Staring at a big blank wall can provide enough motivation to walk into an art gallery which is not as intimidating as the uninitiated might think.
Gone are the days when a gallerist might crush you by asking what other works you have in your collection. They’re now likely to encourage you to have a stroll around the gallery to see what appeals and works for your wallet.
Dublin’s RHA Annual Exhibition which is now in its 194th year and showing until August 4 is open to any artist, amateur or professional, to submit a work of art for consideration and is as egalitarian in its pricing as it is in its submission process.
Prices range from €50 for a small handmade book of drawings to €60,000 for a John Behan sculpture, according to RHA director Patrick T Murphy. “Do a reconnaissance and make notes of what you like and then review what you can afford,” he says.
“Never feel rushed into buying a work of art. We had 5,200 submissions this year in early spring, adjudicated by six members of the Academy. They narrowed it down to over 500. It’s quite a process but they’re quick to make decisions. Different academicians lean towards different art forms.”
The year 2020 necessitated the exhibition going online and that option to view and buy continues but it only accounts for a small percentage of sales, according to Patrick. “People enjoy coming into the gallery,” he says. “It’s so well supported; we get 50,000 visitors over 10 weeks and we sell up to the last day.”
As a steer for potential buyers, I ask his favourites. “I can’t choose. It’s like asking which child is my favourite, but I like the Japanese landscape photography by Lewis Carlyle and Corban Walker’s sculpture,” he says.
These are at the pricier end of the scale but Patrick recalls a piece of advice he got years ago from an old gallerist. “He said you should always buy a bit over what you can afford, you’ll never regret it.”
Cork’s Lavit Gallery is in the midst of preparations for its summer exhibition opening July 11 until August 22, and one of two seasonal exhibitions showing work by 40 to 50 artists and craft makers, according to gallery director, Brian Mac Domhnaill.
“They’re artist we already show and know and we also invite artists we have an eye on from the RHA summer exhibition. It’s an important part of scouting. What we do is a similar level to them. We have a balance of sculpture and art and functional and decorative craft. Prices range from a fine art litho print for €70 to €5,000-€6,000 for a painting, but lots around the €500 mark.”
When it comes to advice for the novice buyer, he says: “People have a budget. I had a couple who came in and they said they didn’t know anything about art but a quick walk around and they knew what they liked. If someone was looking for maybe a landscape, everything is well laid out, but I’ll take them to the stockroom to see what else by a particular artist we have.”
All the summer exhibition works will be available online which Brian sees as a way of helping buyers to hone the choice.
“We make a point of getting everything up online so browse on the website first. It’s an easy way for people who are intimidated to ask the price. Narrow down a shortlist and then come in and see in the flesh.”
One of the appealing aspects of the exhibition is buyers take away their purchase on the day rather than having to wait until the end of the exhibition, but for visitors coming in nearer the end of the run, there will still be plenty of art to view: “When someone makes a purchase we put up another one by the same artist so the exhibition will be different in a few weeks’ time.”
Another option for buyers is ceramics which Brian considers an accessible point of entry for buyers with an interest in interiors.
“Some are very sculptural, not for functional use, from a couple of hundred euro to €600,” he says. “We get people coming in to buy collectible ceramics by a particular maker. Ceramics are a good way into sculpture.
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- Instagram.com/lavitgallery