It must be about the Artist and original Art.

In my last blog I was referring to commercial, for profit Galleries, not public funded Galleries and Museums, they are not affected like commercial Galleries as they do not need to make a profit.

My reference is to privately owned Galleries because they rely on sales and commissions to survive.

Many people are very romantic about these businesses but if they do not make a profit, how can they stay in business?

No matter how much we love them in the final wash up the bottom lines is what counts.

The big challenge for commercial Galleries is to innovate in this new situation and find ways to build new business models in this new internet age, some will and prosper and many will not, because change is hard and we always want it to be the way it was, but in this new day commercial Galleries will have to learn new skills and change what they do, to fit into the new era we live in.

The Internet is disruptive and how we respond to this challenge will distinguish the winners from those who will leave the industry, unfortunately it is business and we grow and evolve or we disappear.

The real need of the future is not to be romantic about commercial Galleries but concentrate on how we can better equip Artists to navigate this disruption that we face.

Artists are the key to the Art business and we have to equip them to build strong Art businesses so that they prosper in this new era, our priority should be the living Artist and how to best help them, without prosperous living Artists the Art linage struggles to go on.

Galleries will come and go but without the Artist we have no Art business. It encourages me greatly to see Artists forming Artist co-operatives to market their Art, I see groups of Artists getting together to do online auctions, this is new and exciting, it must always be about the Artist and original Art, this is what we need to concentrate on.

There are Artist Art groups on Facebook that are really challenging the status quo like “ FINE ART UNIVERSAL” This group holds competitions for Artists from all over the world and gives out certificates, commendations and awards, this is new and yes the old school establishment will scoff and laugh at first but this is ground breaking and every new Artist that joins the group and participates breaks the hold of the gatekeepers and old art establishment just a little bit more. It is exciting and new and it has never happened before and this is how I see it will go, groups doing things that challenge the establishment and break new ground for Artists.

These groups are going to have a big influence on buyers and collectors because buyers love what is popular and these groups are making group decisions and giving out awards that will bring sales for Artists.

Collectors and buyers will gravitate to these new groups because it will be where the Artists are and collectors want good Art.

Commercial Galleries might be in trouble but as long as there are creative people out there doing new things then Art sales will continue.

I am convinced that the future is in the Artist themselves and we must do all we can support them in this disruption that we are living through.

You can see this as a big problem and setback for the Art industry or you can see this as the greatest opportunity ever for Artists to be in complete control of their Art business and destiny.

My hope is that finally we are coming into an age where the priority will be the Artist and original Art.