online art gallery

Art Lover Wants to Make Visiting Online Galleries More Enjoyable

A new curated online art gallery is on a mission to make the process of viewing art online more like visiting a gallery than searching through a warehouse.

Crimson Lake by Alice (Hye Ryung) Yang
Crimson Lake by artist Alice (Hye Ryung) Yang

In the Love It Art online gallery, art lovers can discover and collect contemporary art and design from emerging artists in Vancouver, British Columbia and beyond.

“Love It” exemplifies the moment when an art lover really likes what he/she sees. To facilitate these types of moments, Love It Art gallery will have a year-round art calendar that showcases emerging talents from around the globe.

Love It Art is the brainchild of Mina Fung, a Chartered Accountant in Canada and a Certified Public Accountant in the US. After working more than 10 years in the accounting and corporate finance world, Fung found her calling in the art world in 2014.

After many attempts to find artworks she loved by visiting galleries and viewing online warehouse platforms, Fung decided to combine her passion for art with her business background to launch Love It Art. Her goal is to provide a personable and enjoyable experience for art lovers and offer a non-crowded space for artists to showcase their work and tell their stories.

“Art has been a passion since I was a kid.” Mina Fung says. “I have fun connecting with artists and learning about their creative processes. I want to bring the fun factor to the art lovers. When it comes to buying art, art lovers themselves are the experts on what they want. I just need to provide an environment for facilitating their discovery and selection process. With a diverse background, professionally and culturally, I can help source art to suit people’s taste, style and budget.”

The gallery has a roster of twelve artists including Vancouver-based artists Rebecca Chaperon, Sarah Gee Miller and Mira Song, as well as Seoul-based artist Alice (Hye Ryung) Yang. The gallery mainly shows original contemporary art and design that is visually stunning, vibrant and whimsical.

To see the scale and impact of the artworks, art lovers can visit the gallery’s virtual 3D exhibition anywhere and at any time, from desktop computers or mobile devices.

The first virtual exhibition is called “Transcendence” and showcases the large-scale works of Alice (Hye Ryung) Yang. This solo exhibition is on view through May 19, 2015.A

At the bottom of the  FAQ page, emerging artists can find more details on the types of works Mina Fung is interested in displaying and instructions for submitting art for consideration.

LINKS

Love It Art

Good Advice for Choosing an Online Art Gallery

ARTISTS. If you plan to sell (or buy) original art through an online gallery, check out the credentials and expertise of the people running it. Not all galleries are run by professionals experienced in the art market.

NewBloodArtIn fact, some online art platforms operate without much human oversight at all, which can be risky to both artists and buyers. For example, if the online gallery isn’t run by someone who has seen the actual art and built a relationship with the artist, can the buyer have faith that the art is accurately priced, archivally sound, and offers investment potential?

If you are a new or emerging artist, look for a gallery run by an art expert who can mentor you on issues such as realistically pricing work and managing the release of works for sale.

“The emergent stage for an artist is a sensitive one,” explains Sarah Ryan, curator and founder of New Blood Art in the U.K. “If an artist fails to price realistically at the start of their careers they risk damaging their future careers significantly.” For example, if the work that you make available on an online gallery is priced too high, and you later sell that work offline for substantially less than the online price, then your reputation can suffer. Prospective future buyers may feel misled.

New Blood Art understands the importance of accurate pricing and manages it very carefully. The gallery strives to create a steady following of collectors for each artist they represent, and prices are gradually increased in response to demand. Prices go up by securing regular sales from clients who know they are buying at an attractive and realistic price point.

Ryan started New Blood Art in 2004 because she recognized that selling art online “offered an economically viable way of selling truly affordable artwork by talented young artists without being crippled by the overhead of a physical gallery space.”  The staff at New Blood Art visits all of the UK graduate art shows to find the best new talent. The site currently offers more than 2,000 pieces at prices as low as ₤50.00.

“Over the last nine years, we have built good relationships with both the clients we serve and the artists the we represent. We have a good track record for identifying artists that have gone on to do very well and whose work has increased in value over time,” says Ryan.  “As a gallerist, it is vital to get to know artists personally over time, assessing their commitment to their practice and the quality of the work they produce. This insight is key when determining investment potential for clients.”

Ryan not only gets to know the artists whose work appears in her online gallery, she also interacts with art buyers: “I do interact with personally with our clients and often meet with them and speak on the telephone. Without this interaction, I’m not sure we would have the same loyalty.”

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ABOVE: One of the works featured on New Blood Art is “Untitled II,” a 175 x 175 cm mixed-media  painting on canvas by artist Emma Devane. A 2012 art-school graduate, Devane  was featured in a newspaper article about the advantages of collecting recently graduated artists.

LINKS

New Blood Art

About New Blood Art

 

New Site Offers Affordable Access to Contemporary Digital Art

Artists, galleries, and art fairs are continuing to test new ways to make art more accessible to a broader base of collectors.  For example, the new digital-art platform EachOne.com gives art lovers affordable access to contemporary art being shown at exhibitions around the world.

Priced at just $20 for each 11 x 14 print, the digital art will be available exclusively from Each/One as an LTO Edition™ (Limited-Time-Only) solely during the duration of the exhibition.

Each/One is promoting these as original artworks that are unavailable elsewhere. These are not reproductions of existing art but rather original drawings, collages, photographs, or other pieces created or finalized in a digital environment.

As in a physical exhibition, the art is selected to represent a cultural, regional, or artistic theme.  The works of art are chosen by established curators, galleries and art fairs.

From Dec, 7, 2012 until Jan. 6, 2013, you can buy an 11 x 14-inch print of this original digital artwork by Motomichi Nakmura for just $20 from www.eachone.com. The image is part of the “Fading Fast” exhibition curated by Trystan Bates of the Honeycomb gallery in Buenos Aires.

Once purchased, each original work is generated specifically for the buyer, using high-quality print-on-demand technology. Thus, the number of copies produced for a certain edition will be determined by the popularity of the artwork created for that particular exhibit.

Every artwork is printed on heavyweight silk paper and comes in a standard 11 x 14-inch format, with an additional 1-inch border displaying the name of the work, its unique number, and the artist’s digital signature and date. Artworks fit into a standard 16 x 20 inch frame with a mat, thus eliminating the need for custom framing.

Each/One presented its first two online exhibitions, Salaam Bombay and Succession of the Finest, to coincide with the physical opening of the shows at Art Asia Miami 2012 and Fountain Art Fair Miami 2012. Each/One is also hosting exhibitions that will only be accessible online. Fading Fast, curated by Trystan Bates of the Honeycomb Gallery in Buenos Aires, Argentina opened December 7 and runs until January 7.

The goal of Each/One is to create a new wave of art collectors by making digital art available to a broad public at an affordable price, said CEO and co-founder Pratima Björkdahl: “We believe that collecting art should be a creative and exciting experience. This new way to collect appeals to a whole new audience of art lovers and creates a new marketplace for galleries, curators and art fairs.”

“We have set an unheard-of price for original art because we believe that everyone should have affordable access to art they love. As we handle our own printing and distribution, we can avoid mark-ups, while ensuring the highest quality for our customers,” explained President and co-founder Rikard Björkdahl.

“Each/One just opened a whole new dimension for the art world, creating a global community and forum where we can all interact,” said Jasmine Wahi, curator of the Art Asia Miami 2012- Salaam Bombay exhibition. “This is the ultimate art experience and we are absolutely thrilled to be a part of it.”

“These online exhibitions, created specifically for the Each/One platform, are designed to let users engage with the art and its creators in a way that used to be possible only at art openings. Exploring the site is like getting a walking tour of contemporary art galleries but with all of the added benefits of online technology,” said Rebecca Jampol, curator of the Fountain Art Fair Miami 2012 – Succession of the Finest exhibition.

The founders of Each/One want to create a new kind of online art community where artists, curators, and collectors come together. With features such as blogs, interviews, curatorial notes and online discussions, users can engage with artists and exhibitions from all over the globe. Art lovers can also share their collections through social media, follow other collections and themes of interest, and sign up to receive notifications of upcoming exhibitions.

LINKS

Each/One

Thumbtack Press Helps Artists Reach New Collectors

ARTISTS. DESIGNERS. If you haven’t yet found the right online gallery—either to buy or sell art online—check out Thumbtack Press. The company offers a hand-picked collection of open-edition prints by over 100 top low-brow, illustrator, and character artists from around the world.

Humming Bird Girl by Rick Beerhorst, The Blessing by Craig LaRotonda, and Big Head by Bob Dob.

Thumbtack Press Logo

“Why open-edition prints? By selling prints without limiting their availability, we reach collectors who have elite tastes, but perhaps lack the dollars to match,” explains curator/owner Barry Friedland. “This way, if you don’t currently have the means to own an original Paul Blow, say, or a Matthew Woodson, you can still get your hands on their work in the form of a high-quality print. We help artists reach new fans; and we help fans become collectors.”

The Thumbtack Press site includes up-to-date features such as a Virtual Room to help customers visualize how a print might look on their own walls. Buyers can search for art by genre, artist, color, size, and subject and choose from hundreds of frame and mat options.

Marketing with Attitude

Personally, I am impressed not only by the freshness of the art, but also by the whimsy of Thumbtack’s marketing.

For example, according to the “research department” at Thumbtack Press, the giving and receiving of art results in a 56% improvement of personal relationships, a 28% increase in creativity, and a 41% more charming personal space—all of which lead to a longer and more fulfilling life.

Giving and receiving art can improve your life. Source: Thumbtack Press "Research Department"

While it’s unclear how the marketing braniacs at Thumbtack arrived at those exact figures, you have to admit it’s a fun way to promote the sale of gift cards for art prints.

You can order a gift card for whatever occasion you choose, include your own message, and have it sent instantly to whoever you think might enjoy the distinctive selection of featured on the Thumbtack Press site.

The company’s promotional strategy also includes public relations, advertising, search-engine optimization, social media, and personalized outreach to bloggers (like me!).

“We encourage our artists to work in concert with us — to use our social media integrations with Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and others to provide a sales synergy to get your art seen by the greatest number of people around the world,” says Friedland. Over 25% of Thumbtack’s sales are international.

Benefits for Artists and Designers

In addition to exposing art enthusiasts to unique, affordable art, Thumbtack Press wants to help advance the well-being of artists.

“We love art and treat artists with the respect they deserve,” says Friedland. Along with producing high-quality prints on a range of substrates, Thumbtack Press handles every element of the day-to-day complexities of running an online gallery business so you don’t have to.

Thumbtack deals with the website programming, hosting, credit card transactions, fulfillment, framing and matting, packaging, quality control, advertising, marketing, accounting, and everything else that goes into running a world-class e-commerce site.

Because Thumbtack Press is a curated site with a particular look and feel, not all work that is submitted to the site is accepted.

“The best way to get a feel for what we are looking for is to take a look around,” says Friedland.

To be considered for inclusion, submit at least three works for review. (See the submission guidelines on the Thumbtack Press website.)

If your work is accepted, you will get access to a private Artist Control Panel where you can upload and control the art you want to sell and provide information that will enable customers to know more about you and your art. The Artist Control panel also lets you track your sales and payment history.

You will receive a royalty for each print the Thumbtack Press sells, as well as portion of the frame sale.

LINKS

Thumbtack Press

Sell Your Art on Thumbtack Press

Frequently Asked Questions by Artists