Art gallery
An art gallery is a room or a building in which
Among the modern reasons art may be displayed are
Art museums versus galleries
The terms 'art museum' and 'art gallery' may be used interchangeably as reflected in the names of institutions around the world, some of which are called galleries (e.g. the National Gallery and Neue Nationalgalerie), and some of which are called museums (e.g. the Museum of Modern Art and National Museum of Western Art). However, establishments that display art for other purposes, but serve no museum functions, are only called art galleries.
The distinctive function of a museum is the
Galleries and the art world
The art world comprises everyone involved in the production and distribution of fine art.[2]: xxiv The market for fine art depends upon maintaining its distinction as high culture, although during recent decades the boundary between high and popular culture has been eroded by postmodernism.[3]
In the case of historical works, or Old Masters this distinction is maintained by the work's provenance; proof of its origin and history.[4]
For more recent work, status is based upon the reputation of the artist. Reputation includes both aesthetic factors; art schools attended, membership in a stylistic or historical movement, the opinions of art historians and critics; and economic factors; inclusion in group and solo exhibitions and past success in the art market. Art dealers, through their galleries, have occupied a central role in the art world by bringing many of these factors together; such as "discovering" new artists, promoting their associations in group shows, and managing market valuation.[5]
Commercial galleries
Exhibitions of art operating similar to current galleries for marketing art first appeared in the early modern period, approximately 1500 to 1800 CE. In the Middle Ages that preceded, painters and sculptors were members of guilds, seeking commissions to produce artworks for aristocratic patrons or churches. The establishment of academies of art in the 16th century represented efforts by painters and sculptors to raise their status from mere artisans who worked with their hands to that of the classical arts such as poetry and music, which are purely intellectual pursuits. However, the public exhibition of art had to overcome the bias against commercial activity, which was deemed beneath the dignity of artists in many European societies.[6]
Commercial art galleries were well-established by the Victorian era, made possible by the increasing number of people seeking to own objects of cultural and aesthetic value.[7] At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century there were also the first indications of modern values regarding art; art as an investment versus pure aesthetics, and the increased attention to living artists as an opportunity for such investment.[8]
Commercial galleries owned or operated by an art dealer or "gallerist"[9] occupy the middle tier of the art market, accounting for most transactions, although not those with the highest monetary values. Once limited to major urban art worlds such as New York, Paris and London, art galleries have become global. Another trend in globalization is that while maintaining their urban establishments, galleries also participate in art fairs such as Art Basel and Frieze Art Fair.[3]
Art galleries are the primary connection between
Types of galleries
Galleries may deal in the primary market of new works by living artists, or the secondary markets for works from prior periods owned by collectors, estates, or museums. The periods represented include Old Masters, Modern (1900–1950), and contemporary (1950–present). Modern and contemporary may be combined in the category of Post-war art; while contemporary may be limited to the 21st century or "emerging artists".[11]
Contemporary galleries
An enduring model for contemporary galleries was set by Leo Castelli. Rather than simply being the broker for sales, Castelli became actively involved in the discovery and development of new artists, while expecting to remain an exclusive agent for their work. However he also focused exclusively on new works, not participating in the resale of older work by the same artists.[12]
Secondary market
All art sales after the first are part of the secondary market, in which the artist and the original dealer are not involved. Many of these sales occur privately between collectors, or works are sold at auctions. However some galleries participate in the secondary market depending upon the market conditions. As with any market, the major conditions are supply and demand. Because art is a unique commodity, the artist has a monopoly on production, which ceases when the artist either dies or stops working.[13]
Outside the art world
Some businesses operate as vanity galleries, charging artists a fee to exhibit their work. Lacking a selection process to assure the quality of the artworks, and having little incentive to promote sales, vanity galleries are avoided as unprofessional.[14]
Non-profit galleries
Some
- Artists Space was founded in 1972 in SoHo, New York City.
- Westbeth Gallery is operated by the Westbeth Artists Residents Council
Arts districts
Historically, art world activities have benefited from clustering together either in cities[3] or in remote areas offering natural beauty.
The proximity of art galleries facilitated an informal tradition of art show openings on the same night, which have become officially coordinated as "first Friday events" in a number of locations.
Galleries selling the work of recognized artists may occupy space in established commercial areas of a city. New styles in art have historically been attracted to the low rent of marginal neighborhoods. An artist colony existed in Greenwich Village as early as 1850, and the tenements built around Washington Square Park to house immigrants after the Civil War also attracted young artists and avant-garde art galleries.[16] The resulting gentrification prompted artists and galleries to move to the adjacent neighborhood "south of Houston" (SoHo) which became gentrified in turn.[17]
Attempting to recreate this natural process, arts districts have been created intentionally by local governments in partnership with private developers as a strategy for revitalizing neighborhoods. Such developments often include spaces for artists to live and work as well as galleries.[18]
Temporary galleries
A contemporary practice has been the use of vacant commercial space for art exhibitions that run for periods from a single day to a month. Now called "popup galleries",
See also
References
- ^ "Origin and Meaning of Gallery". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-520-25636-1.
- ^ .
- S2CID 158075163.
- hdl:1765/119341.
- ^ Mainardi, Patricia (2018). "Show and Tell: Exhibition Practice in the Nineteenth Century". In Facos, Michelle (ed.). A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Art. Newark, US: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. pp. 69–82.
- S2CID 149058582.
- S2CID 144813124.
- ^ Kagan, Julia. "Gallerist". Investopedia. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Moureau, Nathalie; Sagot-Duvauroux, Dominique (2012). "Four Business Models in Contemporary Art". International Journal of Arts Management. 14 (3): 44–56.
- ^ Winkleman, Edward; Hindle, Patton (2018). "Business Models and Customary Practices". How to Start and Run a Commercial Art Gallery (2nd ed.). Simon and Schuster.
- ^ "The Castelli Method". 10 October 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ Anna Louie Sussman (January 2, 2018). "The "Death Effect" on Artists' Prices Actually Occurs When They're Alive". Artsy.
- ^ "Beware the Vanity Gallery - and why they should be avoided". Art Business Info. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ Henri Neuendorf (September 1, 2016). "Art Demystified: What Is the Role of Non-Profits in the Art World?". ArtNet.
- ^ "Greenwich Village and the Arts". Grey Art Gallery. 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- S2CID 143606427.
- .
- ^ "Everything You Need to Know about Pop-Up Galleries". Artsy. Retrieved September 3, 2021.