Protecting The Work And Prices Of Artists And Galleries

[This article was written by Grace Carter.]

Galleries and artists work hard to bring the viewer works of beauty and more often than not deal with true appreciators when buying and selling works of art. There are those out there, however, who wish to take advantage of the art world and manipulate art prices.

While there it’s hard to protect the value of paintings, there are steps art houses and indeed artists can take to help keep the value of their work safe for generations to come.

Monitor Auctions

If you know of auctions where art is regularly sold, it is worth keeping track of the types of art on offer. Taking a weekly look at catalogues and getting to know auctioneers will give you a good idea of the sellers who appear regularly and might even give you a clue where they are buying their original works from.

Of course, you don’t have to visit every auction house in person, most catalogues are available online and if you are the artist, it’s worth getting in contact with them to ask for an alert if your work comes up.

Once you know your piece is coming to auction, you have the chance to do something about it. You may have to be prepared to spend a bit of cash to keep your art at the value you expect, but in the long run this may be worthwhile. If you plan on buying your art back, then consider asking a gallery to bid on your behalf. At the very least have a minimum price you’re willing to let your art go for.

Keep Prices Realistic

While making a profit is a necessary evil, over hiking prices in a gallery can backfire spectacularly.  According to Jamie Smythe, a Graphic Designer at Paper Fellows: “If you allow the gallery to put your prices up too steeply, you’re going to have a hard time convincing art dealers to re-sell at the same price. While it’s completely acceptable to pay what the piece is worth, false pricing will not help the artist in the long run.”

A good relationship with a gallery will pay dividends as will dealing with a gallery who only works with trusted art collectors and dealers, not individuals who quickly re-sell at lower rates.

For most galleries creating a trusted relationship with an artist is advantageous for both parties and in the often underhanded world of art dealership, working together is a good way of protecting both gallery and artist.

Get Insured

You never expect the worst to happen, until it happens. Natural disasters such as floods or human errors such as fires do happen and when they do, you need to make sure you’re covered.

If you are the owner or curator of an art gallery, having the work insured is mandatory though artists might do well to argue up the cost of replacing their piece should it get damaged.

For artists wishing to insure their own work in their own studio, the matter of insuring their work can be slightly more complex.

If you are a relatively successful artist, commercially speaking, then insurance companies will look at how much you have sold your past work for and base there insurance quotes per painting on these prices. If you don’t have much of a back catalogue, you might need to consider registering yourself as a business and taking out insurance that covers you that way instead.

Belinda Bell, a Creative Manager at Write My Paper and BigAssignments said: “Many creative people do tend to cross their fingers and hope for the best but losing your work can be devastating. There’s no need to add to that misery by not receiving anything in the way of insurance compensation. Shop around and find yourself an insurer who has experience in dealing with art and artists. Ask at your local gallery for advice.”

In the high brow world of art and art galleries there is sometimes an element of guess work when it comes to protecting artists and their works but with a little research and time spent tracking work, you can do much to keep art prices where they should be and help preserve art for many more appreciators to enjoy.

Author Bio:

Journalist and Boom Essays writer Grace Carter is passionate about covering latest marketing trends. She also writes about intellectual property and cybersecurity. Grace tutors at Law Essay Help service.