On Buying Artwork from a Gallery

Stereotypes

Oh the abject horror of it all – going to a gallery to look perchance buy some art. Or maybe you saw a beautiful painting through the window and wanted to get a closer look. Unfortunately there was this tweedy little man/woman with over-sized horn rimmed glasses perched on a pinched face that looked you over and sniffed like they had walked into an odiferous bathroom. What a cliché.

As funny as that is, and a lot of times taken for gospel, it is simply not true. Most gallery owners and their staff are wonderful people. They come in all shapes, sizes, and temperaments. Their dual purpose in life is to seduce you with the art they carry and then follow through and close the sale for cash. Just like any other retail merchant. And hopefully come back again for more.

The major difference between a hardware merchant and a gallery owner is that you know most of what is in the hardware store and how it is used and that all the brand names are about the same. All the chain saws work the same, cut wood, and cost about the same. In a gallery same-sized paintings and sculptures can be wildly different. Some of the artists have a bigger brand name than others. It seems that in a gallery the whole affair is rigged against you.

Relax. All of the items mentioned above can be true – but probably are not relevant. Art is what you like, what you are comfortable with, and what you can afford. Over time your tastes will change – you will sell the art that you are dissatisfied with and buy new art. It is a delightful process not a destination set in concrete.

What to look for in a Gallery

First talk to friends with similar interests. Do they have a few galleries that they rave about? Visit their favorites. Check out gallery websites. Most galleries now have web sites so that you can do a quick check to see if you are interested in their offerings. Most galleries keep their web sites up-to-date. Galleries in different cities can be seen at the Archer Exchange (www.ArcherExchange.com), Art-Collecting.com (http://www.art-collecting.com), and ArtNet (http://www.artnet.com/) for example.

Every gallery is also different. Certain items though are fairly standard. They have a knowedlgable staff who knows about the art and artists. The gallery should have some stock that is not on the sales floor, that the staff is willing to show you. Some inventory (maybe as much as 25%) is in storage in the back room waiting to rotate out onto the sales floor later. Most galleries accept debit cards, credit cards, personal checks and travellers checks. Many galleries also have extended payment plans for larger purchases.

The Actual Visit

Visiting a gallery is wonderful. You get to explore a lot of new ideas at once. You get to see the gallery owners’ taste in art, how he displays it, and how he groups different art together. Lots of ideas to work with and assimilate.

Some galleries only show figurative work (paintings and sculptures that are centered on people, animals, or nature). Some galleries only show abstract work (everything else). Finally there are galleries that show both in the same room. That takes quite a personality and talent to juggle disparate styles and make it look like absolutely gorgeous not jarring.

Afraid of being swooped down upon by a bevy of sales assistants that cannot seem to leave you alone? Attend artists opening nights, Third Thursday events, First Friday events, etc. On these nights the galleries are usually fairly full of lookers and buyers. You will not be molested by the spikey-haired sales assistants (if this creature still exists); they are to busy. At these gallery events you can see several open galleries in one evening. Makes a great date as well as seeing a wide variety of art. A word of caution though – visit only two or three galleries in an evening. You can overload on the art and not remember what you saw where. That would be terrible!

Going to galleries can be a lot of fun. Go and have some fun. You will see some great art and some so-so art. But you will come away with a better idea of what you like and why you like it. That is the first step in buying art. Enjoy!

copyright 2007 Carl Wright

Public Art in Algonquin, IL

It has been an exciting week. Left Monday to go to Algonquin, IL (30 miles west of Chicago) to deliver the two sculptures shown at left.

Near the brick building is Motion - an 18" x 18" x 24" high sculpture - weighing in at about 600 lbs. On the black pedestal is Eihei - a 9" x 15" x 40" tall sculpture - weighing in at about 350 lbs.

Arrived in Algonquin Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning two Algonquin City employees Ben and Justin along with Ben Mason from the Community Development Office helped me to install the sculptures. It was a flawless installation. Beautiful sunny day. All you could ask for for an installation.

The opening reception for the Algonquin Public Art Extravaganza is on October 25th, 2007. Should be an interesting time. This is an award winning production. Ben Mason was to go down Friday and pick up another award on the splendid job that they have done making public art relevant and approachable for the general public.

Now that the install is done it is back to preparing for the December Show. Almost to excited for words. To see more images from the Algonquin visit the link http://wsggallery.com/Carl%20Public%20Art.htm.

View of Algonquin Main Street

copyright 2007 Carl Wright

Hanging Art in the Home

Hanging Art – Without A Machine Gun

Ahhhh, the feeling of finding the perfect painting or print. You’ve searched hard and finally found the
Metamorphosis by Jody Wright

Promised Land – a gallery/artist that makes the exact 2-D work that you have always wanted. Not just an orphan (one work) but several that you could own. After serious deliberation, you finally settle on one artwork, promising yourself to come back for more later.

Now, you’ve arrived home with your purchase and found that the perfect artwork is upsetting the whole Zen of the room that you planned to show it off in. What to do? You could either call in an interior decorator or take a chance and do it your self.

Hiring Out

If you “hire out” as a friend calls it, interior decorators or designers are a useful and wonderful person to have on tap. They are knowledgeable about a wide range of fabrics, materials, furniture and how to arrange them. They are usually licensed and are very good at what they do. It comes with a good price tag but after the ID is done with the room or rooms – they can look very finished; almost to the point of an airport lounge. The reason is that many ID’s work for corporations that want a vaguely comfortable or inoffensive place to do business.

Homes are different. They are an expression of your personality. Many people want a designer or brand namehouse with all the furnishings. That’s nice, but after you are done all you have is a house that looks like countless others in the same neighborhood. If you wanted that, you would not have shopped at several galleries to get that unique, wonderful piece of art that you now want to display.

Doing it yourself

Now to the scary/wonderful part. You get to introduce the new 2-d art to its new walls. If the painting/print is happy where you hang it all well and fine. If not that is still fine.
First take all the other hanging art down. Place the new art on each of the four walls until you find the “just right” place. After that start reintroducing the former occupants (paintings & prints) into the room. Group them together in a square, a diamond, or a diagonal going up the wall – lots of different ways. It will add interest to the room. Use the adhesive/removable wall hooks, you can find at Lowes or Home Depot, so that you can reposition the art on the walls until it just says I’m Done!
Consider leaving one wall blank – with no paintings or prints. You can even hang two parallel horizontal lines of prints or paintings; mixing different sizes and shapes judiciously. Just hold back from mixing different art styles together. It can look haphazard. Try mightily to avoid the “machine gun” effect. This is the need to put all same sized prints and paintings on the same level on all four walls. Makes a room look boring and predictable – once again a reflection of the owner.

The polar opposite of the “machine gun” approach is the manner paintings were hung in museums in the 1860’s and 1870’s. Every inch of wall space needed to be covered with a painting. With 12’ to 20’ tall ceilings the effectwas a tsunami of different sizes, styles, and colors art. A total bedlam of art that was difficult to understand or comprehend. You can easily come up with a happy medium between the “machine gun” effect and a tsunami of color and style. The final result is that with a little time and thought you can have a beautiful art collection displayed and have enhanced a latent skill that you never knew you had. One more way to make your home totally yours and not a “brand name” home in a brand name neighborhood.

copyright 2007 Carl Wright

Marriage of Art - Gallery Show

Shameless Plug Time

The good news keeps getting piled on. About 1 1/2 weeks ago, Jody and I were asked to do a 2-person show in DC. The show is from Dec. 15, 2007 to January 1, 2008. Opening reception is from 5 pm to 9 pm on December 15.

Perfect Geometry by Jody Wright

Jody will be bringing a range of paintings. They include naturally her companion animal portraits but also feature her abstract paintings, collage paintings, and portraits of people who have made a difference in society. Some of these portraits include: Mark Twain, Einstein, and Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong.

I will be bringing several new sculptures. A new sculpture currently being worked on resembles a double helix. It is probably the first sculpture that I have removed more stone from it than I have left in.

Very excited to be in a show right before Christmas.

Embark by Carl Wright

Sculpture in Algonquin, IL

Delivering Sculpture



I (Carl) have been chosen along with 20 some other artists to display their sculpture in Algonquin, IL from November 1, 2007 to November 1, 2008. I will be showing Motion (pictured to the left) and Eihei (pictured below). Am so excited to be showing my work in the greater Chicago area. It is an area I have wanted to place sculptures and have selling galleries in for several years. This is the first step.


The town of Algonquin is most accomodating to make this as painless as possible for all the participants. I, for one, appreciate their thoroughness. Looking forward to seeing the sculptures in the changing seasons.