This is the second in my series of posts about pricing for art society exhibitions relates to the annual RWS Open Exhibition of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS)
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| View of the RWS Open from outside the Bankside Gallery on the South Bank |
The RWS holds its exhibitions at the Bankside Gallery (next to Tate Modern) which despite being a very decent space for many exhibitions is not actually big enough to hold a combined member and non-member exhibition. It does however have an extremely good footfall outside - if they can be attracted down the steps.....
Consequently, the RWS holds
- two member exhibitions each year in the Spring and Autumn
- a Christmas small works show
- PLUS an Open Exhibition for non-members and those aspiring to become members of the RWS (see my blog post Call for Entries: Royal Watercolour Society Open 2023)
This post relates to that latter show - the RWS Open held in the Bankside Gallery in March 2023. You can browse the artworks hung in the exhibition here
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| View of part of the exhibition |
In order to produce this post this is what I did
- I visited on the afternoon of the last day (19th March) and went around the Gallery and very carefully identified all the sales and marked these up on the list of artworks with the sames
- I then analysed the sheet which listed all artworks in terms of price ranges
- I then compared the number of sales in each of those price range and produced an excel spreadsheet with the results tabulated and charted... which you can see below.
This chart compares the number of artworks hung to the number of sales. It shows you
- (light column) the distribution of prices - between price ranges - of the artworks selected to be hung in the RWS Open.
- (darker column) the distribution of sales in those same ranges.
My observations can be found below
153 artworks were hung. Of these just 17 sold (11% of work hung). It needs to be remembered that this is an exhibition of artists who are not as well known and many will lack followers and collectors. Hence I would not expect a high percentage of sales.
In the various price ranges the chart above demonstrates a very pronounced bias towards more affordable art with the £500 and under category accounting for over 70% of the sales. This is the category commonly considered to be one which accounts for a lot of "impulse buys" which is a very important part of any gallery sales.
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| RWS Open at the Bankside Gallery |
- £500 and less: 46% of the selected artworks hung and 71% of total sales
- £501-£750: 22% of artwork hung and 12% of total sales
- £751-£1000: 14% of artwork hung and 12% of total sales
- £1001-£1500: 8% of artwork hung; NO SALES
- £1501-£2000: 5% of artwork hung; NO SALES
- £2001-£2500: 1% of artwork hung; 6% of sales (i.e. the one painting in this category sold. This was The Shed by Stewart Smith who also won the Dry Red Press Award)
- £2500-£5000: 4% of artwork hung; NO SALES
This analysis certainly reinforces the importance of having a price range in an open exhibition below £500.
There's a conventional view that watercolours are worth less than paintings in oil. It's certainly true that oil paintings typically sell for more than watercolours.
However, it's also true that a lot of the artwork selected for the exhibition was on the small side and hence priced on the low side. However this needs to be seen in the context that there's a view that it's easier to get selected in an Open Exhibition if you produce a good small artwork.
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| Another view of the RWS Open |
However, it's been my personal view for some time that the artwork selected for the RWS show, while it may represent some perspectives on what contemporary watercolours should look like, bears very little resemblance to the RWS Open Exhibitions I have visited in the past where a great deal more expertise in the use of the media was demonstrated. In my view, a significant amount of the artwork wouldn't look out of place in an exhibition at a school - and I don't mean an art school.
I'm not sure whether this issue lies with:
- the unskilled artwork which now seems to be favoured by some art schools
- the breadth of experience and personal views of the selectors
- how the RWS open is marketed to those who aspire to membership
- the number of entries received
- the overall quality of the artwork submitted
Formerly known as the Contemporary Watercolour Competition (among many other names during the exhibition's 50+ year history), the RWS Open is the largest open-submission water-media exhibition in the world, attracting thousands of submissions nationally and internationally each year. (Bankside Gallery listing for the exhibition)For example, I'd love to know the basis in facts which lead to the above assertion. I think the RI - and possibly some other watercolour competition organisers too - might just take issue with the claim above which can be found on the Bankside Gallery website.
It would be VERY interesting if BOTH the RWS and the RI annually reported
- how many open entrants they had for their respective open entry exhibitions
- AND annually how many they select.
Whatever...... I have personally noticed a very distinct difference in the calibre of the artwork hung in the RWS open and the artwork hung in the RI's Annual Open Exhibition - which is the subject of the third in this series of posts about exhibition metrics and pricing.
I've not crunched the numbers yet and can't wait to see what they reveal!
Advice about Pricing Art
A brief reminder for those who want to know more about pricing art.
I have a very big section on How to Price Your Art in the Money & Tax section of my Art Business Info for Artists website. It includes sections on:
I have a very big section on How to Price Your Art in the Money & Tax section of my Art Business Info for Artists website. It includes sections on:
If you read just one, go for the last one.
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