is slick and expensive and destined for museums, the flip side in these little mom and pop or Aunt Tillie galleries is art that is just as viable. The prices are different but what the art represents are visions by people.
Art galleries simply provide a conduit to see the work and perhaps purchase it. What one person may think of as corny or silly may delight another for years so there can never be too many art galleries. We can disagree and not like art work that we see but we need to remember that its just personal preference. In order to record visions and document a particular time in a particular culture every gallery assumes a place of importance. art gallery

Art galleries open to make money. Its that simple. While a dealer may love art, have artist friends and give money to art charities, even a wealthy dealer wants a gallery to pay for itself and make money whenever possible. People, artists in particular, often forget that an art gallery is not a benevolent organization.

One must realize when looking at galleries that it is one portion of the economy where there will always be more supply than the demand for artwork. Its competitive for an artist to become represented by a gallery and even when they are signed on, they are in store for a shock. The average commission taken by a gallery is 50% of the sale price. It can even be more. Theres good reason for this and one should look at it as a partnership agreement. The artist produces the product and then hands it over for marketing and sales. The art world is competitive and much relies on the dealers reputation and skills. He essentially has to create a market for a new artist and it is work. Not only that, it takes a staff, it takes advertising, and it takes social connections.
A good gallery is a well-oiled machine in all aspects and it doesnt come cheap. If the artist realizes that a good gallery offers them complete freedom to stay in their studio doing the work they love, then the relationship can be a good one. While a gallery owner may love art, it is also work.

Nothing is guaranteed in the art world unless youre a painting by Jackson Pollock. It is a fickle world comprised of many egos and many factors. In uncertain economic times, an art gallery is completely vulnerable to outside forces and will have to try to flow with the times to stay alive. contemporary art gallery

One trend, although it isnt necessarily recent, in the art world are to organize large art shows in big venues and invite dealers to show their wares. This has been done for years but recently, every large city seems to have at least one venue per year if not more.

A good example of the is the Armory Show in New York City. It is a legendary show that has held held every year since 1913 and is one of New Yorks premier art events. It is organized so that there is stall after stall of art and each stall is a sampling of the best work from art galleries. Consider it something of a shopping mall but only for art. Every big art gallery in the country is represented. While the Armory Show is old and historic, there are many shows in towns large and small that have spawned from the idea. There are venues where shows happen as often as every three or four months and it allows people who dont generally go gallery hopping to spend hours seeing the best representations from art galleries. For the art galleries it is a way to reach more possible customers and to show off rare works of art or new artists they feel will do well with sales. Some of these shows act as a type of weathervane for the arts and art galleries will often put forth controversial works knowing that theyll get much more attention due to the size of the show and the usual press coverage. For collectors, its a great time to take in everything at once and they will often attend these shows each day they are open …carefully searching for new or rare things to buy.

These big event shows can be found in all parts of the country and they take all times of the year. The best and biggest are, of course, in big cities but that isnt to say the smaller town ones arent fun too. asian art gallery

The major art galleries have always been located in international cities like New York, London, Paris, etc. but times are changing - well, a little anyway.

The big cities will continue to be the art meccas of the world for several reasons. There a high concentration of potential buyers for work, many artists live in these cities because they like art communities and having the ability to live and work along side other artists, and these cities attract tourists who also look and buy art. In recent years, there have been very high end galleries open outside these cities and in some of what might seem like oddest areas. But on closer look, theres a logical reason. As the Wall Streeters, wealthy baby boomers and trust fund babies tired of the fast pace of city life, they move into more rural areas. Some are more like resort areas but some arent at all. Like minded dealers eventually followed them and opened art galleries with far more contemporary and high end art than most small towns ever expected to see. Financially, its works. Rents are lower, spaces are bigger, many patrons are only around on weekends so the galleries are only open for a few days over the weekend and the work still sells. Also contributing to this are the older, successful artists who no longer feel the need to live and work in the city. Even artists like Jasper Johns and others of his level now live in rural areas. Some of them even show at local galleries.

Whether this trend will continue is unknown. Certainly with the financial downturn in recent years and the lowering of real estate values, some of the towns that were posh are now fraying around the edges. art dealer

Art galleries are in the business of selling art, but they assume some other roles and one of them is investment advisor. This service is generally reserved for good customers with whom a gallery has a long term or strong relationship and is one based on mutual trust.

Even for seasoned collectors the market can often be a tricky one. The prices of art work goes up and down much like the stock market, and regardless of a collectors own knowledge, there are times when having some advice or good conversation about a purchase is very welcomed. At times, art galleries or art dealers fill this position. It isnt as though you can walk in the door and get this type treatment. It comes with a relationship that has been carefully developed. A good dealer can advise a client on such things as fakes, misinterpreting facts, over paying or even underselling an art object. There are times when the art gallery isnt even involved in the transaction but gaining the collectors long term trust is an important enough tool for future sales that dealers will often assume the task anyway. It forms a bond for which a collector is grateful and will make purchases in order to repay the dealer in some way. In the high end art world, there are relatively few citizens and everyone knows everyone so advice is taken and given quite seriously. An art gallerys reputation can rest on an event that didnt even involve a sale.

Art galleries and art dealers are vital to an art collectors vision of what he or she wants to accomplish and it doesnt always involve a sale. The two share knowledge and a pure love for art. contemporary art gallery