Like a good investor, a working
artist would be wise to have a
diversified portfolio. I'm
talking galleries, not stocks
but the thinking is the same.
but the thinking is the same.
One gallery might sell your work well but not do much in the way of advertising. Another may make only modest sales for you but have a great presence in the art community, which gives you visibility among your peers and other art professionals. Another may be well connected to curators and critics so that your work is included in museum shows and reviewed. Another may advertise regularly or include your work in international art fairs so that their presence, and yours, goes beyond the city where they are located. Yet another may feature your work on their website or blog, or in regular newsletters.
The Uber Gallery
Represented by or in a good working relationship with several galleries in different cities around the country, you thus have a kind of uber gallery, one that does everything that the average gallery couldn’t possibly do: sell your work; place it in good institutional, corporate and private collections; promote it via ads and a great website; take your work to the art fairs; be sufficiently connected to get you museum shows and reviews; and pay you on time. If you’re prolific, you could have one or two solos a year as well as inclusion in a number of groups shows. Given the diversity of your portfolio, sales could generate enough income to support you.
Talking recently with a friend who was upset at what her gallery wasn’t doing for her, it became clear in conversation that developing a relationship with a second gallery would remove some of the stress she was feeling. Involvement with a second (or third) dealer reminds the first to not take you for granted. It reinforces the idea that you are an artist worth cultivating and promoting.
The portfolio approach takes some pressure off the dealer, too. “If I’m the only gallery representing an artist, I feel a huge responsibility," says a dealer I know. "Especially these days, if sales are slow, I know my artists are going to have trouble paying bills, so I like it when they are represented elsewhere.” And dealers, after all, have a portfolio of artists; it's called a roster, or in old-fashioned barnyard terms, a stable.
Given that the economy affects different parts of the country differently, a well-planned portfolio may mean sales in one gallery even if another is not doing so well for you. Your sales may well be what helps keep a gallery going and/or good reviews of your shows may create the attention that brings in valued collectors. On the flip side, another gallery may not be doing so well for you, but the sales of other artists keep the gallery afloat assuring you of a continued presence on the roster.
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A Portfolio of Responsibility
With each gallery you have to honor commitments: offer new work on a regular basis, meet deadlines for exhibitions and art fairs, keep your resume and supporting materials up to date, provide good images, and if possible, show up at the openings of other gallery artists. When you work with several galleries, it’s not unusual to field a couple or three requests a week. One might want to see images of everything you have available in red, for instance, while another needs an updated resume this minute, while still another might like to make a studio visit with a client, which will have you scrambling to straighten up. It's business; roll with it.
You will also deal with a portfolio of personalities. One unfailingly picks up the tab for dinner; the other nickels and dimes you, then offers a way-too-generous discount to collectors. For every dealer who is organized, there's another who leaves everything until the last minute, when the burden may fall on you. "Can you Fed Ex it overnight?" I've been asked at 5:00 p.m. Uh, but I asked you last week if you wanted it, when we could have shipped it third-day for two-thirds less, and I would have had the time to actually pack it. Only you can decide which personalities you can deal with. (Those last-minute overnight requests are on the gallery's Fed Ex account, by the way.)
The more galleries in your portfolio, the more administrative work you have to do, too: keep track of who has what work, how long it’s been at the particular gallery, when you’ve been paid. This is a good problem to have, but it means doing more desk work than you expect. So expand slowly and see what kind of pace you can handle.
You will also deal with a portfolio of personalities. One unfailingly picks up the tab for dinner; the other nickels and dimes you, then offers a way-too-generous discount to collectors. For every dealer who is organized, there's another who leaves everything until the last minute, when the burden may fall on you. "Can you Fed Ex it overnight?" I've been asked at 5:00 p.m. Uh, but I asked you last week if you wanted it, when we could have shipped it third-day for two-thirds less, and I would have had the time to actually pack it. Only you can decide which personalities you can deal with. (Those last-minute overnight requests are on the gallery's Fed Ex account, by the way.)
The more galleries in your portfolio, the more administrative work you have to do, too: keep track of who has what work, how long it’s been at the particular gallery, when you’ve been paid. This is a good problem to have, but it means doing more desk work than you expect. So expand slowly and see what kind of pace you can handle.
If You’re Not Represented
I know, some of you are thinking, “What about if you don’t have even one gallery?” You don’t have to have a gallery at this very moment. This is simply a businesslike way of thinking about your career. Indeed, the portfolio doesn’t happen overnight but develops over the long haul. And the galleries in your developing portfolio don't have to include New York City; there are many cities, large and small, where art gets shown and sold. (Indeed suburban venues, especially in wealthy towns, could provide enough in sales to support not only your studio practice but provide a living income. And I notice that galleries even in small towns find their way to the art fairs.)
Many posts in this series talk about ways to secure gallery representation, or at least to get on a gallery's radar: Six Degrees of Representation, How Did You Find a Gallery?, How Dealers Are Considering Artists Now, Part One and Part Two and others. Even if it's not commercial, you may have more of a portfolio than you realize: art associations or academic galleries where you have a continuing presence; artist groups to which you belong—especially the ones that seek out exhibition venues and mount exhibitions; non-profits that have shown your work; flat files.
Many posts in this series talk about ways to secure gallery representation, or at least to get on a gallery's radar: Six Degrees of Representation, How Did You Find a Gallery?, How Dealers Are Considering Artists Now, Part One and Part Two and others. Even if it's not commercial, you may have more of a portfolio than you realize: art associations or academic galleries where you have a continuing presence; artist groups to which you belong—especially the ones that seek out exhibition venues and mount exhibitions; non-profits that have shown your work; flat files.
Over to you: How are you diversifying?
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