eBay - art gallery or department store?

[Michele Rushworth]

Dear Cynthia,

Interesting article. I would never have thought of eBay as a place to sell my art, and your article serves to remind me why!

I am wondering about some of the other assumptions you make in your article, though, especially some of the ones about an artist selling their work in a traditional gallery setting. You wrote:

As an example, let's say a work sells for ten thousand dollars. That is the low-end for paintings by contemporary artists in the gallery trade.

Now, I live in Seattle, which is not SoHo or even San Francisco when it comes to higher priced art, but Seattle is a metropolitan area with a population of two million or so, and has a thriving art and gallery community. Very few paintings appear, even in the high end galleries here, with prices above $10,000.

If you're talking about well known artists who have long term New York gallery representation, that's a very small and select group, and not at all the same group of artists who would consider selling on eBay. That would be rather like looking at what Oscar-winning actors earn and comparing it to the thousands of actors waiting tables to pay the rent. Can you tell us what you meant by the $10,000 price?

Another statement I wonder about is your assumption that an artist can create a $10,000 painting every week. On a site like this one which focuses on traditional portraiture, a major painting takes many weeks, or even months.

Even if an artist is not as focused on detailed representation or is just "banging them out," and could produce a piece of any quality each week, there are still many costs involved in being an artist. You write:

How much does the artist profit? $6,000 per painting.

In actuality, the artist does not keep the entire portion that comes to him or her from every gallery sale. My costs include countless supply items, studio space, etc.

Can you clarify some of your thoughts for us, please? I, and many others, would like to know more about your insights into the traditional gallery world.

Thanks!