There’s such a plethora of art websites mediating between artists and buyers and selling work online. Life can’t be easy for gallerists, with high property and running costs and the crippling fees charged by the large art fairs. Which means they can’t afford to take a punt very often on unusual or quirky art, they have to follow the market rather than lead it.
On the other hand, how can you buy art without looking at the real thing, appreciating the textures, layers and the impact of the colours? With a print it should be relatively easy to match image and reality, but one-off artworks are of their nature three-dimensional and complex.
However, the ‘long tail’ effect of the internet means that as a buyer or seller you aren’t limited by the temporary, changing and chance-led nature of physical exhibitions. If you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time you’ll miss the piece that might have set you on fire. You rely on serendipity.
I’m giving Artfinder a try as I’ve heard good things about it and, although it’s a painstaking business getting it all set up, there’s the comfort of knowing that a great deal is done to avoid giving the wrong or incomplete view of the artwork, its size, scale and materials. In particular you’re encouraged to put several snapshots of the work on each listing so the viewer gets a real idea of the impact and presentation of the work. How will it look in your sitting-room? That’s the reality; we don’t live in galleries!
Here’s one piece I’ve listed, the tiniest and most recent of my ‘Coast’ pieces: reclaimed wood, handmade paper, paints, inks and pigments: Special Place.