When the pandemic eventually reached U.S. shores, the art gallery business model was suddenly faced with a perilous outlook. The need to maintain social distance, coupled with the transmissible risk of intimate indoor gatherings, quickly dismantled the art gallery’s leading sales channel. The precautions deemed necessary to protect public health also meant exhibitions, art fairs, receptions, and auctions would be severely curtailed. How much of a hit did the art market absorb?

Evidence of the distressing times the industry faced in 2020, tallied by Art Basel and UBS, pegged approximate sales at $50.1 billion, a 22% reduction from the previous year. Bad, yes. Catastrophic? Not by a long shot. A deeper inspection of the past few years reveals an art market already in decline across multiple channels. And the overall hit was in line with the 23.5% drop during the Great Recession in 2009. However, it’s one thing when the economy tanked and art buyers, collectors, and investors were forced to tighten their purse strings. It’s something altogether different when the activity of browsing art in-person at a gallery could be a potential risk to your health, and possibly even your life.

Gallery owners and directors were forced to confront the economic circumstances of this public health crisis. To maintain an outcome of break-even at best, the very business model for viewing, selling, and acquiring art would need major adaptations. Though the strategies that galleries undertook were often task-intensive, the basic premise was simple. The common denominator was a reversal of the traditional sales process. If we could no longer depend on people coming to us to buy our artwork, we’d simply have to bring our artwork to them. This was accomplished in many different ways, with varying levels of success, but the overriding theme of the effort was a noticeable shift to the virtual world of online sales.

Thankfully, online sales were already beginning to pick up steam in the industry, primarily driven by tech-savvy Millennials, on a mission to tilt the median age of the art collecting target market in a much younger direction. Left with no other choice, the majority of the industry’s traditional buyers, who prefer seeing art up close and personal before they purchase, were forced to leave their comfort zone and followed suit. In a short period, galleries began shifting sales operations to a more virtual experience, prioritizing an enhanced online presence for their own e-commerce capabilities, and listing inventory on the increasingly popular online art sales platforms. That’s not to say galleries completely abandoned in-person appointments, intimate receptions, and exhibition unveilings, but these efforts took much more planning and ingenuity to ensure public safety compliance according to local, state, and federal guidelines.

According to market research groups that track different industries, the number of art galleries in the U.S. is just shy of 5,000. While many of these already had an online sales component in place, it’s almost certain that many others needed to develop this critical sales channel in a short time frame or register to be listed on some of the industry’s most popular aggregate sales sites, such as Artnet, Artsper, and 1stdibs.com. The option to feature artwork on an online sales platform is a bit more labor-intensive. It became vital to keep the gallery’s offerings up-to-date, fresh, and with plenty of inventory to handle the potential sale that could materialize at any moment. To position a potential sale, gallery directors had the responsibility to hang art on a particular wall with specific lighting to enhance its features and take professional photos from many different angles. Sometimes, short teaser videos were also produced. If and when buyers expressed interest in a certain piece, gallery directors immediately seized upon the opportunity, lest the customer move on to another choice. As these exchanges were almost exclusively via email, it became very important for gallery directors to sell themselves as much as the art and artists they were promoting. The “art of conversation” pivoted from in-person to email messaging. The goal? Provide the potential buyer with as much information on the artwork and artist to build the collector’s confidence in purchasing “sight unseen” pieces. The browsing, negotiation, and sales cycle of selling art virtually can be frustrating with a lot of “back and forth” messages, but nonetheless, it’s always exciting to finally close a sale.

Gallery owners and directors never fully gave up on in-person sales, but the large-scale exhibition debuts gave way to smaller, carefully planned receptions. Planning these events and openings far in advance became the norm. RSVPs were required, with specific time slots to maintain proper social distancing, crowd control and compliance with public safety requirements such as masking. Many events, including art fairs, developed outdoor exhibitions or online virtual art fairs, which decentralized the vibe and brand of individual gallery events—but helped keep the sales pipeline afloat. For the time being, it appears that the smaller, more intimate gatherings will continue to supplant the big blow-out openings in the pre-Covid area. But this isn’t an altogether a negative development.

There is one final viewpoint worth mentioning, from the gallery director’s perspective on selling art in the time of Covid. Market disruption related to the pandemic led to a strengthening of the relationship ties between artists and the gallery owners who feature their works. This is due in part because many collectors and investors, buoyed with extra time on their hands, suddenly had the bandwidth to conduct a lot of online research for shopping for art on their own. More than a few buyers began contacting artists directly to negotiate deals for specific artwork pieces, attempting to bypass the gallery completely—even if they were initially introduced to the artist’s work by the gallery.  The gallery-artist relationship is one predicated on the bonds of trust and requires co-dependence in adhering to each of their respective roles. Though in some cases this trust was tested, the business model and roles of the artist-gallery relationship remain largely intact.

As vaccinations continue to ramp up in the U.S. and globally, collectors, interior designers, and investors have steadily regained their comfort level in visiting galleries in person to search for fine art. Foot traffic has begun to increase exponentially, taking us back to selling art face-to-face, yet the virtual option remains robust. The experience of viewing art still produces a sacred and shared emotional reaction among us all. Every participant in the fine art industry, be they an artist, gallery owner, director, collector, designer, or investor, can still agree on one key premise of the business model. Given any of the alternatives, there’s simply no substitute for contemplating the emotion and wonder of artwork in person.

About the Author: Paul Dahmen is the Gallery Director at Markowicz Fine Art in Laguna Niguel, CA. Dahmen graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Art History from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Dahmen moved to southern California and began as an art consultant at William Merrill Gallery in Laguna Beach. After a stint at Gebert Gallery in Venice, he created FP Contemporary gallery under the same roof as an art consulting firm in Culver City. When the opportunity to manage Markowicz Fine Art presented itself in 2021, he was excited to return to Orange County and begin the next chapter of his established art career. He can be reached at paul@markowiczfineart.com

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The role of the gallery owner has always held prestige in the art world. With far fewer galleries than artists, the square footage of display space each location offered was a desirable commodity, which typically gave their owners quite a bit of leverage in the symbiotic relationship with artists. But it takes talent to pick and choose which works to display in a limited area. The gallery owner must maximize what space they have to offer, using it in only the most resourceful and efficient way. The transactional side of collecting and investing in art means monetizing what is carefully chosen to be featured. And so, for gallery owners, the strategies and tactics include building an audience and awareness of artists and their work, increasing sales traffic, and maintaining proper levels of inventory for purchase. The most important key for gallery owners is to establish an unbreakable trust with the artists they represent.

Another important role for gallery owners is the innate ability to evaluate and choose artists and artworks that will resonate with the audience, leading to both marketability and sales. There are no crystal balls that can reveal how a particular artist’s work will be received, but there are some qualities that should increase the odds of success. That means locating an artist that has a particular style you can recognize right away, and a clearly defined concept behind their work. Also, do they take their job seriously? Are they good at their own self-promotional efforts? After all, gallery owners can only do so much.

THE ARTIST

Of course, for artists, the landscape looks much different. We are all familiar with the “starving artist” label, those willing to make extreme sacrifices in material well-being for the sake of what they’re creating. But there are very few artists who don’t aspire to surpass this stage in their craft. What artists need—more than anything else—is notoriety. Their work must be visible if it is to be purchased or put on consignment. This is why art galleries are such attractive propositions. Artists need to have their works publicly displayed and art galleries typically own the real estate they so desperately covet.

But with the advent of popular social media channels and the viral audiences they can provide, coupled with a growing number of artists who are beginning to receive financial backing directly from the investor and collector crowds, galleries are no longer the only game in town. There are also numerous opportunities for artists to list and sell their works directly, minus a commission, through flashy online e-commerce marketplaces such as Artsper, currently featuring over 170,000 works, representing more than 25,000 artists.

It’s safe to say that the traditional power dynamic between gallery owners and artists is shifting. To the trained eye, artists have become exponentially more self-aware of their available options to promote themselves, and their needs are rapidly evolving. Of course, to have your work featured in a prominent art gallery is still considered an admirable achievement. But in the fast-moving, transactional side of the art business world, artists are looking for more than just display space. As artists use alternate methods to raise awareness, and their works begin to gain notoriety and sell, they’re now looking for more promotional effort from gallery owners. What’s really becoming important are networking and promotional connections. Can you build an artist’s audience beyond the walls of your gallery and the walk-in traffic who browse their works? Do you have influential contacts in the world of art investors and collectors to introduce them? What about municipal and civic connections who can authorize public displays? Do you have the influence to get them featured and publicized at renowned art fairs? And what about exclusive deals with luxury brands to create one-of-a-kind opportunities that infuse their artwork with expensive goods?

RISE OF THE TALENT AGENTS

It is in this new normal environment that the role of the art gallery owner seems to be evolving—to that of a talent agent or manager. Gallery owners, desperate to add value to the relationships they maintain with their artists, are facing difficulties in maintaining the longevity of the owner-artist relationship. Now more than ever, gallery owners must establish and maintain a reputation for taking artists public. Much like in the world of talent managers, the talented always want to work with the best—the ones with the right connections and influence. It’s this sudden shift that’s providing newfound power and leverage to artists. To see what’s really at stake, in the proper context of this shifting power dynamic, requires a snapshot of the current global art marketplace.

WHAT’S AT $TAKE?

According to recent statistics compiled by First Research, a market analysis division of corporate data leader Dun & Bradstreet, there are approximately 4,850 art galleries in the U.S. That might seem like a high number, however it’s incomparable to the number of competing artists still waiting to be discovered, hoping to one day make a comfortable living selling their work. Comparably, it’s really no different from the hyper-competitive music industry. For every talent who gets discovered and signs a deal with a major music label, there are countless other gifted musicians toiling away in local establishments who will never see the inside of a recording studio. What’s at stake when it comes to being discovered in the world of art collecting? A global market estimated at $50 billion in sales last year, at least according to The Art Market 2021, an annual market analysis compiled by Art Basel and UBS. To be clear, that is a robust number, despite two consecutive years of declining sales, down 22% from 2019, and 27% from 2018.

A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP ENTERS A BRAVE NEW WORLD

Although the power dynamic between gallery owners and artists appears to be shifting, one constant remain. The two sides will always be inexorably linked together in a symbiotic relationship.

Artists, many of whom expend all their energy and creation to develop works that express themselves, will continue to need the proper environment for displaying them. They also need the gallery owner’s expertise, judgment, knowledge, and connections to help them receive the recognition they deserve and a fair price for their works. They need the reassurance that comes with trusting the gallery owner’s innate understanding of how art buyers, collectors, and investors think. A gallery owner can help artists stay grounded in the face of critics and detractors while exposing them to a much wider world of art that exists beyond their own work and experiences. Artists need the kind of industry knowledge, influence, and promotional acumen that only a gallery owner can properly provide.

Gallery owners, whose lives revolve around an endless amount of artistic creation, will always be searching for the next artist of significance. An artist whose works draw curiosity and intrigue at first glance will always be of interest. There is nothing like the feeling when a gallery owner senses an immediate connection to a particular artists’ work. They’ve reviewed tens of thousands of works over the years, continually searching for a style that will resonate with buyers, collectors, and investors. Artists are the very lifeblood of the gallery owner’s existence, the reason they get up every day and begin their search for greatness all over again. The artists on their rosters both intrigue and enchant gallery owners, leaving them in awe of the rare talent and ambition that it takes to succeed in this business. These owners review thousands and thousands of artists and their works, never tiring of the search to discover something meaningful—art that holds up over time.

No, the shifting power dynamic between gallery owners and artists is not a troubling development. It is merely an opportunity for both to represent the best interests and highest ideals that make up their symbiotic relationship. The transactional nature of the art marketplace may indeed be evolving, offering artists a better chance at having their works discovered. Regardless of who wields the leverage between the two, gallery owners and artists know that earning and maintaining trust in one another is the stable foundation of a mutually beneficial relationship. In a perfect world, that should never change.

About the Author: Bernard Markowicz is an entrepreneur, gallerist, and owner of Markowicz Fine Art, with galleries in the Design Districts of Miami, Dallas, and a newly opened third location in Laguna Niguel, California. Originally from Arras, on the northern border of France and Belgium, Markowicz began collecting artwork at the young age of sixteen. He currently lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife Sophie, and has four children, six grandchildren, and a passion for slalom water skiing.

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Markowicz Fine Art Gallery is excited to announce its “Encompass” exhibition in their Dallas Galley location. Partnering with Bel-Air Fine Art, a prestigious fine art gallery with locations in France, Abu Dhabi, Gstaad, Miami, and Italy, their partnership allows the two galleries to help collectors access a wide range of art from all over the world. 

The exhibition is open to the public at their Dallas location and features exquisite new works from Italian artist Annaluigia Boretto, ‘Annalù’, and French artist Lyès-Oliview Sidhoum, ‘Lyes”. 

‘Annalù is an Italian artist creating dreamy sculptures that enchant onlookers with her unique incorporation of hyper-realistic splashes of water and bold brilliant colors. She uses elements of nature that appear to be suspended in time, which she achieves by focusing on texture and illusion. She is best known for her glassy, splashing sculptures. 

Lyès is a graffiti artist who has been creating art since the young age of 11 in the streets of Lyon, France. He developed his work through his experiences with travel and meeting other creatives in the graffiti world. His work evokes an “energy that constitutes reality, which today remains a part of the mystery and almost becomes spirituality in a sense.” Lyès uses high-tech technology of fine art archival printing that stops 99/9% of UV rays, through encapsulation to create his pieces. 

The exhibit runs through July 31, 2021. 

Markowicz Fine Art Gallery 

1700 Oak Lawn Ave. Ste. 200

Dallas, TX 75207

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