Art FAQ
Cedar Lee October 29th, 2008
I recently attended a lecture for professional artists in my city. It was about how to improve your general marketing habits. I found that I already knew all the information covered, which gave me a warm fuzzy feeling because it means I’m already doing a lot of things right.
But there was one topic in the lecture that I needed to be reminded of—that it is important to anticipate the client’s questions and answer them before they are asked.
This is good advice no matter what business you’re in, but it’s of particular importance in the business of selling art, because we live in a culture that does not value art enough. Because buying original artwork is not perceived as a mainstream activity, it is not seen as a safe thing to do. Many people believe that if you don’t know exactly what you are doing when buying art, you may make a mistake and end up wasting your money. This is a valid concern, but it is based on a lack of information.
As a creator of art, I have an insider perspective, so it’s easy to forget that everyone else does not. But part of my job is to de-mystify the whole process and make people more comfortable about becoming art collectors. So I’m going to attempt to answer some of the most common questions that may be running through your head when you’re considering the purchase of a piece of art. (And it should be interesting information, even if you’re not considering any such thing.)
Common questions from clients include:
- Why is this so expensive?
- Is price negotiable?
- What does it mean?
- Will it be valuable someday?
- Who else owns one of these?
- How do I get this home?
- Do I have the wall space?
- How do I hang this?
- How do I frame/display it?
If you’ve got any questions that aren’t on the above list, please send them my way so I can add them. In my next post, I will attempt to answer the first question–why art is expensive.
I’ll be finishing some new paintings in the next week as well!
