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How to open a gallery or art salon

Opening art gallery or art salon- this is a very successful and quite profitable idea for your own business.

What should you know and consider when opening your own gallery or art salon? There are several very simple and logical rules for creating such a business.

1. For an organization, it is necessary to have a sufficiently spacious premises, which must meet the requirements for such establishments. Both technical and certain artistic and aesthetic requirements should be taken into account. You should definitely make repairs, carefully consider additional lighting and other similar details.

Of course, it is good if the gallery is located in the city center, where an influx of visitors is guaranteed, but placing an art gallery or salon in a residential area is always a risk.

2. The total area of ​​the premises for organizing an art salon or gallery is usually at least 200 square meters. meters. Of these, approximately 20 sq. meters will occupy the office, exhibition hall– from 80 sq. meters, the storage room for work (storage room) is about another 50 sq. meters, and the remaining 50 sq. meters will be consumed by utility rooms and other technical rooms. In principle, there are smaller galleries that do without storage rooms and an office; when planning such mini-salons, it is very important to correctly distribute the small space available.

3. The next step is the selection of personnel and employees. The main thing here is that they have a good understanding of art, are sociable, sociable, and active.

Usually in a state of more or less serious art salon or gallery gallerist, curator, manager, consultant, exhibitor work. The gallery owner creates the appearance of the gallery, is responsible for its image, chooses the direction of work, and collaborates with artists. The curator organizes and conducts exhibitions; he is the initiator of all these processes. Naturally, this specialist must have an artistic education.

The exhibitor is engaged in selecting the most suitable place for each work, competently and correctly designing exposition. The consultant's task is to communicate with potential clients.

The staff may be reduced or, conversely, increased, depending on the conditions and specifics of the activities of a particular salon or gallery.

4. In order to open an art salon or gallery no special permits are required, only generally accepted papers are needed.

5. As in any other business, when starting an art gallery, you should think about start-up capital. If you already have premises for the future art salon, then at first you can get by with an amount of about 5 - 7 thousand dollars. This money will be used to pay employees for the first month of work, to equip and open the gallery, and to print booklets about upcoming exhibitions.

If, as is usually the case, there is no premises, you will need to rent suitable space. But renting in the city center is a very expensive pleasure. However, if you find a sponsor or open gallery together with local authorities, it will cost much less.

You can connect the gallery to your existing business. For example, you can organize exhibitions in a working store on weekends. By the way, this will be very good advertising.

6. A very important point - choice of artists and their works. You should decide on the direction, technologies (painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, video, media art, installation) and the preferred range of authors.

Here you should rely on several factors: your own preferences, popularity in society, demand. It helps to study business reviews and the opinions of qualified experts who evaluate the work of a particular artist and give them a description.

An artist can be judged by the events in which he took part, where he exhibited, and which museum of contemporary art already has his works. It is very important to choose good jobs for galleries, because it is assessed not by the level of the strongest, but by the weakest of the authors. This is the specificity of this business.

7. When opening a gallery, you should take care of insurance, as well as the general organization of safety and security. These cost items can add significant cost to the initial estimate.

8. Profit can be made not only from painting sales and other items displayed in the salon or gallery. A small entrance fee to the gallery is unlikely to scare away art connoisseurs, but it will cut off the extra “non-target” contingent. You can also charge a nominal fee to artists who want to exhibit their work.

So, let's summarize.

Opening an art salon or gallery is a good business idea that allows you to make a profit by putting your own (if you are an author or collector) and other people's works for sale.

You may have to face some difficulties. They can arise if the business is not thought out to the smallest detail, if there is no start-up capital and the necessary premises. However, it is impossible to predict everything and some flaws, as often happens, will have to be eliminated during the work process. And yet, it is very important to resolve all organizational issues in advance in order to gallery opening went with a bang.

There is hardly a more rewarding way to make a living on this planet than running an art gallery. Sitting all day in a quiet room full of beautiful things, greeting visitors with a smile, giving them your attention and receiving attention in return.

What could be more beautiful than being surrounded by objects of art, which are perhaps the highest form of human expression, collecting these objects, preserving them, opening their way to the big world, and even making a living from it? So, if you decide to become an art dealer and open your own gallery, let’s consider several important points for this profession.

The first and most important thing is that you must have imaginative thinking. And everything you display or offer for sale should be the result of this vision. Imagine that every piece and every artist that you exhibit in the gallery is a kind of brushstroke in painting, and the picture you create fully represents your unique view of art.

This should be your goal: to present and show the world a cohesive, understandable, coherent collection of works that reflect your worldview and allow visitors to form an individual impression of your gallery.
Random, not consistent exposure, lack of direction, lack of identity indicate that, most likely, your business will not last.

When I say identity, I mean that you must create it yourself, and not trust someone else. As soon as you start copying other galleries, you will immediately improve their image and ruin your own. From the very beginning, you need to establish your individuality, and if you are not yet ready for this, then you should simply postpone the opening of your gallery until better times.

Even if you choose to display art, you cannot do it facelessly or with embarrassment. Therefore, get ready for the fact that you will have to defend your identity and answer to unfriendly competitors' comments. Knowing how to successfully defend what you sell is at the heart of reputation building and is an important part of the game. You understand that people who want to buy works from you, and not from a neighboring gallery, must have good reasons for this.

Collectors value knowledgeable, educated dealers, those who not only understand art, but know how and can clearly argue their position on a particular trend, give an expert assessment of events taking place in the market, characterize a work in terms of its relevance, historical value, etc. .d.

Your next task (if you still decide to stay in this business) is to create a core client base consisting of regular customers. Regardless of what type of painting you offer for sale, this base consists of people who understand that a quality collection is built over a long period of time.

Their tastes and understanding develop gradually, and the more their demands increase, the more they gravitate toward respected, reputable dealers and galleries with whom they do business. Study the list of any major collection and you will see that only a few dealers play an important role in its construction. Become one of them.

However, knowing the advantages of your direction, don't stop on what has been achieved. By being the most knowledgeable in the art you represent, attract the best artists in the field. Continuously study the market, understand its trends and stay two steps ahead of your competitors. And in exceptional In some cases, form this market yourself.

That's what the most successful dealers do: they set the course for everyone else to follow. Rumors about your clairvoyance and foresight will certainly spread among participants in this market, writers and critics will take your words into account, more and more collectors will begin to take a closer look at the new direction, figures in art communities will not fail to stir up a heap of discussions around you, and the rest is history, as they say.

But wait, that's not all. Successful dealers are always artist-first. If you get recognition from artists, you will get recognition from collectors. The willingness of a good artist to trust your gallery with his work and his creative career is the key to your success. If you can't get an interesting artist, you won't be able to offer interesting art products to the market. But here I am getting ahead of myself a little.
To achieve this highest recognition - and it will take years, believe me - be firm, focused and confident in the message you send to society.

Get known in the art community as a gallery that deals with specific types of art in a certain price range, works with serious artists whose goals and worldview correspond to a given direction. Your level of trust must be in good standing and your reputation impeccable.

People want to know where they are coming, they want to feel stability, and not jump with you from one direction to another, not understanding what else you will come up with next time. Remember that most buyers are confused by frivolous experiments around art, so stay the course as firmly and steadily as possible.

Once again, success does not come instantly. It will take a long time to build a reputation. Show after show, show after show, convince people that you are not only committed to your vision, but that you have the necessary resources (talent, vision, intelligence, finances) to hold that helm.

This means that you better have enough funds and an interesting, vibrant exhibition calendar for at least six months, or better yet a year, to stay in this business. Profit may not come as quickly as you expected. If you do not have such a cushion, think seriously before starting such a business; perhaps you should postpone it. From the very first day you will be under close attention, but interest in your activities may fade very quickly. Therefore, you must have confidence that what you are doing is capable of starting a fire and maintaining it.

As I said earlier, for the success of the gallery it is very important to carefully and accurately create a base of regular customers, your true partners, those who remain committed to your choice for a long time. A gallery is not a club of interests, not a get-together for friends, acquaintances, artists and classmates, those who come to drink, talk about life and have no intention of buying anything.

A surprisingly large number of galleries seem to be created from the very beginning out of the desire of the owners to surround themselves with sycophants and satisfy some unrealized ambitions. This will almost inevitably lead to a sad end. In order to prevent such an outcome. You must take care of the outside world, take into account its interests and convince the world that you have something to show and something to say about this, that you are protecting your gallery from turning into a local cheap club and what you are ready to do its a place for the elite.

You must be ready at some stage to outline a clear circle of your clients and weed out all those who talk a lot and beautifully about their love for art, but have no intention of supporting you financially or in any other way. This is the only one way to survive. In the end, you can transfer communication with some footcloth friends who are especially close to you from the gallery to your personal space.

Your next job is to attract the right people. But this does not mean loading. One of the best ways is to speak to everyone in a language they understand. Understand that not everyone wants and is able to understand the subtleties of the secrets of painting and delve into your creative plans. You should be easy and unobtrusive with such buyers.

It is quite possible that over time, when you establish a strong connection, you will be able to deepen your intellectual communication. Of course, it would be nice for you to show off your erudition and flaunt your knowledge, and even at first it may seem that you are making an impression; in the end, all this intricate terminology will scare off a not very educated guy. Rarely does anyone want to pay for something they know nothing about.

As an art dealer, constantly expand your audience. Offer items for purchase again and again, sooner or later your customers will start calling themselves and making repeat purchases. At the same time, it also happens that at some point your old clients fill out their collections or switch to new directions, be prepared to replace them with those who have just entered the business.
As for the content of conversations, it is undoubtedly better not to use banal empty remarks such as: “Look how beautiful this picture is, how much expression there is in it, isn’t it?”

Talk about your gallery, about your goals, about why this particular direction and not another is worth attention. Discuss the creative credo of your artists, what their art represents, the concepts, and ideals that it embodies. Why you should invest in them, dwell on the history of successful exhibitions and sales. You must understand for yourself and convince anyone that you are selling much more than just beautiful things.

You'll never sell anything if you just say, "I love this, you should love it too."
Always be extremely attentive to those with whom you communicate, try to show maximum care throughout your acquaintance. Instead of trying to peddle what you want to sell over and over again, try to get to know your buyer's needs and tastes as closely as possible, give them the information they want to hear, and then leave them to their own thoughts.

There is nothing more annoying than annoying gallery staff who are released to process a client, and they try to hook the client with all sorts of tricks, as if the client is a fool and does not understand what exactly they are doing to him. Of course, you may be interested in playing a maze, but first make sure that your interests are shared.
In addition, place all descriptive materials in an accessible place: all articles, essays by art historians and critics, press releases, announcements.

Write down the description of the gallery itself and the artists’ statments in simple, accessible language that everyone can understand. This gives people a level of trust, they feel like they are in control of the situation, and most importantly, they decide for themselves whether they want to know more. Putting pressure on the buyer at the very beginning will cause you to lose loyal customers and prevent you from generating cash flow to stay in business.

While we're already on the topic of finances, let's look at another important aspect of your gallery's survival: reasonable art prices. You must be able to explain your prices in a language that the average person can understand. Present the facts and provide consistent explanations.

If you decide to keep your prices high, justify them like a professional: for example, all the works from the last exhibition were sold, or there were acquisitions for the collection, or there was a sale at auction. In the end, the price can be argued by the fact that this is a painstaking and costly technique, expensive equipment and materials, etc. Those. There must be some specific rational reason for the high cost of work.

To simply say that this is a fashionable trend, and the artist is a newly-minted genius, is not to say anything to sell a painting at a good price. You can't deal with value like a souvenir dealer or a salesman of expensive entertainment. The buyer of serious art is in most cases a collector and investor, so he will not be satisfied with weak explanations.

Only offer thoughtful, agreed-upon prices. Don't do exhibitions where first you sell everything at a price of $8,000 - $12,000, and next time $500 - $1,000. The reaction of regular buyers will not be in favor of the authority of your gallery. Even if the prices were reasonable and you can explain the fine line between different artists and works art, this line is not obvious to most buyers.

Moreover, we have already talked to you that you are obliged to maintain one direction in your gallery, one level of artists and attract regular customers, so take seriously the temptation to change something in your pricing policy. People already have certain expectations and you need to be careful with this. We are not talking about small fluctuations in price, which are easy to explain, but about large discrepancies that can only harm you.

And finally, a few little things to note:
Continuously build your mailing list, but don't send announcements too often: one or two announcements per month will be enough to maintain your status as a reputable gallery.
Show up at local museums, cultural organizations, dealer associations and galleries, draw their attention to the events you are hosting, ask for financial and other support when necessary, not all the time, of course, but when appropriate.

Also invite organizers of various charity events to your gallery, and hold charity auctions yourself. And the most important thing is to get to know each other and get to know each other again. You want to become recognized in the art community, you want to know the main players and, ultimately, gain the favor of authority figures. You don't have to appear at any and all events, but with some level of regularity. People will notice you again and again and gradually a conversation will begin.
Avoid pressure tactics. Don't constantly try to sell someone something.

If someone is ready to buy, they usually make it clear. Answer people's questions, be attentive to their needs, and let them take things one step at a time. At the very least, make sure the client is mature before you grab him by the throat.

If a critic or reviewer expresses thoughts that don't excite you, let them. Never remove them from your mailing list, respond to criticism with back-criticism, or close your gallery doors to them. This is just stupid. You can’t try to change people or take away their right to their opinion.

And in any case, the press always has the last word, no matter how much you puff yourself up. If you take something to public court, be prepared to receive mixed reviews. If it consoles you, outside readers rarely remember which gallery was discussed in the last review, and your customers, on the contrary, will receive an additional incentive to look at you again and make sure that you are in good shape and in a great mood.
And remember - the worst thing they can write about you is not to write anything.

And in conclusion. Be an honest dealer. Never distort and don't embellish excessive information about artists and works, which you are selling. The last thing a buyer would want is to find out, especially one who has just started his business, trusting your professionalism, listening to your opinion, bought from you something completely different from what you described. This will have a bad impact not only on your reputation, but also on the business of all the galleries in the world, because now they have lost at least one collector, and even a couple of his friends.

Therefore, do your beautiful work honestly, have fun, enjoying all the benefits of being a gallery owner, and this alone is enough to say - my business is quite successful.

Article from Artbusiness.com http://www.artbusiness.com/osoqcreatran.html
Translation of the article by Oksana Kozinskaya

“Sometimes we sell five paintings a month, sometimes we sell twenty-five”

Elena Abramova is an art critic by training. But unlike most of her colleagues, she does not work in a museum, does not teach at an art school, and does not pursue a scientific career at a specialized university. Elena has a much rarer and more unique profession - she is a gallery owner. More than ten years ago, she opened her first art gallery, which a year ago transformed into a project bearing her name..

45 years old, gallerist from St. Petersburg, founder. Graduated from the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Repin, master's degree from the Faculty of Liberal Arts of St. Petersburg State University. She founded her first gallery more than ten years ago. The Abramova Gallery project was launched in 2018; the gallery exhibits and sells works by contemporary Russian artists, graphic artists and sculptors.

How it all began

I graduated from the institute, which in St. Petersburg is traditionally called the Academy of Arts. It trains not only artists and sculptors, but is considered one of the best universities for training art theorists. I studied at the Faculty of History and Theory of Fine Arts. Then I still didn’t know exactly how my art history specialization would be implemented in the future, but I wanted to understand precisely this area.

After college there was the opportunity to teach or work in a museum. At that time, I had not yet thought about becoming a gallery owner, although even then I had a dream of organizing my own business.

Later, I graduated from the Master’s program at the Faculty of Liberal Arts of St. Petersburg State University in the “Art Criticism and Curatorial Studies” program - because I wanted not only to become an expert in the field of contemporary art, but also to learn how to create and implement my own curatorial projects.

And even before entering the institute, I graduated from the only gold embroidery school in the world in Torzhok, having temporarily moved there from St. Petersburg. I really liked handmade work, it seemed romantic, very feminine and sophisticated. It was through gold embroidery that I earned my living and study for a long time. This first specialty of mine still resonates in me with both a love of solitude and respect for manual labor, an understanding of how this or that work is made. Of course, there is a big difference between craft and art, but still, when you understand the process of handmade work, it affects the perception of the artists' work.

Both while studying at the Academy of Arts and after graduating, I worked. During one period, she was secretary of the Arts Council for Folk Crafts, and was involved in organizing exhibitions of decorative, applied and folk art in Russia and abroad. This job gave me a lot, taught me how to communicate with both creative and business people. And almost always - in parallel with my main job, where I was a hired employee - I had my own business: a small sewing or embroidery production with two or three craftsmen.

Gallery name yourself

One day, a large bank entrusted me with the selection of a corporate collection - and after that, my reputation as a gallery owner was formed, and trust appeared in relations with artists. It was this project that helped me enter the art market and realize my dream of owning my own business.

But as soon as I made up my mind, the 2008 crisis struck, and circumstances became very difficult. When you have no back and no financial safety net, and you start a business from scratch, it’s not easy. On the other hand, if I had not had such a critical situation, perhaps I would not have decided to take this step. On the one hand, this is a risk, and on the other, when there is nowhere to retreat, you have no right to fail.

The first gallery that I organized in St. Petersburg was called “DekArt”. It existed for 10 years and was quite successful. Time passed, and I decided to develop further as Abramova Gallery.

When I was choosing a new name for the gallery, several of my regular clients recommended giving the gallery their name. Because I am an expert, the face of the company, and they come to me personally to solve their problems. I changed not only the name, but also the concept and location of the gallery.

At the beginning of last year, I heard that the Artplay design center was opening in St. Petersburg - and I realized that this is where I would like to continue my development. This is a multifunctional center, everything here is connected with interior design: people come here to order design projects, choose finishing materials, furniture, lighting... This is a center of attraction for people who have a meaningful attitude towards the space in which they live and want to surround themselves with objects that would make this space is unique.

At the initial stage, I invested not only my own funds into the creation of a unique gallery space, renovation and rental, but also attracted borrowed funds. Of course, moving, renovating a new premises, paying rent for two locations in parallel during the renovation required a lot of investment. During the work of the new space, I have not yet been able to return the funds that I invested, but I hope that in two or three years the project will pay for itself and begin to make a profit.

Looking for new onesyeon

The main specialization of Abramova Gallery is the selection of art objects for private and corporate collections, interiors and business gifts. Our main interest is contemporary Russian art; we present painting, sculpture and graphics.

At the beginning of my activities, I focused on St. Petersburg artists, but now I have become interested in working with artists from other cities. For two years before the opening of Abramova Gallery, I traveled around Russia, looking for artists to form the face of the gallery. Once every one and a half to two months we hold exhibitions, often bringing and showing new names in St. Petersburg.

The gallery has two large rooms: one for exhibition projects, the other is a showroom, which contains the works of all the artists, sculptors, graphic artists with whom we collaborate, about 50 authors.

I thought through and planned the interior very carefully so that the works were safe, so that they were easily accessible, so that they did not interfere with each other. Now the gallery looks exactly the way I always wanted.

Intensify demand

There are many art salons in St. Petersburg, but few contemporary art galleries. What is their difference - an art salon sells everything it can make money on. This can be not only painting, but decorative and applied arts, souvenirs, and crafts. The salon most often does not have any special concept - it is a store selling works of art.

An art gallery has its own direction and development concept: its own circle of artists, a plan for their exhibitions, and the publication of art criticism articles and catalogues. Many galleries have their own collection of works, participate in professional events in the field of art, and are experts in the art market.

The main task is not to cope with competition, but to intensify demand. We have very wealthy people who can easily afford to buy a painting and entire collections, but they are either antique-oriented or are not interested in art at all.

The percentage of people who are willing to invest money in contemporary art and in whom art occupies at least some place in their lives is very small. Most people don’t even imagine that you can come to a gallery and buy a work by an artist who is in the museum collections of the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, and the Manege. People are surprised to see museum catalogs in the gallery and similar works on the walls. This is something that is definitely worth investing in because it is both an investment and emotional capital.

Therefore, when people ask me about investing in art, I focus not only on money, but also on emotions, on creating the environment in which you live. The way art affects a person is no less valuable than the profit that can be received, although this will also be the case with the right choice of a work of art.

What to sell

For a gallery owner, there are two main problems - what to sell and who to sell to. I need to form my own pool of artists, which would be different from the pool of other galleries and would embody my aesthetic views, my attitude towards art. And, naturally, you need a circle of clients who would be on the same wavelength as the gallery.

I like artists who exist within the visual tradition. When we look at a painting and feel the state in which the artist painted it, we resonate with it, the painting reveals new facets for us and its emotional charge does not dry out. These are multi-layered, multi-valued works that do not get boring or become outdated. Most often, these are artists who continue the traditions of modernist painting, but they also contain novelty, search, revelation, and uniqueness.

On what basis do I choose artists for my gallery? Out of love: I look at the works and feel a resonance with them, a subtle coincidence, a desire to meet their creator personally... This is how it all begins.

In general, this is a complex question and, one might say, a sore one. We have a lot of artists, but only a few really good ones, just like professionals in other fields. Many people now have a designer approach to art. They want a spot on the wall, another decoration for the interior. I view art as part of the spiritual life of humanity in the highest sense of the word.

Who to sell to

The gallery has three main areas of work - we form private and corporate collections, select art for the interior and for business gifts. Hence the categories of clients: private collectors; companies that form corporate collections; designers or private clients who select art for their interiors; top managers of large companies who need individual expensive gifts for their partners.

If we talk about corporate clients, these are large businesses - banks, manufacturing and oil and gas companies. If we talk about individuals, these are entrepreneurs and top managers with an income of 500,000 per month.

Unfortunately, there are not many corporate clients. Now is not the best time for business, so all non-core areas are being reduced. But those companies that remained true to their artistic interests - the most dedicated art lovers - are still with us.

Collections are replenished infrequently – it’s not even a matter of regularity. It happens that you need to select a work to match your existing collection so that it blends harmoniously with it. It is difficult to say when such a work will appear, but the process of selection, search, proposal is ongoing.

How do we find clients? I try to constantly expand my circle of acquaintances, attend cultural and business events, exhibitions, and lectures. We organize events in our gallery and collaborate with collectors, art critics, designers, and journalists.

As in most areas of business, an important source of new clients is recommendations from existing ones who have become friends over the years of cooperation. There are almost no chance meetings. In most cases, the new person becomes a regular customer. At the moment we have about 300 such clients.

For promotion we use a standard set: website, social networks.

How's everythingit works

I take works from artists for sale under a commission agreement and receive a percentage of the sale. My work includes promoting the artist, organizing a personal or collective exhibition, conducting excursions, lectures, and media coverage.

How is the price for a painting set? An artist, as a student, evaluates his work, plus or minus, at cost: he adds up the price of brushes, paints and a piece of bread, so as not to starve while he paints this picture. If he wrote 10 works and sold them all within a year, then the price increases by 10-20%. If you bought everything again, it goes up again. Thus, the price rises until the work begins to accumulate. From this moment on, the price is frozen for some time.

The cost, naturally, is influenced by the technique in which the work was performed - oil on canvas, graphics... There is also such an important factor as museum collections. If a museum buys a painting from an artist, the price can increase several times, as this is a confirmation of his importance for the development of art.

Of course, we don’t have an art market in the Western sense, but we still have a general idea – this artist is worth 50 thousand, this one is worth 500 thousand, and this one is worth a million. So the market still exists, and its professional participants navigate it.

There is a price criterion for the work of a particular artist, since we work with famous authors. In different cities and in different countries, the prices for their works are approximately the same; this rule is dictated by the art market that is emerging in Russia, but has long existed in other countries. Galleries avoid cooperation with those artists who do not comply with this rule.

Our prices for work are fixed, but there are discounts. Most often this happens on the initiative of the author of the work: money is needed for a new project, for example. As a rule, this is 10%, no more, and provided that a lot of works are purchased at once. But, to be honest, it is almost impossible to predict how quickly a work will be bought: it often happens that the work is wonderful and the price is reasonable, but it hangs and hangs. And it’s unknown until a person reaches the gallery who wants to become its owner.

Sometimes the same thing happens, but the work doesn’t last even an hour. We didn’t even have time to place it on the wall - it had already been bought. This is a matter of chance and coincidence, luck. I try to formulate this case, of course, I know who to offer this or that job, and to whom it will suit. But if I don't sell the work right away, it may remain in the gallery for several months. Sometimes a gallery sells five paintings a month, sometimes twenty-five.

The profitability of this business is quite high, but only if you don’t invest money in development and don’t pay rent. But this is not our method.

Creativity plus marketing

One of the most interesting and responsible things in my work is organizing exhibitions. This is a large creative work, which includes choosing an artist/artists, creating a concept, preparing texts, selecting works, creating an exhibition, inviting guests and organizing a vernissage.

This is an opportunity for the artist to look at his works from the outside, in a new light, and for the gallery to show his author to the largest possible number of viewers, to attract additional attention to him, as well as a way to promote himself in the information space.

In business terms, exhibitions are a marketing tool, on which we, of course, spend money, but thanks to them, the artist’s recognition increases, and therefore, sales of his works increase.

I plan to develop new directions: to promote Russian artists not only in St. Petersburg, but also in the world, to present projects from other countries.

All by myself

Of course, like any entrepreneur starting a new business, I made a number of mistakes. My main mistake was not financial, but organizational: I didn’t hire employees for the gallery for a long time. I worked alone, plus I had an assistant on hand – a student with no work experience.

All issues had to be resolved independently: I managed all the projects myself, answered calls, worked with clients. I kept my finger on the pulse all the time and was afraid that if I didn’t do something myself, everything would collapse. As a result, at some point I began to experience professional burnout, health problems, etc.

Now I understand how important it is to delegate authority, that no activity, even the most interesting, inspiring and developing, should become the only activity in life and completely absorb a person.

In the new gallery, I hired a professional employee for permanent work, and I attract specialists for temporary projects. Abramova Gallery currently employs two people - an art manager and an accountant. Outsourcing usually involves a photographer and designer. I involve curators and consultants for exhibition projects.

Time for yourself

The gallery is open from noon until late evening. Morning is my personal time, which I use for my own recovery and development: I meditate, read, and play sports.

My job is quite energy-intensive. When a visitor comes to me, I want to give him exactly what people come to museums, theaters and galleries for: a charge of energy, a flow of new feelings, immersion in the world of art. This requires a certain attitude, the ability to manage yourself and your condition. It is very important for me to find time for myself, not to be a slave to the gallery.

In his youth, the unknown son of Armenian emigrants, Larry Gagosian did not even think about the world of art and worked part-time wherever he could - parking cars, etc., until one day he began selling posters. Later, he switched to painting, began promoting paintings by contemporary artists, and one day it was thanks to him that the world recognized Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons. After which Larry Gagosian became fabulously rich and for a long time topped the ratings of the most influential figures in the field of fine art. The story of the American dream, isn't it?

Myths and reality.

In fact, in the art world, everything is somewhat different, especially if we talk about the Russian art market. The modern conditions in which painting exists in our country require extraordinary patience from the gallery owner, serious material investments and painstaking work to build his audience. Now, even in Moscow, gallery sales cannot be called a good way to earn capital: this is still very far away. In most cases, our gallery is more of an image character; it is an opportunity to express oneself by creating currently fashionable curatorial projects and providing support to talented artists.

In modern Russia there are many gallery owners whose professionalism and dedication to art evoke genuine respect. These are, for example, Elena Selina (XL gallery), Alexander Sharov (11.12 gallery), Marat Gelman. However, no one has yet earned multimillion-dollar capital from sales of Russian art. For a long time we were isolated from the world art processes, and representatives of the middle class in our country had not yet formed the habit of investing money in art. Therefore, we can say that our art market is just emerging.

Three steps to success.

What questions do you need to decide on first if you have firmly decided to connect your future with objects of art and become a gallery owner? Of course, the main thing you can’t do without is a passionate attitude towards art and confidence in your own artistic taste and intuition. The second is specialized knowledge that can be obtained both independently and with the support of art market professionals. You can also enroll in a specialized university in our country or abroad. For example, in Moscow, the RMA business school offers an educational program “Art Management and Gallery Business”. Classes are held on the territory of the Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, the course consists of lectures and master classes, and the most influential people in the art world teach here: Olga Sviblova, Vasily Tsereteli, Marina Loshak, Joseph Backstein and others.

Retraining programs for gallery owners are offered by universities such as Moscow State University, Russian State University for the Humanities, Higher School of Economics, and St. Petersburg State University. Curators are also trained at the Free Workshops at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, as well as at the Baza Institute of Anatoly Osmolovsky. Among foreign specialized educational institutions, we can recommend London's Sotheby's Institute of Art, where they train professionals in the field of art in programs of varying lengths, from summer courses to master's degrees.

In addition to this, of course, you must visit exhibitions, communicate with artists, gallerists and collectors. This is the only way to understand what is happening on the art scene and determine the directions that will be closest to you. But if you are no longer new to the art community, it’s time to start taking concrete action.

Step one.

Determine the range of artists you will represent on the market. All galleries can be divided into two types: current and traditional. The first reflect the latest trends in art, discover the current and new, the second represent long-known forms of art. And if the former tend to shock the public with new original ideas and expensive projects, the latter, on the contrary, are conservative and, as a rule, organize exhibitions and sales.

The projects of the former are interesting because they are dynamic and acutely reflect the social processes taking place in society; such galleries have their fans. However, there is another part of the audience, those who will go to a traditional gallery to buy a painting for their collection, because they are close to art that has been tested by time and is not subject to market fluctuations.

So, for example, the works of the well-known duo Vinogradov - Dubossarsky (see photo below), on the verge of social and pop art, with provocative subjects, on large canvases, are presented by galleries of the first type, relevant. And let's say, the works of the also well-known Natalya Nesterova, State Prize laureate, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, with images of biblical scenes, everyday scenes, and still lifes - galleries of the second type.

Current galleries address their projects to the politicized public, as well as to those who are interested in the protest movement or ideas that open new horizons in consciousness. There are also those among the audience who simply want to surprise their wealthy friends.

If you have decided on the direction and found your niche, try to enlist the support of at least five to ten artists who will work with your gallery. At the opening stage, two or three already well-known authors should be involved - this way you can arouse initial interest in the gallery. To make your entry into the market effective, try to make your first project interesting and extraordinary.

Step two.

Choose a location for the gallery. In Western countries, there are certain areas where it is customary to open them: in New York, London and Paris there are entire neighborhoods in which art institutions have developed their activities. Our gallery areas are still just being formed, but we already have the Winzavod center for contemporary art, so it would be preferable to exhibit contemporary art there. Other galleries can be located outside the clusters, but preferably in the city center, because traffic conditions must be taken into account and the time of visitors must be respected.

An apartment-house format is also possible, and there are many such galleries. Its advantage is that you do not need to spend money on renting premises, which becomes the most burdensome expense item. Therefore, some galleries do not have a permanent address, but use new spaces each time. This format is interesting because it expands the curator’s ability to present another exhibition project in a new environment that is suitable for him. This way you can offer the concept of art going beyond the usual walls of galleries and museums, as many new galleries are doing today.

Step three.

Project launch and subsequent marketing activities. The preparatory work before the opening will take a lot of time, but it cannot be avoided. Developing a corporate identity and launching a website is simply necessary: ​​otherwise how will a potential buyer identify you? Naming, creating a logo, preparing and printing catalogs, booklets and invitation cards, writing announcements and releases - these are just a small part of advertising activities. Be prepared for the fact that you will have to decorate the gallery space and carry out hanging.

It is also necessary to come up with some kind of branded “trick” that distinguishes you from your competitors. For example, for the “73rd Street” gallery, a special lamppost was made with a sign “Gallery here” and a logo, which is installed every time during the opening day. This is done so that guests can easily find the entrance to the exhibition, since the gallery always carries out its projects at different venues in Moscow. Next, determine the circle of invitees to the opening of your gallery, whether it will be closed or accessible to everyone.

Notify guests about the opening date and time, think about the food and program, write a press release. By the way, get ready for the fact that you will have to constantly monitor everything that is happening on the art market, attend many events and communicate a lot with people, participate in the Biennale of Young Art and international art fairs, that is, be in constant search and movement.

So, you opened and a certain number of people became aware of your gallery. Among them, perhaps, are your future customers. Now it is important to maintain their interest in new projects, to expose them to the names of young and promising artists, that is, to turn visitors into buyers, and perhaps into real collectors. Whether your gallery will become an attractive place for investors and art connoisseurs, for journalists and artists now depends only on your professionalism, ability to communicate with people and, to a large extent, on luck. I wish you good luck!

About the author: Elena Komarenko is a collector, art dealer, founder and manager of the 73rd Street gallery. Provides assistance in the formation of contemporary art collections. The 73rd Street gallery was founded in 2011 and represents famous names of contemporary Russian art (since the 1960s), as well as talented emerging authors, including foreign ones.

A lot of people are deciding. And the vast majority of novice entrepreneurs are inclined to trade in certain goods and services. This could be the opening of a store, a grocery or clothing store, household or construction goods. This option involves obtaining almost instant profits and a quick return on investment, however, competition here is a very, very serious force. After all, chains of grocery stores are located everywhere and a newly opened grocery store is unlikely to be able to surprise its customers with anything. But opening a business related to something less banal, for example, art, can become very profitable and, more importantly, unique. Especially if you open it in a town where the premises of cultural centers or cinemas are still used to present works of art to spectators.

The most successful option would be to open a gallery. A similar business appeared in Russia not so long ago - barely 20 years have passed since the opening of the first private galleries in Moscow, and now some of them feel very confident not only at the domestic, but also at the international level. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a lot of people paid attention to this type of private entrepreneurship. But in this case, it is important not only to have the material resources that make up the start-up capital, it is also important to understand the essence of this, at first glance, simple enterprise. Like any other important matter, opening a gallery requires a careful and responsible approach. And the most important thing at this stage will be the gallery’s business plan. Which will determine the entire course of affairs related to the opening and operation, plus will make it possible to make fundamental financial calculations.

A gallery can be fine art or decorative arts.

Example of a successful art gallery opening

“Atelier Karas” is a gallery that opened in 1995. However, the idea of ​​​​creating a private gallery in the family of the leader, Evgeniy Karas, began to be discussed even earlier - in 1986. Since the Karas family consisted entirely of people involved in fine arts and painting, they It would not be difficult to organize the effective functioning of such a cultural institution. The location of the gallery was a studio, which was provided to Evgeniy’s parents by the Union of Artists. It was located on the first floor of the building and its area was as much as 200 square meters. m. Here for 8 years there was a personal workshop of the artists Karas. And it was here that they all so wanted to create a territory of artistic life, filled with unique exhibits and, of course, like-minded people in this regard.

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Starting an Art Business

Despite the fact that the family had a fairly large working area, a major renovation was carried out to create space for the gallery. After this, or rather even in parallel with this process, Evgeniy Karas, as a novice gallery owner, until 1995, was engaged in accumulating knowledge related to the field of contemporary fine art. He actively studied the state of affairs in the fine arts of neighboring countries - Ukraine, Russia, and beyond - Europe, the United States, Canada, etc. Then there was a difficult choice of theme for the initial exhibition, but the decision to present the works of Ukrainian artists to the public was made unanimously. And the time has come for a more thorough study of the situation with Ukrainian art. The artistic directions of contemporary creativity, infrastructure, and ratings were studied. Moreover, Evgeniy, as a businessman new to this field, had to study his social circle and the names of potential visitors, sponsors, and the like.

Together with the recruited team of gallery workers, the process of forming a database began: information about the artists was collected, photographs of their creative works were examined, art historical texts and criticism were collected. Later, a list was compiled of the most interesting to the public, and strong, from the point of view of professional artists, artists. The developed exhibition programs began to be sent to those artists whose works they wanted to see in the walls of the gallery preparing for the opening.

According to Evgeniy Karas, a similar work plan for preparing a private gallery was helped by him to draw up and then implement the experience of foreign specialists who had already had positive successes in this business. He did not read any special literature on this topic. And there was nothing to read. Back then, at the end of the twentieth century, all this was new. And I had to study not at management and business institutes or courses, because they did not yet exist in our country. I had to figure everything out on my own, creating some creative ideas on the go, which eventually became the basis for newly opening private galleries in Russia.

The features of opening a gallery described above can be briefly summarized as the main advice to like-minded beginners - it will be better if the gallery building is located in the city center. The total area of ​​its premises should not exceed 200 - 250 square meters. m. This figure is taken from the following calculations: it will be enough to place the exhibition hall in a room with an area of ​​80-100 square meters. m, an office can be classified as 15-20 sq. m. from all parts of the gallery, we must not forget about the space for storing works. Which can be located on 30-50 sq. m. It is also worth allocating at least 50 sq. m. for technical premises. m where equipment will be stored, etc. However, some galleries are located on only 25 square meters. m and exist quite well.

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Recruitment of gallery workers

The permanent staff of a medium-sized gallery, such as Atelier Karas, will require no more than 5-6 people: gallerist or manager, press secretary, curator, consultant, exhibitor and programmer.

The main role, of course, in the entire process of opening a private gallery, further preparation of exhibitions, etc., is played by the gallery owner, whose taste and position help to place a bet on certain works of art that will be correctly perceived by the public. It is he who creates the image of a cultural institution. Only he decides which authors he should work with and which not, and the same goes for hired workers. His decision determines which genres and eras of art can be exhibited in his galleries and which cannot. As practice shows, a gallery owner does not have to be a professional artist at all. It is enough for him to have a superficial understanding of such an art form as painting and, of course, he must love it. Moreover, in modern higher educational institutions of the CIS countries and Russia, professional art managers are trained, who, as planned, will cope well with the management of cultural enterprises.

Second in importance, after the gallery owner, on the list of personnel for this project is the curator. He is the initiator of this or that exhibition, organizes it and, in the end, holds it. This person must know everything down to the most seemingly insignificant detail that may emerge during the preparation of the exposition. Particularly valuable will be the curator who has a higher art education and the ability to conduct and prepare several exhibition projects at once.

The third place is occupied by the exhibitor, who is engaged in hanging paintings in the exhibition hall. Of course, he doesn’t do it with his own hands, with a stepladder at the ready. He plans in which room this or that painting should hang, and surrounded by which paintings it will look best. After all, as experienced workers of galleries and museums note, correctly, and even more so, a talented exhibition gives even old, boring paintings a “new sound”.

The function of consultants is to be present at the time of the exhibition in the hall where the exposition is presented and to provide the necessary assistance to visitors and potential buyers. They, as is already clear, are also required to know every detail about the paintings being presented and their authors. Recent graduates of painting and fine arts institutes or senior students can perfectly cope with this role. The press secretary, as in all other areas, is responsible for working with the media. According to the managers of not only private but also state galleries, a person with an artistic education will be able to safely combine several functions, for example, creating exhibitions, working with visitors and write original texts.

Any modern gallery must have a professional programmer or system administrator on staff who will organize the work of the gallery’s website, update it, and monitor the accuracy of the information contained on the establishment’s official website.

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What documents and funds are needed to open this business?

Due to the fact that the activities of galleries on the territory of our country are not yet regulated by law, no special documents are needed to officially recognize them. It is only important to formalize the opening of an individual business, register with the tax service and regularly pay income tax, plus fees to the pension fund. Services for checking the activities of galleries also do not yet exist, so gallery owners can still breathe easy. You can start a gallery business, as Evgeniy Karas says, with only 2000-3000 dollars.

However, if you do not yet have a premises, the amount will increase significantly. The specified amount will be used to pay full-time employees for the first month, organize the opening ceremony and order booklets advertising the debut exhibition. If your gallery is the first and only one in the city, you can try to enlist the support of local authorities and even, if you’re lucky, get a building in the city center. In this case, you will share business rights with a government agency. Another option for solving the problem of lack of funds for renting premises is to add a gallery to an existing business, for example, in assembly halls or in the halls of a private bank.

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Opening plan for an arts and crafts gallery

Having considered the plan for opening a gallery in which works of painters will be exhibited, you can move on to another type of gallery - decorative and applied arts. In order for a start-up business to pay off fairly quickly, you need to try to choose a high-quality exposure. Experts say that a huge number of people whose income allows them to spend quite large sums on home improvement will be happy to purchase decorations for the interior of a house made in American or some other style and design. Beautiful, high-quality furniture and accessories for it, which represent true examples of the art of the peoples of the world, will always attract rich people, especially if the offer comes to our market in limited quantities. This is the kind of assortment that a decorative and applied arts gallery should exhibit if its owner wants not only to share art objects with the public, but also to earn good money.