Aller à la source pour acheter de l'art - Article de Frank Shifreen

 Je voudrais partager un secret avec vous sur l'achat de l'art. Le secret d'acheter de l'art est de s'adresser directement à l'artiste, si possible, et de faire sa connaissance. Achetez l'art en direct. Avant l'internet c'était dur à faire. ... (article est encore en phase de traduction, si vous voulez continuez en anglais: ) Timothy McKenna écrit dans son article comment un collectionneur individuel devrait procéder dans un climat aussi "échauffé " du marché d'art et de collection. Il dit qu'on peut gagner beaucoup d'argent de cette façon. Il me semble qu'il s'agit d'un marché d'insiders ou la plupart de nous se sent comme un "outsider". . Je le considère comme risqué. Le collectionneur débutant semble être une souris dans une maison avec beaucoup de gros chats autour... (l'article est en phase de traduction. Si vous voulez bien, continuez en anglais) .... a. In the traditional art economy, Mr. McKenna's advice has probity and  seems sensible, but it is not. I have a different opinion . But first we have to separate  two categories that do not belong together.  Most experts conjoin the art collectibles market and the purchase of work by practicing artists. I have no argument with their  take on collectibles, the collectibles market and how to start buying that kind of art. My interest and expertise is advising on the purchase of artwork  currently being produced, what I call living art. Buy the work of artists who are making art now directly from them. I believe that buying art should be a personal transaction.

     I encourage you  to start relationships. Discover  and learn  about art by conversing with artists and art communities. Your interest in their work is a perfect introduction. Participating  in such a dialog  does  not objectify  art or artists. Make an acquaintance , friend, join a community. Most artists work as members of a group, and by asking  we can learn what group that is. The most interesting collectors that I met were people who took an interest in art and artists. They joined a group of artists as friends and  then bought their art. New York collectors Herbert and Dorothy Vogel are  an example . He was a postal clerk and she was a librarian. They became friends with artist Sol LeWitt and bought  their first artwork from him. Most of their purchases were not made through galleries but bought directly from artists. They made friends with many artists who later became famous. They were able to buy art because of the relationships they had with artists. Artists were so pleased by the Vogel's interest that they lionized them. 

     McKenna makes broad statements. "Know what you buy and buy what you know" is one of his first categories.  How can one find the information out?  It is very difficult to ferret  out information  even for  a seasoned  observer. That is where the dichotomy between collectibles and living art occurs. In my view, buying a work from an artist participates in their art.   Katherine Markel Fine Arts of New York , has a section on buying works of fine arts. Her website, gives a good overview, which I recommend. The first point is to find out what you like. The web offers unparalleled resources for discovering art and artists. Explore via the web. Search out what you are interested.Google the artists. With the web you can narrow your search to what really interests you.

     When you find someone or gallery that interests you, then make contact. I disagree with Markel, McKenna, and others on the necessity of galleries. They cite trust, safety, taste, ability to return, and other issues. Why is a gallery more trustworthy than an artist?  If there is an artist who has a contract with a gallery, then you must buy from that gallery . Galleries are an important segment of the art world, but they are still the middleman in this business. Commercial galleries often take a big cut, 50% to 70%, just for showing an artist’s work.. Non-profit spaces, co-ops, and other non commercial galleries charge less. You will probably pay a significantly lower price by going directly to the artist. By communicating with the artist you will get to know their  passion, motivation and purpose. Even if an artist you are interested in is with a gallery I would recommend engaging them personally. If you cannot see them face to face, make contact through telephone or correspondence. .Group exhibitions are often  a way to see an artists work in contrast to others, based around a theme. They can be seen  in galleries or on the web. I also emphasize the word, interest. Your contacting an artist does not have to be on the promise to purchase. If the artist acts  otherwise, then find another artist

     Mr McKenna brings up the work of Franco Mondini-Ruiz as example of an affordable   price in the commercial art market.  Mondini-Ruiz is a unique exception. . His work  is an example that belies McKenna's generalizing it. Mondini-Ruiz, when offered a place in the Whitney Bienniel, one of the most important shows in American Art, chose to stand outside making art for sale ,10 cents to 100 dollars. He believes in making art affordable. Each one of the 400  small paintings in his gallery show (2005) was  a gem. His practice is so rare in the commercial art market that it makes McKenna;s statement all the more striking. Many artists believe, myself included, that it is important to make some art  that can be bought by anybody. Mondini-Ruiz is one of the few  commercially and critically successful artists that is doing that. I am sure there are others, and I hope it is a growing trend, but I will not hold my breath. Money, exclusivity and fashion drive the commercial market. It is all about the buzz. I do not listen,and I recommend that you do not either. Trust your instinct for beauty and meaning, but also trust your right to a good deal.

    You must be careful as McKenna and Markel warn, particularly in prints by famous artists. There are paintings that are made by computer that look original, paintings made wholesale by factories in China, copycats, forgeries, and a host of other scams. That is another reason to buy from the artist and  to get to know them in time before you buy. Unless there is a big payday, scammers do not have the time for chit-chat. Take your time, chat it up and be alert.

    There are many wonderful unaffiliated artists. Galleries and sales are not indicators of talent. The old cliche, which I repeat, Van Gogh never sold a painting. Many artists on this site, Saatchi, and other portals charge reasonable fees. My colleague from Columbia Teachers College, Dr. Christine Staikidis,  worked with a group of Mayan artists whose art supports several villages in Guatemala. I include a link to the website which is run on their behalf. The paintings are in the range of 100$ to 5000$. There are many very interesting paintings in the 100-400$ range. Indigenous peoples are now able to compete on the world stage, as equals, and it is a welcome development . It could be considered "outsider" or folk art by some, but in my view, these artists are painting their culture. They are not outside of anything.

    There are many fine painters whose work is accessible and affordable, I would bring up Dr. Barnaby Ruhe, as an example. Dr Ruhe is a professor at New York University and paints portraits and abstractions  in a unique dynamic, modern style. His prices are reasonable. A portrait is  a way to see how the artist sees you.

   If you are wondering what are all these doctors doing as artists I will explain, because it has been an important development in the study of the arts. In recent years, artists  became interested in studying the practice of art, using modern tools of research, developed in the academic fields of art and art education to identify and study, not through art history or aesthetics, but as active practitioners, to learn about art from the "inside".  I personally felt an estrangement from the world of art that Markel and McKenna write about. I sought to understand the creation, exhibition and business of art and am pursuing my degree and research in those areas. I think we are making progress
In summation, the better way of buying art  in my opinion is to seek out art that you are interestee in, go directly to the artist or community and ask questions, talk to them, and then only after you feel comfortable, buy their art. This process can work with galleries also. More about Frank Shifreen

http://www.markelfinearts.com/ArtladyMonica/starting.htm

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/

http://www.artemaya.com/

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E3D81330F933A05751C1A9639C8B63 (Mondin--Ruiz/

Comments

• Bonjour les artistes,vivement la suite de la traduction en français!!! la première partie est formidable,vivement la suite. MERCI

  by duvivier - 16/10/2008 21:49:44

• I do share all your ideas. Your ideas remind me of the Bengali Nobel prizer, Muhammad Yunus, who created banks for the poor and helped thousans of them to create a small entreprize. Your idea can work, if artists can have collective ideas and think not only for prestige... Because showing his art in such or such gallery is a "plus", it is "valorisant". For some artists, this direct distribution of art can work in the western world: didn't many rock, metal and underground bands become famous in the parallel circuit shows? Mr Shifreen, I appreciate your ideas: they're structured in a broad reflexion including creation, distribution, goals. Art for you is not only an aesthetic, it is ethics.

  by elhadjtahar - 24/10/2008 01:43:48

• ça me gêne tout cet argent , partout, même pour se faire exposer, ou participer à un concours....
  moi je voulais distribuer du plaisir....à prix coutant.

  by ceciledm - 19/03/2009 09:45:05