Art Galleries— Post Prices On Your Website!

by

 Diane Burket
As the Artist Agent for Armand Cabrera, I’m passionate about internet gallery pricing because failure to display prices diminishes our ability to sell paintings. Armand is a full time artist who shows his art in fine art galleries across the United States. Many of his galleries neglect to include prices on their websites. They are losing business, frustrating potential customers and ultimately—costing Armand and I money.
Art Galleries are in the business of selling art. It’s a mystery why some galleries (and artists) don’t post prices on their websites. Art collectors go to art gallery websites for information. If potential buyers don’t see basic information, they become frustrated and navigate to another gallery website. At the least, collectors want to see:
· Pictures of Available Paintings
· Prices
· Artist Information
· Gallery Information
Gallery Point of View
Some dealers argue that omitting prices helps to start relationships between the gallery and the buyer. If the customer calls to ask for the price, the gallery feels they can pitch the customer and, if necessary, offer incentives.
My View
Art collectors are not naïve. They know art costs money. Why withhold information and manipulate collectors into calling the gallery? Many avid art collectors will never pick up the phone to inquire about the price of art. In addition, the customer can’t contact a gallery after hours, so the probability to make a sale can only occur when the gallery is open. One of our collectors told me there’s so much art out there from which to chose—she’ll go to a site that displays prices rather than pick up the phone to inquire about a price.
Gallery Point of View
Posting prices devalues art. They’d rather “soft sell” the art.
My View
Internet visitors want details at their finger tips. The gallery does a disservice to their collectors and their artists by not using every opportunity to sell their paintings. Every major fine art gallery and auction house displays prices on their sites. It must be working for them!
Gallery Point of View
Their artists don’t have consistent prices. The artists inflate their prices for some galleries and reduce them in others. The gallery doesn’t want the customer to know the price discrepancies.
My View
Artists that don’t maintain consistent pricing are unprofessional. Fine art galleries shouldn’t represent them. The art market across the world is very intimate, thanks to the Internet. It’s easy to discover if an artist sells his work at significantly dissimilar prices. (Of course, one must consider the cost of framing—gold metal, gold leaf, etc. —but that’s another subject.)

Gallery Point of View
The gallery uses the website to get potential customers interested in their works—not to actually make sales from the site. They want the collectors to come into the gallery to purchase their art.
My View
It’s very short-sighted to think that all customers will visit a gallery. Many art collectors don’t live anywhere near the gallery. Countless 21st Century customers are Internet savvy and often purchase paintings they see online. Granted, the collector will call to discuss details with the gallery—but having accurate pictures and prices on the website helps to seal the deal.
FACTS
1) Our best selling galleries post prices and sell many of Armand’s paintings from their websites. Some of their customers never walk in the art gallery door.
 2) Failure to list prices has become such a problem for website visitors that usability expert Jakob Nielsen recently deemed it the number one web design mistake. I quote Mr. Nielsen—“The worst example of not answering users’ questions is to avoid listing the price of products and services. No B2C ecommerce site would make this mistake, … Price is the most specific piece of info customers use to understand the nature of an offering, and not providing it makes people feel lost and reduces their understanding of a product line. We have miles of videotape of users asking “Where’s the price?” while tearing their hair out.”
3) Your website acts as your salesperson across the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4) People looking for discounts will ask for a discount. If Internet customers like a painting and the price is in their ballpark, they are intelligent enough to realize they can communicate with the gallery by email or telephone and request a discount.
5) The gallery will save the customer time and embarrassment by listing the retail price on the website. A buyer would be embarrassed to find a painting retails for over $50,000 when he assumed it would be under $10,000.
6) From extensive research, I have found that failure to list prices is a collector’s pet peeve. One collector told me she saw a painting she wanted to purchase in an advertisement in a national art magazine. She went to the gallery website and was frustrated— they did not post prices. Rather than call the gallery, she Google’d the artist’s name and found him at another gallery—one that posted prices. She called that gallery and bought a painting from them.
The time has come for art galleries to make it easy for collectors to buy paintings.
The 21st Century art buyer demands it!
About the Author:
Diane Burket is an award-winning Voice Over Professional. She has been voicing scripts for over 20 years. She can be heard on National Commercials, Corporate Films, Training Videos, Telephone Prompts, Internet Sites and Multimedia recordings. In addition to her Voice Over, Diane is also the Agent for Armand Cabrera, a nationally-known oil painter represented by fine art galleries across the United States.
http://www.dianeburket.com/

 

Armand Cabrera featured at a new Fine Art Gallery!

I am now showing my work in Middleburg Virginia in a new gallery and wine tasting room.
I have sixty paintings on permanent display for sale. The owners are Brian and Sharon Roeder of Barrel Oak Winery. The tasting room serves Barrel Oak and other local fine wines from Virginia. As an extension of the Barrel Oak community, the gallery is dog friendly.
The new venue is called the Barrel Oak Fine Art Gallery and Wine Tasting Room it is located in downtown Middleburg right on highway 50; the address is 8 East Washington Street ( Highway50).
 If you are in Northern Virginia and want to have a glass of wine while viewing art this is the place to come.
The space has two floors; the  downstairs has my paintings of Virginia and the tasting room with tables and chairs and the upstairs has another tasting bar and work from my painting trips of the last few years. This was a huge commitment for me, coming up with so many framed paintings but I think all the hard work has paid off.
I will be in the gallery painting on July 28th from 5pm to 8pm. If you are in the area stop by and have a glass of wine while watching a painting demonstration. I will finish a painting from a blank canvas and answer questions about my process, artistic influences, and philosophy.
The gallery and tasting room hours are Thursday and Sunday and holiday Mondays 11am to 7 pm and Friday and Saturday 11am to 8pm.
Barrel Oak Fine Art Gallery & Wine Tasting Room
8 East Washington Street
Middleburg VA
Gallery Phone 540. 687. 6111

 

Workshop and one man show at Anderson Fine Art Gallery

by
Armand Cabrera

Clam Creek 36×48
Passing Rain 24×36
For those of you in the area I will be teaching a four day workshop followed by my one man show in Saint Simon’s Island Georgia. There is still room in the workshop if anyone is interested. I will be showing students how I approach a painting outdoors and in the studio and how to organize and complete small sketches on location in one sitting. We will go over composition, color theory and mixing from a limited palette, drawing, and application. Information is here or you can call the gallery directly at 912 634 8414.
View of Cumberland Island 24×30
                                                               Marsh Edge 18×24
My one man show is called Seascapes and Shorelines and I will have 15 new paintings. The paintings range in size from 36×48 down to 18×24. These larger works represent 6 months of my studio time this year. All are done from onsite sketches and photos from my trips to the area. I was really focused on emotional content and mood for these paintings. I love painting in the golden isles of Georgia I am looking forward to the show. The show will be up for a month and the artists reception will be from 6 pm to 8 pm October 7th.

First Light 36×48
Sunrise 24×36

St Simon Island Workshop

       First Lght                       36×48                                oil on linen
I’m here in St Simon Island for my workshop and show this week so my blog post willbe a little late. I should have a demo or sketch to post by Tuesday or Wednesday evening. I am sorry for the delay.

Protecting Copyright

By Armand Cabrera

An artist’s work is more than just the image they create whether it is digitally or traditionally made. It is also the rights to use that image for print, publication, advertising.  Artists need to be aware of copyright and how valuable it can be to them as an income stream in addition to the making of art.
Every artist I know has at least one image they have created that they could have sold 100 times if it was still available. By keeping good digital files of all your images you can create an image bank that you can then license out for money long after the original has been sold.
Passive income streams are not just for digital artists. Traditional artists can and should do the same with their work. Just make sure when you enter into agreements with people for gallery representation or commissions you retain the rights to your image.  I have licensed my images for use as decoration in hotel rooms, books, magazines, corporate brochures, movies and television shows. In some cases the compensation was equal to the price of the original painting.
I have recently heard of problems with people thinking they could license images without the artist’s permission just because they sell the artists originals in a gallery or act as the artist agent in other capacities.  This is not the case and US copyright is very clear on who owns the rights to an image. All rights are retained by the image creator unless they specifically give up those rights in writing. Here is a link to the government website followed by the actual clause.
202: Ownership of a copyright, or of any of the exclusive rights under a copyright, is distinct from ownership of any material object in which the work is embodied. Transfer of ownership of any material object, including the copy in which the work is first fixed, does not of itself convey any rights in the copyrighted work embodied in the object; nor, in the absence of an agreement, does transfer of ownership of a copyright or of any exclusive rights under a copyright convey property rights in any material object.
 
With the slowed economy galleries and other artist venues are taking advantage of artists by not compensating them for the use of their images. Artists are being stupid not insisting on payment for the use of their image in any for-profit display. Artists need to insist on payment for use of their work and to not do so is hurting the environment for professional artists.