“I think the Internet is making Galleries obsolete.” Quote

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I saw this on an Art group page and I thought what a provocative statement.

As a Gallerist I hope long term that Galleries will not go the way of the music industry and many others industries that failed to grasp what was happening with the internet, the great disruption, but if they do not make major changes and innovate they surely will.

Though many Artists think people will always want to go to Galleries to touch the Art to buy it, people buy so much on line now and it will only get bigger and more and more Art will be sold on line, it is happening and all the denial and finger wagging will not stop it.

Again the business model for Galleries is broken and unless Galleries can change and reinvent themselves most will disappear. There will always be very high end Galleries, that is a growing elite market and they like to touch what they buy.

The problems with most Galleries is that they have to survive on commissions and that is not sustainable.

Most Artists have the attitude that Galleries are ripping them off with high commissions but with rising cost Galleries have no choice but to raise commissions, slowly Galleries are being shut out of their own business.

So galleries will have to change their business model or go the way of Kodak, if they will not change then they will die.

Look at how many Galleries have already closed in the west, yes there will always be the strong personality run Gallery that generates sales but they are the exception, not the rule.

The competition for Galleries has changed, now we have Art Fairs high end down to the local Art fair in a small town and every art sale in these Art fairs is one less in a Gallery, also online auctions are increasing and on line Art Galleries are selling, another area of sales not happening in the Gallery.

Today as never before more and more Artists are marketing themselves on the internet and getting sales, another loss to Galleries.

It would be so romantic to think Galleries can survive as they are, but they will not, they will have to change and innovate.

Look how Artists have changed their business model, when I started in the industry in the early 1970’s you had to go through the gatekeepers to make it in the industry and if these people did not like you there was no recourse and no shows in Galleries, many of us had to be contented with local Art shows and hope we sold.

A lot of Artists opened co-op Galleries but they always ended in tears so we did what we could and entered every competition we could to get sales. Now the Artist can build their whole career on social media and never have to show in a Gallery, the internet has made that possible and collectors can go through Art groups and connect with the Artist and go to their studio and buy their work.

The Artist studio will become the new gallery and most current Galleries today will go online and sell Art that they own and online auctions these will become the selling tool for most Galleries that survive.

To say that Galleries will always be here in their current form is ignoring the fact of how much the Gallery business has already been impacted by the Art Fair and Auction competition, the Internet and rising costs, in the long term it is not sustainable.

Artist live in a time when they can have complete control of their Art future. There is no one to pick you now, you have to pick yourself and be your own sales and marketing team and build your Art career.

We live in a time of great change, in a time when all Artist can communicate and exchange views with other Artists from all around the world, this is amazing when I started it just the little band of Artists you knew.

Today Artists can promote themselves and sell their work without the middle man and not pay commissions and we think Galleries can last?

Collectors will go straight to the Artist and deal directly with them and not go through a Gallery or deal with the Gallery, this is already happening and will continue to grow and become the normal.

With such change going on in every industry, of course that change is going to impact on our industry.

I never wanted this to happen as I loved the old system but I am a realist and I see the changes that are coming and I believe it is one of the most exciting times to be an Artist and to be able to run your Art business without having to answer to the gatekeepers.

Be ready for more change in the Art industry, it is coming.