Nadezhda Stepanova and Elvira Tarnogradskaya - owners of the Moscow gallery contemporary art Triangle, opened in 2014. Over the course of a year and a half, the owners of Triangle found an approach to Moscow and Swiss collectors, established close ties with the Austrian art public and learned to make money from the works of young authors.

Stepanova is the mastermind of the project and an experienced gallerist, lives in Italy and visits Moscow. Tarnogradskaya is a lawyer and antiques specialist from a hereditary “antique” family, and constantly works in the gallery. “Sometimes a collector sees some work remotely - he found a picture on the gallery’s website, sends a request, transfers money. But such cases are rare. In order for the gallery to work and earn money, you need to be present in it,” she explains.

Before launch own business, in 2014, gallery owners decided that it was more interesting and profitable to engage in contemporary art. The works of recognized masters have already been collected in museums and expensive private collections; discoveries are extremely rare. “But contemporary art is exactly the market where you can find the best and offer it to the client,” Tarnogradskaya explains her desire for young talents.

The Triangle currently features nine artists. Exactly the amount that a young gallery should have, the founders believe. The gallery's source of income is sales of works. From the sold painting, the artist and the gallery each receive 50%. The gallery buys some works and keeps them - those that have the prospect of becoming more expensive over time.

The pricing laws in this market are quite clear. For example, work young artist, executed in oil on canvas measuring 40 by 60 cm, in the USA or Europe cannot cost less than €1,500; in our country, a beginning artist can be priced cheaper, but not much. “This amount includes payment for both labor and materials, and also provides the artist with the opportunity to live off art, and not become a waiter or teacher,” explains Stepanova. The price range for the works presented in the “Triangle” is wide - from €100 for small-format drawings to €20,000-30,000 for larger-scale and labor-intensive works.

An exclusive agreement between a gallery and a young artist is rare. Most often, the gallery takes works for sale, and the proceeds are divided 50/50. Celebrities working with large galleries receive a more significant share of the remuneration. If the gallery buys several works directly from the artist’s studio “in bulk”, then its percentage increases to 70-80% of the cost of the works.

Searching for talent involves visiting a large number of exhibitions of various sizes, and not only in Russia. The Triangle Gallery, for example, is interested in artists from post-Soviet space. Some artists worked with Elvira Tarnogradskaya even before the founding of the gallery as an art dealer. Nadezhda is responsible for cultural exchange. Communicates with European and American galleries, brings works of interesting young artists to Moscow and organizes exhibitions of “our own” abroad.

“There is no shortage of new names, but rather an excess,” admit the gallery owners. Their company, for example, constantly receives letters and offers from beginning painters. “It’s very difficult to get to us, our decision is based solely on the quality of the work, the talent of the artist and the stage of his career - he must be really young, under 35 years old, and really starting out,” explains Stepanova.

When selecting artists for their gallery, Stepanova and Tarnogradskaya are guided by their own artistic taste and commercial sense. No one selects works specifically “for a collector” or a specific buyer,” explains Nadezhda. If the artist is of interest to the gallery owners themselves, it means that he will also be of interest to buyers.

Young authors do not mean completely unknown. Triangle has artists who are already loved by viewers. Beginning gallery for them - more interesting site than famous. For example, artists Valery Chtak and Kirill Kto left venerable Moscow galleries due to lack of attention. “We met Valera Chtak when he was walking from the Regina gallery, from which he had just parted,” says Stepanova. There, over several years of collaboration, the artist had his only exhibition. “Triangle” managed to exhibit Chtak’s works three times in a year and a half and showed his works at four fairs, including European ones. The gallery is now preparing the artist’s next exhibition, which will be held in the spring.

Kirill Who came to Triangle from XL Gallery, another oldest Moscow gallery. "For recent years he had only one exhibition of graphics and ready made there. Kirill came to our gallery, and we communicated well. I offered to exhibit his canvases here, and he happily agreed,” says Nadezhda. The artist parted with XL peacefully; gallery owner Elena Selina was not averse to parting with the author, whom she had never gotten around to.

After Triangle first presented Who's canvases, interest in his work grew significantly. After the exhibition, one work was purchased by Vladimir Ovcharenko, founder of the Regina gallery and the Vladey contemporary art auction. He included it in the landmark exhibition of his collection “Borscht and Champagne,” which took place this summer at the Museum of Modern Art on Gogolevsky Boulevard; in addition, he began actively selling his graphics on Vladey. Nadezhda says that at the end of October small drawing Kirill Who A4 format at a starting price of €100 went for €1400. The artist decided that he could collaborate with Ovcharenko in graphics, but he gave the exclusive rights to paintings on canvas to Triangle. Recently Stepanova sold two small canvases by Kirill Kto to a collector from Milan. He saw his work at the annual art fair in Vienna, Vienna Contemporary.

International ambitions and participation in fairs, including outside Russia, are necessary for both the gallery and its artists in order to gain fame and weight in the market. Only galleries that have their own are allowed to participate international program. Part of such a program for Triangle will be an exhibition of a young American artist with Russian roots, Stefan Tcherepnin, who is exhibiting at the famous New York gallery The Real Fine Art. Tcherepnin's great-grandfather wrote music for Diaghilev's ballets, and his family goes back to famous surname Benoit. Nadezhda and Elvira are confident that the artist’s works and his story will be of interest to the Moscow public.

In Vienna, Triangle successfully presented the young Russian artist. There have been several requests from collectors to purchase his works. Tarnogradskaya: “Alexey Mandych fits perfectly into the Austrian theme - his “Black Square” was made with the artist’s own blood. We remember that the famous Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch also used blood. The result was a cultural allusion both to the Russian avant-garde and to Viennese actionism.”

Now “Triangle” exports and shows abroad 20-25 works a year. In a year and a half, gallery owners have already “mastered” two Vienna fairs and one Moscow Cosmoscow. Triangle also applies for participation in the BRAFA fairs in Brussels, Art Basel in Basel and Art Cologne in Cologne. But he has not yet received an invitation, which, however, is not surprising. The largest international fairs are available only to renowned galleries with a strong reputation. These currently include two domestic galleries - the Moscow-London “Regina” and Moscow XL.

Stepanova and Tarnogradskaya strive to ensure that, over time, “Triangle” ascends to the international artistic Olympus. The main thing is to work hard and not make mistakes. “Our strategy is based on the presentation of young artists working in the field of contemporary art, so we cannot exhibit the more popular “interior” paintings or organize exhibitions famous artists with the established market, although this may seem like an easier technique from a commercial point of view, explains Stepanova. - To enter the international arena, it is not enough to think about what sells easier.

Gaining a stable reputation, bringing their artists to the international market, and then selling their works for tens or even hundreds of thousands of euros is the task of Stepanova and Tarnogradskaya for the coming years.

And if 10-12 years ago, domestic creators of beauty sold their works for $160-200, today the cost of their works is at least 3-5 thousand dollars.

The demand for paintings and photos by “serious” artists is growing for several reasons: firstly, it is not only a way to store money, but also to increase private capital; secondly, investments in art over the past 5-7 years have shown a trend of enviable constant growth in 20-30%; thirdly, slightly less than half of buyers domestic masterpieces- foreigners from EU countries, the tax code of which provides benefits for persons forming cultural heritage states.

Efficiency of investment in beauty

From the point of view of the commercial attractiveness of investing within the framework of the annual return criterion, the most general indicators indicate an average income of 12%-17% for each investor. But the peak indicators are more inspiring - from 300% profitability per year or more. Impressive, isn't it? Of course, such indicators are achieved solely due to a clear hit on the target, that is, a competent selection of works of art for sale (or resale).

Where to start a gallery business

To open your own gallery, it is enough to have a starting capital of $3,000. First of all, such a modest figure is justified by the fashion for shocking gallery locations - a bohemian opening will certainly be a successful event if it takes place in a shabby room with “artistic disorder” all around. Of course, a renovated space in the heart of the city is welcome, but in this case, rent alone will cost at least 10-15 thousand dollars.

As for creative suppliers, there are plenty of them on the market - both luminaries in their field and those who, in the wake of the peak fashion for creative implementation, have discovered various kinds of talents. Each gallery chooses its own concept of working with the contents of the collections: some work exclusively with a dozen or so top artists, while others include fifty young artists working in non-standard techniques. In any case, you will have to make a decision - combining paintings by a recognized artist and handmade postcards in one gallery would be at least impractical.

Promotion and promotion of an art gallery

The range of mechanisms for advertising and attracting attention to business is wide: thematic inserts, art performances, auctions, etc. It is worth noting that domestic media are always happy to “pick up” the initiatives of galleries by writing materials and filming stories, after the release of which there is always an influx visitors.

Gallery business in detail

Level of competition: low

Initial investment: from $3,000 to $200,000

Payback period: 1-4 years

Average target audience of clients: intelligent people aged 40-50 years, as well as especially wealthy people;

Annual global art market: about $80 billion.

Features: gallery business

— There is no need to invest money in goods (the artist either rents the space occupied by his works to the gallery, or gives it for sale on agreed shares);

— Unpredictability of sales, lack of clear prerequisites for changes in market conditions;

— Large shadow circulation of works of art in our country;

— The creative optionality of suppliers (artists) is a specific mental feature.

— Possibility of receiving additional income (not from sales of art objects): organizing exhibitions, master classes, etc., which involve purchasing tickets for visiting.

Pricing policy

With the collapse of the USSR, works of art were labeled as low-market goods, but by the end of the 90s the situation had changed dramatically - prices for paintings and sculptures jumped several times. By today art salons and galleries practice markup of 50% -100% of the author's price. However, gallery owners always leave some room for bargaining - they are very interested in the “movement” of goods, so they cannot afford to lose a client for uncritical amounts.

Top sales

Oil painting of any style and direction

Fruit applied arts: products made of ceramics, glass, metal, leather, etc.

Watercolor

Photos

Sculpture sales are the worst. Main reason The point is that sculpture, unlike the top five best sellers, obliges any interior (at least due to its volume), forcing it to change the room into a piece of art, not vice versa.

The most important

The art business is not built on capital and turnover. The most impressive exhibition area and extensive advertising campaign will not contribute to the development of the business if you do not earn a certain reputation. It is the reputation, both among artists and craftsmen, and among collectors and wealthy people, provides the gallery owner with a stable income growth, the best art content and true pleasure received from the work process.

Especially for KHOBIZ.RU

There can hardly be a more gratifying way to earn a living on this planet than maintaining 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 that, perhaps, are highest form human self-expression, collect these objects, preserve them, open the way for them to the big world, and even earn a living from this? So, if you decide to become an art dealer and open your own gallery, let’s consider several important points for this profession.

First and most important, 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 direction, give expert assessment events taking place on the market, characterize the work in terms of its relevance, historical value, etc.

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 time. long period 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. Examine the list of any major collection and you will see that only a few dealers play 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. Readiness good artist trust your gallery with your works and your creative career is the key to your success. If you can't get interesting artist, You will not 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.

Marvelous large number From the very beginning, galleries seem to be specially created due to 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 task 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.

Keep the description of the gallery itself and artists’ statments simple accessible language, understandable to everyone. 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. Pressure on the buyer at the very beginning means that you will lose loyal customers and will not give you the opportunity to generate cash flows 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, associations of dealers and galleries, draw their attention to the events you are holding, ask for financial and other support if necessary, not always and all the time, of course, but when it is 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 last word, no matter how 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

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 and began promoting paintings 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 fine arts. 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 in a good way 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 inspire 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 special 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 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 trained at the Free Workshops at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, as well as at the Baza Institute of Anatoly Osmolovsky. From foreign specialized educational institutions We can recommend the London 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 degree.

In addition to this, of course, you must attend 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 latest trends in art, they discover the current and the new, the latter have been represented for a long time known species art. And if the first ones 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 represented by galleries of the first type, relevant. Let's say the work is just as good famous Natalia Nesterova, laureate State Prize, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, with images biblical stories, everyday scenes, with still lifes – galleries of the second type.

Current galleries address their projects to a 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 suits 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. Preparatory work It will take a lot of time before opening, but you can’t do without it. Developing a corporate identity and launching a website is simply necessary: ​​otherwise how will a potential buyer identify you? Naming, logo creation, preparation and printing of catalogues, booklets and invitation cards, writing announcements and releases is 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 young art and international art fairs, that is, to 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. Gallery "73rd Street" was founded in 2011 and represents famous names contemporary Russian art (since the 1960s), as well as talented emerging authors, including foreign ones.

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