Discussion With an Art Gallery Owner

A Confidential Discussion With
an Art Gallery Owner

An Art Marketing Message from
Eric Rhoads, Art Magazine u!lisher

Just recently I had the chance to sit quietly over dinner with a major player in
the art gallery business. We've become great friends, and are close enough that
we can share our deepest problems, issues, and concerns. It's wonderful to be
so close with someone that you can share confidences to get an opinion or
advice.

In our conversation the gallery owner offered some words of wisdom I thought
needed to be shared with artists. I have permission, as long as I don't share the
name of the gallery owner. These are insights that I thin will help you, as an
artist, further your art career when it comes to galleries.

When I ased what determines who gets into this owner's gallery !! one of the
most coveted galleries in "merica !! it was not the answer I was e#pecting.

In my "rt $areting %oot &amp' series of ()(s, I address specific strategies
about how to get into an art gallery. %ut lo and behold, I learned something I'd
never thought about.

We"re Watching
*verything The gallery owner went on to tell me that the gallery pics and
chooses artists by reputation, which is e#pected. They want whoever is hot.
What was not e#pected from this gallery is that they are watching artists at
every turn, and are seeing artists who are good at self!promotion.

#eeking Great romoters
+We've reali,ed that we're in this together with the artists,+ he told me. +If they
are great promoters, we want them in our gallery because we're great
promoters too. The combination is powerful. Too many artists want us to do all
the heavy lifting, but we have discovered that their promotion is also
important. If they prove to us they are good at promoting themselves, we now
that we can be twice as successful than if we have to do all the wor.+

-e went on, +We watch everything they do. We watch the advertising artists are
doing in various art journals, we watch who is showing up as finalists in various
art competitions, and we're looing at the consistency of their wor, their
ability to tell their story, and of course we watch their behavior.+ -e told me
that they had waled away from artists because of some of the things those
artists are posting on .aceboo, Instagram, or Twitter.

$hey %a&e to #ell 'our (mage
+We have to be able to sell them,+ the gallerist said. +If they are posting bad
paintings, half!finished wors, their bad party photos, or their political
opinions, we avoid them lie the plague. We have to sell them to responsible
collectors, and the image they create for themselves is everything. "rtists are
on social media sites saying, '-ey, loo at me,' and don't reali,e they are hurting
themselves.+ -e suggested that artists need to edit, that not every painting is a
good one, and that too much bad wor is showing up online. -e also suggested
that those who don't craft their image carefully are hurting themselves.

%ow to Disco&er Artists
+We don't really want established stars alone,+ he said. +We want to mae our
own stars, so we're constantly on the looout for artists who are unnown but
are doing good wor. We can build their brand, build their collector base, and
build their pricing over time.+ -e went on to say he especially watches who is
winning, and even entering, art competitions, because they're a great place to
discover unnown talent. +We spend time browsing the winners and finalists of
these competitions, because a lot of the people entering are trying to be
discovered. $aybe they don't have the money to maret themselves yet, maybe
they don't have a gallery yet. We watch every competition to see the
consistency of their wor. *ven if they are not winning, but just finalists or
even entrants.+

$he )ne*+ected Way Galleries Are Watching 'ou
This gallery owner continued, +If I were an artist wanting to be discovered, I'd
enter every art competition I could. It only costs them a few dollars, but we
watch month to month, and if we see the same people, they tend to grow on
us. We've piced up several great unnowns by watching art competitions.+

I'd never have e#pected to hear this.

,i&e $hings 'ou #hould -e Doing As an Artist
%ased on my conversation with this gallery owner, here are five things you need
to be doing as an artist/

. Carefully Craft 'our (mage/
0our online presence matters. 1alleries may not be +friends,+ yet may see your
posts through visits or connections. $ae sure the things you post are supportive
of a positive image for you. 2esist posting those drunen moments with your
head in the toilet. It may seem lie fun at the time, but the gallery owner I
spoe with !! and others !! will write you off at that moment.

. Edit What 'ou ost/
3ess is more. *very painting is not good. $ost painters are lucy to get one good
painting out of 45. %e careful what you post. The gallery owner suggested
getting third!party opinions on wors before posting them because you're
probably too close to judge your wor objectively.

. -e Careful A!out rogress #hots/
This gallery owner said he was often turned off by painters who show wors in
progress because it often isn't good wor yet. 6osting an unfinished painting
tends to be damaging to an artist's reputation among those who see it and don't
understand that there's a lot more wor to be done.

. Enter E&ery Art Com+etition, E&ery $ime/
This gallerist is watching, and says others are as well. -e suggests entering
paintings in competitions every month because it increases your chances of
winning and getting noticed. +We loo for patterns of success,+ he said. +If
someone eeps winning, we see them out. %ut they don't have to win. We loo
at entries too, and loo for painters who are innovative and consistent. It's lie
a catalog of unnown artists to us. " great resource.+

romote 'ourself/
7ot only is promotion good for you and your art career, and for selling
paintings, this gallery reveals that they love people who are good at self
promotion. %y doing so you're showing that you mae a good business partner
who will help them sell your art.

"rt galleries are looing for advantages, and those advantages often come from
discovering new artists who will sell. It's a good idea to manage your career as
though galleries are watching your every move, watching social media,
watching your website, seeing your newsletters 8even if they're not on your list,
newsletters are often forwarded by friends9, and watching art competitions.

*ric 2hoads

6:/ I also learned that at least one artist who continually enters
our PleinAir:alon was discovered by this gallery owner, who has been watching
the results. (on't let the PleinAir name fool you/ The :alon includes landscape,
figurative, still life, studio, and plein air painting !! the name comes from its
association with PleinAir maga,ine. The grand pri,e is ;4<,555, and there is
;=4,555 in pri,es overall, plus lots of monthly winners of other pri,es. The
current competition ends on :eptember >5. It taes two minutes to enter and
upload your best paintings. 3ast day to enter? *nter now
at www.pleinairsalon.com.
Streamline Publishing, Inc., 1901 S. Congress Ave., Ste. 118, Boynton Beach, F !!"#$
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