| An art dealer, not
excluding art glass dealers, corporate art dealers,
fine art dealers or International art dealers must
be sought out with care and caution. This is because
whether you are a buyer or an artist, you have to
depend on the integrity and reliability of these
dealers when you get into an art-related
transaction.
All around the
globe whether you are dealing with foreign art
dealer or Indian art dealers, you may encounter or
may have already come across dealers who you feel
have not done the right thing by you. You may not be
happy with your purchase or feel that you were
over-charged for it. Likewise, if you are an artist,
you may have dealt with a dealer who has not made
your payments on time or is not being absolutely
forthright with you. These are some problematic
situations that you can avoid by taking a few
precautions.
For one thing, it
is advisable to deal with someone of repute. You
should enquire about art dealers and try and get the
general consensus about the business practices of a
dealer before initiating contracts or transactions.
If it is your very first meeting with a dealer,
allow your instincts to work for you. You would be
surprised at how accurate your own gut feelings can
be when detecting the true nature of a person. In
any event, despite the dealer’s existing reputation
or your instinct, always make an effort to ensure
that all documents and dealings are clear. There
should be no ambiguity as far as the wordings of any
contracts. This is especially so at the start of a
dealer-artist or dealer-client relationship.
Nowadays, because
of the rapidly expanding art industry and a
burgeoning number of dissatisfied artist and
clients, one can also avail of societal tools like
the fine art dealers free appraisal to ensure that
art is being correctly priced. An art dealer gallery
can also be recommended by the art dealers
association.
Artists can also
use the art dealers association to gather
information about a particular gallery like what
kind of art has been displayed there in the past and
how the sales were. They can understand what themes
were popular and whether particular sizes of art
work had a greater demand. That way they can assess
the tastes of the clientele that may be visiting
their exhibition, which would go a long way when it
came down to actual sales.
To summarize, here are the points you need to
consider.
* The art dealer or gallery’s reputation in the art
market. How long has the dealer been in the
business?
* Information about their previous exhibitions. What
kind of artwork is most appreciated by visiting
clientele and what are the budget constraints?
* The dealer’s past experiences with other clients
or artists. Are they happy with their dealings with
this gallery or dealer?
* The dealer’s reputation for how or she maintains
an after-sales relationship. Will he or she re-sell
or re-purchase a work of art that he or she sold to
you?
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