“One Question” with Paul Klein
Paul Klein is the Art Curator for the 2.5 million square foot expansion of McCormick Place and former owner of the Chicago art gallery Klein Art Works. Paul is also a collector, arts writer and corporate art advisor. He lives and works in Chicago.
Neoteric Art: Do you think the only way an artist can garner any success is through the representation of an art gallery?
Paul Klein: Absolutely not. An artist does not need a gallery. A gallery is but an option. And now, with the internet a very viable means for exchanging ideas and images, it is particularly important for the artist to be accountable for his or her own career. The artist must steer and not relinquish responsibility. It is not sufficient to just make good art—that’s just the beginning.
Category: One Question 13 comments »
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I think that the internet has become a very important place for exchanging ideas and such, but so far it’s mostly artists doing it. — a very good thing for building part of a community, but I don’t see many collectors looking online for new artists. Is there a way to connect with them without a dealer?
April 26th, 2008 at 9:28 am
The internet – all by itself – is not going to work so well for a ‘new’ artist. Just because you have an apartment in a building on a street does not mean the people down the block know you live there. It is about networking (the net). Meet your neighbor first and grow it from there. Have a website. Link to others. Exhibit with others. Share mailing lists. Put work on the Saatchi and other sites. Be thorough. Be friendly, Be aggressive.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Are there a lot of artists out there selling their work ($5000.00 and up) straight out of their studio without gallery representation? I still think most collectors feel the gallery system and/or museum curator validates the artist.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Hey Norbert: I realize this a is not a new question for artists about gallery representation, but it sure seems to be a heated one….I will send people from my blog to read Paul Klein’s input on your site.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:52 am
A young or emerging artist needs gallery representation to play with the big boys and girls – - having a website will only get the artist so far…having a show at a respectable gallery will garner more success (potential reviews, sales, other gallery shows, museum shows, etc…)
July 17th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
How do we measure success? It would be immature to consider achievement as hinging on gallery representation. The goal is relationships – of which representation is but one.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Since art is a communicative medium, I feel success is making a connection with people. In order to do that, one has to sell their work. That way, an artist can make more and thrive, do more and better work and not do something else to support themselves. As mentioned above, in general, certain gallery representation gives a certification that can give confidence to collectors. Unfortunately, not everyone interested in art have a level of intuitive judgement (or at least confidence in that judgement) that pushes them to buy a work. They are collecting important objects and need to be told that a piece of art is important. I think that unless one can sell their work above $5,000 by themselves and can get their work in important collections, an important gallery show is a good goal to have.
It’s not the end-all, but it is an important step toward being so important that one doesn’t need a gallery or dealer.
Getting to each step means a certain level of success, whether it is getting past showing in coffee shops to having a solo show in a major gallery, to getting in the history books.
It’s a good thing to never be satisfied. Stay hungry. Keep reaching for the next thing. Don’t settle for garbage.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
The work is always the first and most important thing but we are discussing the career aspect of art. Climbing the ladder of success in the art world is extremely difficult to achieve (unless of course Saatchi buys up your MFA show). If an unsuccessful artist stays in the game long enough, that artist will learn to justify their meager achievements with excuses. It happens all the time.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Selling artwork is extremely challenging, hard and satisfying work. The reason I say relationships are the goal is because I have found this to be true. I’ve sold my own artwork – I’ve sold the works of others, but sales are a moving target and never form the foundation of “success”. Sales are a strange brew of talent, serendipity, my own hard work and a lot of help and hard work on the part of others. I think sales are good – I like to make money, but I reject that selling is an end goal; it is a positive outgrowth of something deeper. Gallery representation is inarguably an important and serious component of this journey. The relationship of artist to gallery and vice versa is a big commitment and a worthy relationship to strive for. Representation is just one part, and there is so much more…
July 18th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Right, sales do not equal success and selling IS NEVER the end goal. Success is built upon many different factors. That said, there is a difference between selling a $1000 painting and a $10,000 painting. If an artist is selling “a whole bunch” of $10,000 paintings to “real” collectors I would say that is leading to a strong foundation of success.
July 18th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
“there is a difference between selling a $1000 painting and a $10,000 painting”
This is true, but even here, there are so many factors – the age of the artist, exhibition history, emerging or established, prestige of gallery representation, past sales history, perhaps where they went to school and on and on….”real” collector may be hard to pin down – I work with so many people who are in the very infancy of starting to purchase what I would consider art that has integrity to it – in other words, serious artists who are on a fine arts career track (and yes this would probably include representation at some point). I would not yet call this person a “real” collector even though they can easily afford $10,000 and up for a painting. So much cultivation has to take place and they need to physically live with the art to learn how to even begin to appreciate it on a level you or I would hope for. It is a long hard process that takes much patience and wherewithal. Where does a gallery fit in to this – they can bridge a gap between collector and artist – but I would say gallery or no gallery the artist still needs a huge amount of hustle and faith.
July 18th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
a lot of faith!
July 18th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Pamela – you make a lot of sense