Recently, a Break-a-Brusher wrote to me about preparations for an upcoming show and asked about selling generally. One concern was that they had pieces they wanted to show, but not necessarily sell. It was great to hear about the preparations and the joy of showing art. Along with this, I was prompted to think about the whole tortuous process of selling through shows:
To me, showing is what’s primary and selling generally secondary – you want to be completely comfortable with all, some, or none for sale. Buyers are quirky anyway, so don’t set any store as to whether things sell or not. That said, some shows do require works to be for sale and this can pose somewhat of a dilemma when you want to show your best. Here are a couple of thoughts:
- You could, I suppose buy it yourself and pay the commission! I doubt whether this happens that much, even at charity events. I suspect that some organizations would have objections too – perhaps it’s outside the spirit of the show for example.
- A second option, one that I know a number of artists subscribe to, is to think of a number you would be happy to part with it for, realistic or not. In many cases, this is in effect “priced not to sell”. Of course when the sticker looks fictitious, it will be seen as such…..however artists do get away with this on occasion!
- Best advice though, is probably don’t submit pieces you need/want to keep – another artwork might fare better in the show anyway!
Break-a-Brush!
David