How Do You Go About Selling Art Work at an Auction
Breaking Into Art Auctions:
Make Certain You practise it Correct
If you're like almost every artist anywhere, you've probably dreamed about having a work of your art go upwardly for sale at a major auction house and watching the international fine art collecting elite boxing over it with their banking company accounts. The behest is furious, the hammer falls, your art sells for a record price and the news goes viral. At last you lot've accomplished that most elusive of all goals-- financial liberty for life-- the ability to sale your art whenever you need an influx of cash. From this indicate on, creating a work of art will be not much dissimilar than printing upwards money.
OK. Dreamtime over. The truth is that auctions don't operate this way. In fact, performance at auction tin compromise an artist's reputation, collectibility, and price construction just as easily as enhance it. So before you effort to plow your auction fantasies into reality, take a moment to learn almost how this sector of the art business works. That manner, if the opportunity always presents itself, you lot'll be able to to maximize your chances for success.
To begin with, those record fine art prices the art sites write most and auction houses boast about represent only the tip of the peak of the tip of all the art out there. For every work of fine art that's accepted by major auctions, many many more are turned down. And for every piece of work of art that sells for a record price, many many more perform ordinarily at best. In fact, auction houses practice everything they can to go on less-collectible out of their sales in guild to minimize the chances of making the fine art market place look anything other than healthy.
Major auctions almost exclusively take art only past artists with established runway records of selling for substantial prices at major auctions. Yes information technology's a Catch-22, but auctions are in business to make money and they want to exist as sure as possible that every piece they sell nets a certain minimum dollar amount. Depending on the requirements of a particular sale house or auction, that amount might be $5000, $10000, $50000, or more than. If an auction has doubts about what the art might sell for, they probably won't auction it. And the best way to minimize doubts concrete proof that the art already sells consistently at auction too every bit at galleries at or to a higher place those minimum dollar levels.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, artists who make the auction cut at the highest levels have had or are currently receiving so much publicity and recognition during the course of their careers, and especially concurrent with whatever sales they're being included in, that the mere mention of their names in press releases, auction announcements and auction catalogues is enough to attract plenty of private and institutional buyers to a sale. The demand for their art is typically equal to or greater than the rate at which they produce it (or the rate at which their galleries trickle it out into the marketplace), they've had numerous successful shows both at major museums and galleries, and the foremost critics, curators, collectors and other and art world professionals agree that the impact of their fine art on the art world is significant, at to the lowest degree at the moment.
More recently, auctions accept expanded their focus to art past trending artists who happen to be white hot at the moment, and to specialty sales themed on whatever type of fine art is currently getting large press and currying favor amongst monied collectors. They may also stalk work past younger artists, unproven though they sometimes may be, particularly those with impressive online followings, and who are trending exceptionally well in the fine art media, both conventional and online. Some of the best barometers of hotness are how in-need that art is, how fast information technology sells, how long the buyer wait-lists are, which famous collectors own it, how often they're getting written nigh, and how difficult it is to find quality examples for sale. Over again, auction houses thoroughly enquiry markets in advance so they can be as sure equally possible that the art and artists will sell... and sell well.
With speculative buying more than prevalent than ever, auctions also attempt to cash in on the actions of so-chosen investor/collectors. These buyers view art more than as a commodity or "asset course" rather than as someting to enhance, beautify, and enrich the quality of their lives. They ofttimes do not buy to concord, but rather to flip for big profits later, at times reselling their art nearly immediately afterwards they buy information technology. Simply the parameters for auctions selecting this type of fine art remain basically the aforementioned as for that by older "proven" artists, which is that their publicity and name recognition are so widespread that their art, at to the lowest degree temporarily, is in a hyper-heightened state of demand.
For the residue of you artists, those with little or no auction experience, only with relatively consequent careers commonly debut at lesser sales. Here again, an artist's resume, exhibition history, and proper name recognition have to be respectable equally the auction needs some kind of evidence that their art stands a reasonable chance of selling for certain minimum amounts of money. The downside here is that in order to maximize the possibility of the art selling, the auctions often crave presale estimates (cost ranges they say suggest that art might sell for) to be significantly beneath the artists' typical retail selling prices.
For case, a piece of fine art that would normally sell at a gallery for $10000 might exist estimated to sell for only $3000-$5000 at auction, possibly even less. Rather than rely totally on the accomplishments of the artists to attract bidders, the auction houses tilt the odds of selling in their favor by offering the art at seemingly bargain prices. This strategy of estimating low is common among auction houses. For artists, agreeing to lower presale price estimates is unremarkably worth the cede if that's the just way an established auction house will agree to sell their art.
If you're lucky enough to brand the cut, don't be insulted by this; be delighted and promise for the best. Getting your fine art into auction is anything but piece of cake, and your first sales results are absolutely critical to establishing your credentials in the auction realm. In the meantime, do everything you can to maximize the chances not but of an auction house accepting your art, only way more than importantly, selling it. In other words, continue to produce quality art, become shows at established galleries, do what yous can to increase sales, and keep your proper noun in the public heart.
A less common way that artists with niggling or no previous sale feel occasionally intermission into higher level sales is when their work is in famous collections or estates that are placed up for sale at auction houses in bulk. The biggest names in the collections describe the crowds as does the importance or glory of the collectors (similar Warhol, Mapplethorpe, or John F. Kennedy, for case). Artists who make their auction debuts in this way tend to exist presented not so much in terms of their own accomplishments, but rather as ones whose fine art the loftier-profile collectors considered pregnant enough to include in their collections. Regardless of how the auction represents the art, this is i mode to get that all-important offset shot.
However your fine art finds its way to auction (and information technology will usually be through tertiary parties like dealers, galleries, or collectors), know that the big majority of selling prices fall within or slightly above or below the auction houses' presale estimates. Record or near-tape prices, or sales that essentially exceed presale estimates are past far the exception. Besides know going in that the large majority of fine art sells below what it would exist priced at in retail galleries, and then don't be disappointed if yours falls into that category. Except for major international high-profile sales filled with rare and highly of import artworks, or in cases of isolated glory sales, auctions are little more than wholesale dispersals of appurtenances. The good news is that knowledgeable buyers understand the difference betwixt auction prices and retail prices, and then don't worry if your art sells for somewhat less than your retail (in the 40-60% range or better is generally considered proficient). Worry if it sells for manner less than retail or doesn't sell at all.
Keep in heed that whenever a piece of work of art sells at auction, the hammer (or selling) price becomes a affair of public record. Sometimes even if the fine art fails to sell, that non-sale or "purchase-in" is however publicly recorded. All auction sales results from meaning regional, national and international auctions (currently in the vicinity of 300,000-500,000 total artworks per year) are published or attainable annually in online databases. Online databases include artprice.com, artnet.com, artvalue.com, artfact.com, findartinfo.com, liveauctioneers.com, and others.
Anyone can access these sales records at anytime-- sometimes for a fee, sometimes gratuitous-- and plenty of dealers and collectors practice just that. Studying sale sales results helps them decide whether or not to buy particular works of art or to patronize particular artists. Experienced higher-end buyers tend to pay more for artists who consistently sell well at auction and tend to be cautious near or avert those who have few or no auction records at all or who perform poorly or erratically. They also recognize that the greater the discrepancy between an artist's retail prices and auction prices, the weaker or less stable that artist's overall market tends to be.
In order for your art to stand a chance of being accustomed at auction, y'all should be represented past at least i gallery, accept a reasonably solid collector base, a good online following, a consequent sales history with steadily increasing prices, regular favorabile reviews in respected arts publications and websites, have been included in significant exhibitions at respected museums or institutions (regional, national or international), and most importantly, have some level of consensus from fine art globe professionals that your art may be set for auction and that it stands a reasonable chance of fetching a respectable price. The auction option is nonetheless worth considering without all of the above, but the fewer qualifications you have, the less probable the chances an sale volition accept your fine art in the beginning place. If they exercise, the lower the presale judge volition be and greater the run a risk of it selling low or not selling at all. Neither of these outcomes is particularly practiced for an artist's career.
If y'all're still game for trying, begin auction inquiries by speaking with your galleries, dealers, or representatives. Hopefully they'll hold with you that budgeted auctions is a proficient career movement at this fourth dimension-- and hopefully they'll be the ones to practice it. Or that they'll be able to detect someone known to the art and sale community to do it for them. (Don't call back for an instant that y'all can do this yourself; auction houses practice not normally accept first-time consignments straight from artists.) Whoever the consignor turns out to be, they should be prepared to nowadays a reasonably solid case that your art will sell for whatever minimum price the sale firm requires for its consignments.
That person should typically approach auction houses in locations where y'all take the highest name recognition and where your work is the most collectible. Every bit for the auction itself, make sure they have someone knowledgeable well-nigh art on their staff, and that they have consistent success selling contemporary art like to yours (y'all don't want your art consigned to a firm with no little or no experience or history here). If they carry themed sales that consist exclusively of art past artists similar in stature and accomplishments to you lot, this is expert. Whatever the circumstances, hopefully you have dedicated collectors who you lot can notify about the upcoming sale, a reasonable number of whom volition attend and most chiefly, bid.
Regarding the art itself, practice your best to make sure that whoever approaches the sale house offers a more significant or meliorate quality artwork for consignment. You may or may not accept a certain amount of control over this. Proficient choices include a slice from a show that well-nigh sold out, one that was pictured in an online or magazine review or exhibit catalogue, ane that's not piece of cake to find on the open up market place, or 1 that'south similar in composition to those works your collectors prize the most. You don't desire the art to be annihilation other than that. Auctioning a mediocre case of your fine art can hands internet you a mediocre selling price also.
Even if your art sells below retail, the practiced news is that at least it sold. Hopefully, this will be the first of a longterm investment in your fiscal time to come-- the prospect of your art regularly selling at auction. So don't take it equally an insult or slap in the face. To repeat, getting those beginning few sales records is the hardest, but once you've been "sale-tested," other auction houses will be more inclined to see you as marketable in their sales too, and from that point on (assuming y'all continue to move onward and upward in your career), higher and higher auction selling prices will likely follow.
If your fine art fares reasonably well, avoid the temptation to become overboard and view auctions as a panacea. Over-consigning or giving collectors the impression your art is like shooting fish in a barrel to come by is not a good strategy. In club for your auction selling prices to increment over time, you lot must continue to accelerate your agenda in traditional means-- through gallery shows. and significant institutional acquisitions and exhibitions-- and apply the auction option sparingly forth the mode. Considering what happens at auction tends to mirror what happens in your career, proficient times to place an artwork or two upwardly for auction might be immediately earlier, afterward or in conjunction with a significant museum or gallery show, if you lot look to receive a run of publicity or a major commission, or at any other indicate when your career makes a noticeable move in the upward direction.
As your "marketability" improves, your art will likely be placed upwardly for auction at auction by more and more than people-- dealers, brokers, collectors, estates and so on. This procedure typically evolves over years and often decades from the engagement of the get-go sale, just sooner or later, consistent strong performance at auction becomes more than or less self-perpetuating.
For those of y'all who accept lilliputian or no hope of getting into auction at this time, one possibility is to approach a smaller local or regional house or even an arts organisation with the idea of having a themed sale defended to art by local or regional artists. If you, your boyfriend artists and some dedicated supporters with a little ascendancy in the art customs can put together enough good art and convince the auction house or organization that attendance will be good for you and sales potentially proficient, this concept might work. But it won't exist easy; you'll have to be persuasive. No matter what your approach, make sure y'all've got the support of those who buy, sell and collect your fine art before yous test the auction realm.
Consigning to an occasional charity or fundraiser auction is also a decent way to get your feet wet, the keyword here being "occasional." Do not donate fine art to every fundraiser in sight; that could backfire past making your art seem besides easy to buy outside of traditional venues like galleries. If your fine art sells consistently well at higher profile charity events, approaching an actual auction house at some signal might be a good idea. To learn more well-nigh how to maximize your success at fundraiser auctions, read Art Auction Fundraiser Tips.
(art by Andrew Schoultz)
Source: https://www.artbusiness.com/auctionbreak.html
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