Picture business. Selling paintings as a business Times of crisis for the Central House of Artists

Many people on our planet like art. Everyone shows their love for art in their own way: be it, or admiring painting. Unfortunately, not everyone can buy a masterpiece by a famous artist. Sometimes even reproductions of paintings are very expensive. Most often, paintings are bought as a gift, both for themselves and for other people. It is on the basis of this idea that we invite you to build your business.

The business idea is to produce reproductions of very famous painters. The basis of the canvas is chipboard, which is first processed, then a picture previously printed on a printer is glued onto it, and then it is hidden with varnish.

Imagine that you and I are not the first who wanted to do this business - an idea. In order to survive among great competition, you need to provide customers with a product that is not only inexpensive, but also unique. We invite you to keep up with the times. The latest trend in the world of pictorial fashion is paintings that smoothly flow onto the frame and are an indivisible part of it.

Let's try to use this method on ordinary reproductions. In order for your creations to be in demand, we offer you to create a large assortment of products. Then everyone can find something they need. To do this, you can use different styles: classic, vintage, baby chic, use craquelure, etc.

To get started, you need to rent a room. Your own apartment can be used as a workshop, but it is better to use a non-residential space for these purposes, for example, a basement, attic, so that the smell of paint and varnish products does not poison your life. In addition, you will simply need a large table where you will work with chipboard, as well as a drying cabinet. The drying cabinet can be made using an electric heater.

One of the most difficult things on the way to realizing your business ideas is the selection of materials that must be both high quality and affordable. You can use silver or gold to cover the frames, but the price for such a product will be correspondingly higher.

Now let's calculate the minimum expenses. You will need to purchase:

1 - computer or laptop;

2 — inkjet color printer;

3 - various chipboard formats;

5 — paper for making business cards, A4 format;

6 - sandpaper;

7 - acrylic varnishes of various shades: gold, silver, furniture, craquelure, etc.

We will spend about 23 rubles to produce such a painting, and we will sell it for 230 rubles (the same paintings in the store cost about 300 rubles). For one painting we will receive a net profit of 200 rubles, this amount will already include all expenses. If you sell 100 paintings per month, your income will be 20,000 rubles. If you sell your work in several retail chains at once, your profit can reach 2 thousand dollars.

There are quite a lot of talented artists in Russia who, while painting amazing pictures, live from hand to mouth. Why? Because they know how to draw, but they don’t know how to sell at all. And if you have an entrepreneurial spirit and want to start your own business, pay attention to the painting business. You will not need any specific knowledge or large investments. All you need is to find buyers for paintings and receive your percentage of sales.

The essence of the painting business

This kind of painting is called salon painting and is intended for decorating interiors. Salon painting has a low price, and the fame of the artist does not matter here. The main thing is a beautiful picture that will decorate the room.

Buyers will be people who do not understand painting, but who want to add something new to the design of their living room, bedroom or nursery. And here, an oil painting depicting a beautiful landscape, still life or portrait is ideal.

The essence of organizing such a business plan is quite simple. You find orders for paintings and get your percentage. That is, you act as an intermediary between the artist and the buyer of paintings.

This can be an excellent additional income and bring about 20-30 thousand rubles per month. You will have to work the hardest at first, when you create a customer base. Most of them will become your regular customers, and then you will hardly have to search for buyers.

Many artists sit without orders and are ready to take on any work. In general, there will be no problems finding artists.

But to find customers, you will have to try. You can search for buyers both for finished paintings and accept applications for individual masterpieces to order.

Where to look for painting customers?

Before you go looking for buyers, create a portfolio of your artist's work. It must be in electronic form and in physical form. Here we should take into account the fact that most creators are sloppy and sloppy people. Therefore, you will have to take care of the quality of the photo.

Online galleries

Today there are galleries in electronic form. These are services where various artists exhibit their works, and buyers are already looking for paintings that fully meet their needs. Registration is required on such sites. But still, don’t rely too much on such a service. There are a lot of artists there, but orders are placed infrequently.

Artist's own website

The best option would be to create a personal website for the artist. And here it is important to think about the design and promotion of a web page on the Internet. If the site is made carelessly, and no one works on its optimization, then the traffic will be zero.

Advertising on social networks is breaking popularity records these days. And given that buyers of paintings are predominantly a young and active category of people, social networks will be an excellent way to promote your product. You can create your own group and post there not only finished works, but also a video of how an artist paints a picture from scratch and other interesting information.

Price formation

The cost of a painting depends on its complexity, quality, subject matter, number of details, size. What percentage of sales should I take? As a rule, it is 30% of the price of the painting. But this figure can be even higher, especially if the artist is experiencing an acute shortage of orders, and you can offer several buyers at once.

How to open an art gallery?

If we talk about the further promotion of the art business, then an art gallery will be an excellent continuation of this business.

Such a project should be implemented in a city with a population of at least 350,000 people. As for legal aspects, in Russia there is no service that controls the work of galleries. Therefore, to open it you will need a minimum package of documents. You can register as an individual entrepreneur or LLC. It is also necessary to decide on the form of taxation. That's all!

Finding space for a gallery

For one painting, the artist will receive 25-40% of its price. It is better to place the gallery in the city center, where there is a maximum flow of people passing by. The area of the premises will be from 200 sq.m. and will be divided into the following zones: exhibition hall, work storage room, room for special equipment, office.

How to save on rent? This could be either a joint opening of a gallery with a government agency, or the opening of a hall that has previously been used for such purposes. In the latter case, no special preparations or costs will be required.

Staff

To fully operate the gallery, you will need several specialists. This is the project manager, programmer, consultants, and gallery curator.

Income and expenses of an art gallery

It will cost you about 50-70 thousand per month for rent. Repairs with a design project will require about another 1,500,000 rubles. If the room has previously been used as an art gallery, the cost of decorating it will be significantly reduced. Staff salaries are about 15 thousand rubles per employee. Advertising – 40-80 thousand monthly.

Thus, it will take at least 1,500,000 rubles to open a business.

Now about profit. One painting costs from 5 to 120 thousand rubles. And if the work was painted by a famous artist, then its cost will be much higher. For one piece sold, the artist receives 25-40% of the cost. If you sell 10-20 paintings a month, the profit will be from 400 to 700 thousand rubles.

If you are a true fan of this art, do not be afraid to try yourself as an art gallery manager. Such a business will bring you aesthetic pleasure and financial success!

sell a painting in Moscow

If a person loves art, then such a business will bring him a lot of joy, because doing what he loves is always much more pleasant. You just need to think everything through well and then your favorite business will begin to bring a lot of benefits, as well as good earnings.

Registration number 0396962 issued for the work: If a person is drawn to art, but at the same time he himself does not have any abilities in this area, then this is not a reason to be sad and upset. When a person has a great desire to be closer to art, he can build a real business on art. True, in order for such a business to begin to generate good income, the entrepreneur will have to try very hard.

How to build a business selling paintings.

Before you start selling paintings, you need to find where to buy them or from whom to borrow paintings for sale. Although in fact this is not a problem at all, because you can find people who know how to draw well and beautifully and want to sell a painting in Moscow, so paintings for subsequent resale can be ordered from them. To do this, it is not necessary to contact famous artists; they usually charge a lot of money for their services. Therefore, you will need to find several beginning artists who have good potential, they will be able to draw excellent pictures and will not charge very much money for their work.

Next, you will need to put the artists’ works up for sale; for this it would be nice to have your own store, but if you don’t have one, then you can sell the paintings via the Internet. You just need to find a suitable website where you can place your advertisement for the sale of original paintings and additionally upload photographs of your product. To make the process go faster, such an ad needs to be placed on several sites on the network, because, as a rule, there are quite a lot of them there. You should also place an additional advertisement in the newspaper, since not all people know how to use the Internet.

A business that will be related to art can be built not only on the sale of paintings, but, for example, a person can open his own gallery and exhibit works there. To open a gallery, it is not at all necessary to paint all the paintings yourself; you can also order from other artists. If you manage to promote your gallery well, it will bring excellent profits. The main thing is to find a convenient place, somewhere in the city center, to open a gallery and not charge money for visiting the gallery.

However, a paradoxical situation is emerging: the demand is enormous, galleries in big cities are growing by leaps and bounds, budgets are approaching the level of world auction houses at an unprecedented speed, but the art itself has disappeared somewhere. In addition, the money circulating in the gallery business is increasingly attracting attention, since the lion's share of transactions for the sale of art is, in fact, concluded illegally.

As the directors of the capital's galleries say, “the people have received bread - now they demand spectacles.” And not just Hollywood blockbusters. According to the commissioner of the Moscow Biennale, Joseph Backstein, after buying a large apartment, a prestigious car and a vacation in Switzerland, the list of a wealthy person is to purchase exclusive art - be it an antique chandelier or an avant-garde painting for the bedroom. In addition, as statistics show, art (especially antiques) today is one of the most profitable areas for investing money - paintings rise in price by about 300% per year. As a result, after the passions around the loans subsided, a new craze began in Moscow - gallery and auction fever.

“The impetus for the development of the gallery business comes from the current interest in art, from the love of beauty. This is a natural human need that requires satisfaction and gives life an emotional coloring,” says Marina Goncharenko, who has just opened her own GMG gallery right in the center of the capital. At the same time, her gallery plans to represent both domestic and foreign artists. When asked by an NI observer what is profitable to sell now, she jokingly answered – jewelry. But then she added: “If we’re serious about what’s promising now, I think diversity is what’s important right now. You can’t offer just one thing, because each person has a personal view. So, at the opening of the gallery, I presented six artists at once who work in completely different genres: Peter Zimmermann - in technocratic, Bjorn Melhus - video, Michael Lin - installation, Anatoly Zhuravlev - photo installation, Nikita Alekseev shows graphics, and Nikolai Filatov - painting" .

As practice shows, today there is not a single completely “closed” niche on the market - insanely expensive masterpieces, designer dolls, and small edition items are being bought. Over the past year, in Moscow, for example, incredibly strong antique players have appeared: the Proun gallery works with the almost museum avant-garde of the 20s and 30s, and the rich Elena (on Patriarch's Ponds) is again trying to restore confidence in socialist realism. Plus the powerful aggression of London antique dealers - this year Christie's and Sotheby's (which opened an official office in Russia) noisily held exhibitions of their hits - from Goncharova and Modigliani to Faberge eggs, which were later sold to Russians for tens of millions. Antique dealers are opposed by “moderate avant-garde artists” (here is the new “Polina Lobachevskaya Gallery”, and the fresh art4.ru museum, and the Ekaterina Foundation, and the institutions founded by Zurab Tsereteli, especially the Zurab Gallery).

Even artists who previously turned up their noses at the market have come to life - it has already been announced that a gallery will open in Gostiny Dvor, planning to sell no less than Alexander Shilov and Nikas Safronov.

However, the most powerful front lately has come from dealers dealing in contemporary photography, one of the least “labor-intensive” genres. Previously, the Moscow House of Photography maintained a monopoly here. Now only in the Winzavod art center there are three photo galleries. Moreover, one of them is of a completely new format. “We have abandoned mandatory exhibitions, and are focusing on customer demand,” Tatyana Kurtanova, one of the founders of PhotoLoft, admitted to NI. “And we create this demand ourselves by showing a wide variety of photographs. Often gallery owners lie that they are only interested in art, and sales are a secondary matter. Trade is conducted as if under the counter – they say we have negotiated prices.”

The question of the distinction between pure art and commerce has always been the most painful for our gallery owners. During the era of the first gallery boom of the early 1990s, there was no talk of profit (they sold mainly abroad); it was a time of ideological separation from official art. Today, on the contrary, demand is often higher than supply. One of the most experienced dealers, Polina Lobachevskaya, is sure that today “there are many more galleries than there are good artists, so the same artists are shuffled around - whoever offers them the most, that’s where they go.” Sergei Popov, director of one of the relatively young but already successful Pop/Off/Art galleries, does not entirely agree with her. “I don’t argue that there are personnel,” he told NI. “But at the same time we are experiencing a colossal surge in activity and rising prices. Previously, gallery expenses - non-commercial exhibitions, catalogues, participation in foreign fairs - almost did not pay off. Today, even the most unambitious galleries operate for profit. We still have two important niches that no one has filled yet. One of them is already being tested by Western dealers - these are Western paintings for the rich. But it’s much more interesting to engage in “young art”, where the ideas are more creative and the prices are lower - on average 2-3 thousand dollars.”

As for prices, on average one work by a famous contemporary artist costs about 10 thousand dollars. The works of stars - artists presented at international fairs and shows (Art Basel, FIAC, ARCO, at the Venice Biennale) - are three to four times higher. Western touring artists (for example, the Triumph and Gary Tatintsyan galleries are engaged in them) sell paintings from 50 to 150 thousand dollars.

However, the main problem seems to be not even the cost of paintings, but the organization of the gallery business itself. This business does not want to become legal. How to separate a commercial from a non-commercial exhibition in one gallery? There are always double standards and double accounting. It is clear that when a gallery owner is looking for money to organize a joint exhibition with the Tretyakov Gallery or the Hermitage, he does not at all want to pay 18% VAT. But at the same time, who keeps track of all the sales in his gallery? By definition, it turns out that the art business, based on mediation between the artist and the collector, is the darkest. No one names clear prices, announces income, or advertises buyers. That is why the environment of antique dealers and dealers is still the most fertile for crime.

Meanwhile, many problems that, at first glance, come from art dealers turn out to be problems of the entire society and specifically the state. Thus, one of the most authoritative Moscow gallerists, Aidan Salakhova, never tires of repeating that we do not have any legislative framework regarding galleries (galleries as commercial structures, not thrift stores) or patronage of the arts. For example, she cannot account for the sale of an installation, because the official documents simply do not know this tricky concept. Sergei Popov, without trying to go into political issues, notes: “Sometimes one gets the feeling that many structures, from government officials to transportation services, were simply not ready for the art boom. There is also a problem with insuring the work, with their certification (they are not 100% resolved), and with their transportation. Problems with customs have been heard in the press more than once. But what can we say if it’s difficult to buy a decent frame in Moscow!”

In addition to purely economic and organizational problems, problems of a purely ideological nature have become more acute. How should authorities communicate with contemporary art? at customs with “controversial work” have become almost the rule. Should museum censorship be extended to private galleries? How to support those who really develop cultural projects? And, conversely, is it worth tightening the screws on the overzealous gallery business today? The craving for beauty is already supported by big money, but there is less culture in it than one might expect.

Not everyone can afford to collect paintings. It's even more difficult for artists trying to sell their art. The artist and owner of art galleries in the capital Pavel Chibiskov told a RIAMO observer how to open a gallery in Moscow, what paintings are in demand, and why artists do not undertake to paint after Van Gogh and Monet.

Paintings instead of carpets

Pavel came to the gallery business through his family business. His father began selling paintings by fellow artists at a spontaneous opening day at the Central House of Artists (CHA) in the 90s. According to Pavel, in the late 90s, business took off as the demand for paintings increased, and many wanted paintings instead of carpets for the walls.

My first art gallery "Grisaille" Pavel and his father opened it in the Tishinka shopping center in 2010.

According to him, to start getting seriously involved in the gallery business, you need to have a circle of proven artists who will not let you down and will complete your order on time.

“This is a highly specialized business, which is easier to build if you are from this world yourself - an artist, art critic or gallery employee, if you are able to organize a selection of high-quality paintings, make a decision when artists bring you paintings for sale,” says the gallery owner.

What paintings are in price?

However, it is not difficult to organize a gallery as a sales point for paintings in Moscow. The main thing is to choose the right premises with visitors in mind, because this is not a trade in things or a museum, the gallery owner notes.

“For metropolitan shopping centers, an art gallery is still a rarity, since the rent there is designed for large retail chains, and the audience there is not the same,” explains Pavel.

In addition, the location of the gallery affects the assortment: provincial landscapes sell well on the outskirts of Moscow, city landscapes sell better in the center of the capital, as well as popular Italian motifs - blue skies and exotic trees of Tuscany, or lavender of Provence.

Who buys paintings

For the buyer, the advantage of buying from a gallery is that the sellers are responsible for each painting sold and are ready to provide a guarantee for restoration services.

“If in the 90s, even hack work was sold at the vernissage, since most buyers did not understand art, today clients are more sophisticated, they are the ones who set the final cost of the painting,” notes Pavel.

The main connoisseurs of Russian painting today are not Russians, but Chinese, and not only tourists, but also entrepreneurs who do business in Moscow. There was also a client from the UAE, the gallery owner recalls.

“In the past, the Chinese mostly bought landscapes with green leaves, and the finer the details, the better. Now they have become more demanding - they are ready to spend a lot of money on valuable things, but they like to bargain,” says the gallery owner.

According to him, Muscovites' paintings are bought by middle-aged people with high incomes. Sometimes pensioners also come who have been saving for a painting for a long time. And yet, today’s regular customers are mostly wealthy people.

“Because of the crisis, the middle class has practically disappeared from among our buyers; they began to save money on paintings first of all, because the average price of a painting is 60-70 thousand rubles,” says Pavel.

Seasonal demand

Most often, paintings are purchased to hang at home, so warm colors are held in high esteem, which can easily fit into the interior of a typical Moscow apartment. Pavel's galleries present mainly classical painting - still lifes, sea and city landscapes.

According to the gallery owner, some artists are ready to work in different directions, including in the genre of contemporary art, but the majority of buyers want classics.

“Moscow residents like landscapes most of all. A win-win option - natural beauty. These can be village views, Russian nature - forests, lakes, as well as landscapes of France and Italy,” says the artist.

Still lifes - bottles with wine, cheese and grapes - also sell well.

“Bottles have been in fashion for a long time. Firstly, wine is a noble drink, secondly, many wealthy people have their own wine cellars, thirdly, such a painting can be given as a gift, especially to people who have everything,” explains Pavel.

One of the popular requests from clients is to paint a copy of Claude Monet or Vincent Van Gogh, but not every artist will undertake such work, since the copy will often be very inferior to the original, explains the gallery owner. According to Pavel, there are cases when clients refuse to buy an ordered copy and choose another painting.

Meanwhile, the fashion for paintings is set not by the large exhibitions that take place in Moscow, but by the seasons. “After Serov’s exhibition, no one came to order “Girl with Peaches,” notes Pavel.

According to him, in the summer it is almost impossible to sell a painting with a winter landscape, since people are tired of seeing snow, and green landscapes go with a bang, but in winter everyone wants white hats on Christmas trees.

How much do paintings cost?

Pavel and his father opened another gallery in the Central House of Artists just a year ago, but they buy worse paintings here than in Tishinka. Dozens of painters exhibit at the Grisaille gallery, but their composition is changing, new artists appear. According to the gallery owner, the artist himself must feel which paintings are in demand, and the gallery staff must have experience in selecting paintings.

“If we see a high-quality painting and consider it attractive to our clients, then we are happy to place it in our gallery,” says Pavel.

For any artist, periods of lack of money are normal, since income from the sale of paintings is very unstable. Pavel's gallery had months of downtime and millions of transactions. The artist considers the end of summer and the beginning of autumn to be the losing months, when nothing is sold at all.

“The price of a painting can vary from 5,000 rubles, like an IKEA poster, to several million, which depends on many factors: the artist’s ambitions, his regalia, participation in exhibitions, status in the art field, as well as the cost of materials and the size of the canvas.” , explains Pavel.

Times of crisis for the Central House of Artists

Pavel himself exhibits his paintings at a vernissage near the Central House of Artists, and the most successful of them go to the gallery. According to the gallery owner, for many generations of Moscow artists this is a legendary place, but now it is going through times of crisis. A new generation of artists also wants to exhibit at the Central House of Artists, but all the places here have been occupied since Soviet times.

Several years ago, during the reconstruction of the Crimean embankment, the capital’s authorities wanted to demolish the vernissage, but the artists rallied and preserved the exhibition. As a result, the vernissage was improved, the artists now had a roof over their heads and storage rooms, although the volume of exhibition space was reduced by three times, says Pavel.

In the Central House of Artists itself, since Soviet times, any self-respecting artist dreamed of organizing an exhibition, but today this site is going through times of crisis. “Today, pop star concerts are held on this site, exhibitions that are far from art are held, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find new artists for the gallery,” the gallery owner regrets.

According to Pavel, another popular area for artists - the passage from Gorky Park to Muzeon - is now under reconstruction, and it is not yet clear whether artists will be able to return there.

Olga Shvenk

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