Selling
But what about the time when you want to dispose of art? There are a number of options. Take advice from your favourite gallery – If a piece is by a known South African artist, the gallery may wish to acquire it for stock or perhaps accept it on consignment to sell. Commission is negotiable. The newly-established WhaleRock Auctioneers who advertise on the ArtsPage, have regular sales, the next one on 10th October and they are local , no great traveling involved. They deal in the South African Masters but may also accept works from lesser names which houses like Stephan Welz/Sotheby’s, Christies, Bonhams and Strauss and Co will not handle.
New internet site
Then there is the internet; more and more people are becoming comfortable with trading on the net. There are the better-known websites like e-bay and gumtree which can be quite addictive. And now, based in Hermanus, Jason Children and his partners have yesterday launched a website www.theartmarket.co.za which they describe as South Africa’s first on-line selling and auction site dedicated purely to art.
From left to right: Steven Dayson, Jason Children, Roslynn ShawJason says “The site will allow artists, galleries and art enthusiasts to reach a broader market when selling or auctioning their art. By reaching a larger target audience, prospective sellers increase their chances of a sale. Sellers also create excitement by utilising the auction option within the site, which in turn creates a platform for faster sales.
Art buyers will have a site dedicated to art allowing them to browse, bid on or buy art from many different categories. Forums within the site will create communication between users and rating systems for buyers and sellers will effectively mean that users of the site will police themselves.”
Focus on art
When I asked Jason what the advantages of his site were, compared to long-established international sites, he pointed out the focus on art – one does not have to plow through a million other items that are on offer if it is specifically art you are looking for. And we locals have the additional advantage of seeing the developer of the site face–to-face. It is a home-grown product that has every possibility of taking off like a rocket into the webosphere.
I have tried the registration process (one has to register before one can buy or sell) and it was not too daunting. Certainly there are nine pages of Terms and Conditions and a further two-page Privacy Policy that you should look at, but I know from personal experience how adept ArtsPagers are at speed-reading.
The site is well presented and easy to navigate. Thumbnail pictures of the art are offered under many categories and a mouse click brings up the detail. Items may have a “Buy now” price quoted, as well as being up for auction bids for a period that the seller nominates.
Go-between
The Artmarket website acts only as a go-between. The actual payment and delivery of the item is arranged between buyer and seller. Credit card details are made available to the seller once a sale is confirmed. At the same time the Artmarket will debit its agreed commission to the seller. This is pitched at an attractive level and no charge is made until a work is actually sold. Traders are required to rate the service they experience with each other so regular users should soon build up a reputation for sound dealing practice. Ratings are disclosed on the site.
Some local galleries are already using the site and when the time comes that I must make space for fresh acquisitions, I too will try it. Most works of art that one buys are for keeps but there is from time to time the mistake needs to find a new home, or a cash crisis that means the inherited Gregoire has to go. Why not offer it on The Artmarket and try your luck?
And keep your news and views coming to niblos@telkomsa.net.
SKETCH - SHEILA NOWERS
Sheila NowersVermont-based Sheila Nowers lives in a comfortable and rather imposing house she designed and built. “When I have time on my hands, I like nothing better than to design houses. I must have done hundreds!” Though few of them have been realized in bricks and mortar, it is easy to understand that this accomplished artist relishes the detail which goes into architecture. The first thing that strikes one in Sheila’s work is the detail. She works in gouache/water colours to a small scale , 15x13 mm is a typical size (“not miniatures, really, they are a different art form”) and with an incredible eye for minutiae – the cat curling its tail around a leg or looking, as cats disconcertingly do, directly at you. There’s wry humour there, too; or perhaps whimsy, as past gallerist Karen McKerron puts it.
Her training was in graphics and she took her BA at UCT (Michaelis). Textile design in London followed, then illustration, mainly freelancing in magazines back in South Africa. The Eighties saw her making her mark with postage stamp design – some thirty commemorative issues of South African stamps. Solo exhibitions at Karen McKerron Contemporary Art in Johannesburg, Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg and Cape Town, The Lookout Gallery in Plettenburg Bay; and her works are in the SA National Gallery and other leading public and private collections.
Portrait of ERIC GALLO by Sheila NowersSheila works four to five hours a day most days, no retirement in sight; her work has great charm in its apparent straightforwardness. The size is not an affectation or something she has chosen. To work on a larger scale becomes forced. “For me, my works take on the proportions of the Sistine Chapel ceiling” she says with a chuckle. “Mostly portraits these days and often commissioned works.” She describes herself as gregarious and has an admitted reputation as a conversationalist of note. Yet others have commented on her keeping a low profile. Time for a show in Hermanus, Ms Nowers. We need a chance to view (and acquire) your gems and share your conversations.
