The State of the Gallery World Today

Recently, I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine whose husband has owned and operated a gallery on Canyon Road, Santa Fe, for 38 years. The gallery only sells high-end, recognizable artwork by famous dead artists (artwork that has a sense of "scarcity").

My friend said that in this current economic environment full of uncertainty, art buyers and collectors are holding back. They seem to be holding onto their money until they feel more confident about how the economy will evolve.

However, when they do buy art, they want to do so as an investment. This means that artwork that is well known by famous artists who, because they are dead, are not creating new work, is actually in demand.

But they don't buy it in the gallery.

Instead, these luxury sales are orchestrated in private.

A buyer reaches out to my friend's husband, inquiring about acquiring artwork by a specific artist. He then contacts people he has sold to in the past who have the artwork in question and finds out if they are willing to sell. If so, he flies to their location, rents an empty private gallery space, coordinates moving the artwork to the private location, and has it professionally displayed. Then the potential new buyer comes to take a look and discuss.

Apparently, this approach is working very well!

Meanwhile, galleries that represent living, producing artists doing contemporary work are struggling.

Another friend who is part-owner of a co-op gallery on Canyon Road reports that foot traffic and sales are down. What is selling are small, relatively inexpensive artworks. She recently attended a social event for gallery owners, and she said no one was talking much about business. What they did say revolved around how unstable the market feels and how difficult it is to plan exhibitions, events, and promotions with all the uncertainty.

Dear reader, if you have a particular artist or gallery you love, make a point to support them in any way you can. If we all do that, well, then, they may survive to a time when the market is stronger. If we don't....well then they may disappear.

No matter what, I encourage all of us to take time to enjoy art wherever we find it. When we stop thinking about art as a commodity or an investment and instead start thinking about it as a quality of life, then we all enjoy richer, fuller, and more luxurious lives.