Hello,
We are new to the Art Fair Insiders community, although we have used the site for several years to find shows to apply for. Our problem is that we're not artists - we represent our cousin's late husband, who painted 200 paintings (in acrylic on canvas) while he had cancer in the last year of his life. He painted them so that our cousin (who is handicapped and disabled) would be able to sell them to supplement her disability income. She cannot do the legwork, so we have purchased a tent, a trailer, racks, etc. as a labor of love for her. We are both retired and live on a fixed income, but we are willing to pay the application & booth fees, and even offer NOT to be juried. We just want to be allowed to sell his paintings. We have been denied for more shows than we have been accepted, and it is harder and harder to find a show to participate in, even when we explain our extenuating circumstances! We've been told that it wouldn't be fair to the other artists exhibiting their work, but we can't believe that they would be so insecure or hard-hearted as to deny us the opportunity to present his work. We are not trying to take prize money or recognition away from them; we're just trying to give a family member a better life. We'd love to hear your comments and opinions on how and where to sell his art!
Replies
I'll stand by the 8 suggestions I made to sell the work and I wouldn't discount the E-Bay suggestion. I have a friend who buys a lot of really good art work on E-Bay. For a while, he got good pieces at rock bottom prices because not a whole lot of people thought of E-Bay as a place to buy anything good. Lately other collectors have found E-Bay and the prices are much higher. The ironic part of this is that it might cost you as much to sell these paintings as you get for them. That's something to think about. Another problem is that you know nothing about art, meaning you don't really know how good they are. That's not a put down. That's a fact. I think Robin's idea of taking them to an auction house to get appraised would be a good idea. It will cost you for the appraisal, so, make sure you take it to a reputable appraiser because you want to get an honest and accurate appraisal. Who knows? Maybe he had a unique talent. The storyline of the fact that he was prolific at the end of his life is compelling. Maybe the "expert" will tell you that there are a thousand others equally as good and they aren't worth much. At least you'll know. That doesn't mean there isn't a market for the paintings. If you want to get into the note card business, either take the paintings directly to a card company, a company that makes prints, or, have them printed yourself. Then be prepared to have a booth at a gift show like the one at the Javitts Center and sell them wholesale or take orders and ship them. This has a learning curve and could be expensive. If you don't want to get that elaborate get a table at a local gift show or flea market. Do not take that as a negative. Have a home show. Invite all your friends, all his friends, and all their friends. Surely the people who know the situation and knew the person would buy the originals.
Mr. Bernstein: You wrote "Another problem is that you know nothing about art, meaning you don't really know how good they are. That's not a put down. That's a fact."
The fact is that my husband and I have been collecting art for more than 20 years - from art shows, galleries, art auctions, etc. Our collection includes original paintings, prints and sculptures by Picasso, Rembrandt, Dali, Kraznansky, Tarkay, Peter Max, Marcel Mouly, Wyland, Marc Chagall, Nano Lopez, James Coleman, Leslie Lew, Ilkin Deniz, ...just to name a few that you might recognize. We LOVE art, and have been to more art lectures, museums, art shows, galleries, and art auctions than we can count. That is why, when our cousin showed us her late husband's paintings, we thought that they were so good that we could sell them for her. The paintings we have for sale, in our humble opinions, are better than 50% of the paintings we've seen at art shows! We have had art teachers ask if they can take pictures of the art (with their phones) to show their students how water and skies should be painted. We've had other artists tell us how good his work is. BUT, as someone has said, art is subjective and people tend to buy what they like, in a price range that they can afford, which is why we should probably make prints and sell them for a more reasonable price. If someone really wants an original, they'll be available for sale too.
When we first started trying to sell the paintings we approached Baterby's Art Gallery & Auction House in Orlando, FL. We gave them eight originals to auction off - they sold 4 at $100 each, leaving us with $50 each after their commission. Then we went to the "World's Longest Yard Sale" in Tennessee, because our cousin lives there. We knew it wasn't a venue for "fine art," but we thought it was worth a shot. We sold one original for $200. Our next sale was at the Halifax Art Festival in Daytona Beach, where they let us exhibit in the "non-competitive" category. We sold two originals there for $250 each. We have exhibited at Blueberry Festivals, Strawberry Festivals, Centennial Celebrations, Arts & Craft Festivals - any place that would let us in. We've paid hundreds of dollars in application and booth fees, with no guarantee of a sale. However one collector, who saw the paintings at a local arts & crafts festival, has purchased six of his originals. And you're right about people who knew the artist - just recently one couple who worked with him (way back when), purchased an 11" x 14" original for $700, just because they wanted one of his works to remember him by, and to help his widow. Another friend on facebook purchased a 16" x 20" original for $750. We tried Ebay a few years ago, without success - possibly, as I mentioned before, because the amateur pictures we took of them did not capture the color and depth of the paintings. We know that people love his work, and we wanted a more "professional" place to sell them (i.e., art shows), but we now know that the rules will not allow us to do that (in most cases).
After considering all of the suggestions we've received from gracious responders, who have taken time out of their busy days to give us constructive advice, we have realized that we'll have to "bite the bullet" and make an investment in professional scans/photos/prints of the originals, and continue to try to sell them at street fairs and other such events. Maybe we'll even try the internet again, when we have better photos to submit, or try to contact some nearby galleries. Thank you all, again, for your input. We wish you all the best!
Just a comment and question, how many pieces of this work are there? I had never heard of this Artist before this blog, actually I still don't know his name, better known artists would fetch a greater price I'm sure. I believe the auction prices were fair, if sold as a group you might get a higher price, the point is you sell most of them at once no more "peddling". If you go with Ebay again set a reserve. I realize you have a story behind this art but not everybody is going to buy a painting for charitable reasons, in the end it might cost you more to sell these paintings than anyone is willing to pay for them.
"...in the end it might cost you more to sell these paintings than anyone is willing to pay for them." That's a possibility, but we would at least like the opportunity to sell them. I know, I know... we can sell them any place but an art show. It's the "rule" - I get it.
BTW, we have 135 original paintings left.
Why would you want to go to the trouble of an Art Show? What were you planning to do after all the paintings were sold?
I don't think you do get it, suppose you made Cuckoo Clocks, made them all your life, spent hours and hours hand carving them, traveling and selling them. One day a booth went up next to yours selling the same Cuckoo clocks, the people selling the Cuckoo Clocks just received them as an inheritance from their Uncle in Germany who had died suddenly. These people didn't have a "place" to keep them, or a castle to hang them in so they wanted to sell them for as much money as they could. Wouldn't you be upset?
What you are basically saying is that the Artists here are being selfish and unreasonable.
Artists put their life into the work they do, then hang it up for criticism or praise from anyone who cares to comment. You can not begrudge the Artists here for their
talent, talent is earned with hard work.
Trust me, you will get a lot more for these paintings and save a lot of your own money by finding a good Auctioneer.
Please don't put words in my mouth. I never said anything about Artists being "selfish" or "unreasonable," or "begrudge" anyone for their talent or hard work.
I agree with all the response I read, I didn't read them all. Another suggestion would be through an Art Auction House, this looks like quality work and I'm sure they would fetch a good sale for you. I would definitely have them scanned and printed as well.
Selling at an Art Show when you are not the Artist is breaking the rules of ethics.
Ellen, it seems to me that you didn't research art fairs thoroughly enough when you decided how to sell the paintings. What you want to do is against the rules and none of us who are professionals want to see the rules changed just to accomodate someone. Also, the overhead is tremendous and many shows WILL turn you down regardless of how great you think the work is - excellent artists are rejected constantly. There is a steep learning curve for learning where to sell, how to display, how to price, etc. You have been given some excellent suggestions here - I especially like Geoffs idea about generating publicity and also the idea of prints. I'm all in favor of prints as long as they're not at an art fair! Here's one more idea: an art fair might let you in on the basis of your story and give you a separate area - not in line with juried artists. This is sometimes done for art groups, children's work, etc. I think that's fine as long as it's in a separate area. I wish you success - selling art isn't easy.
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement, Barbara.
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