What Good Are Art Dealers?

[astrogirl]

I enjoy Alan's articles- he's pretty balanced and has common sense which comes from years of experience. This is his latest which is a pretty good, and spot on, read-

What Good Are Art Dealers?

Nobody likes art dealers. Artists don't like dealers because they keep half the price of every piece of art they sell. People who buy art don't like dealers because they charge top dollar. Even dealers don't like dealers, but that's another article. So do art dealers do anything other than inject themselves into art business transactions, jack prices, and extract money? Let's explore.

continued here on his site....
www.artbusiness.com/dealer.html

[jemappellekat]

Good art dealers exist. Even you, AD, would qualify as being a good art dealer. When I mentioned being stoked about Barron Storey's exhibit, you commented.

The great ones look after both their artists and clients/buyers. They take chances, they follow-through, and they address all needs in every transaction. They charge what they have to because the sale of art helps with overhead, but they don't get greedy. They pay their artists in a timely manner, deliver their art as soon as exhibitions are closed, and always keep everyone involved in the loop. There are many out there, but Thinkspace is a great example. The give exposure to artist's at the beginning stages in their career and can give credit jump-starting the careers of many of the artists that we obsess about... Lol. Which is why many (but not all) will always come back - whether it be in a group show or in a solo exhibition.

I like Giant Robot because I am into alternative comic artists and their art tends to be more within my price range. I've score some cool pieces from Philip Lumbang III, Eleanor Davis, numerous pieces from their POST-IT SHOWS.

There is currently a situation resembling the whole "NERDCORE/Joe Ledbetter" Sketchbook pre-order fiasco... While I admit that I haven't made too much effort to get to the bottom of it, I get ignored unless this said person feels the need to hit me up for something. It's art dealers like this that make me gag, which sucks because the gallery was in my TOP FIVE in 2009.

Then there are the ones that have closed down... for good reason.

[thewalrus]

As a new "art consultant" I make 5% - not 50%. I didn't read all of this so, I'm totally speaking off the cuff but, there are good guys out there too.