Monday, December 30, 2024

Pricing your art for Open Exhibitions - a review of a sample of exhibition metrics for 2024

This is all about how to sell the art that gets selected for an open exhibition by a national art society.

One of the ways in which artists can promote their art is by being selected for an open exhibition by a national art society. 

However, they help their profiles enormously and enhance their case for membership of a national art society if they can also demonstrate that their artwork is not only good enough to exhibit - but it also sells!

I personally find it very frustrating every time I visit an exhibition is to see good art which is overpriced - and which I know will not sell.

None of what I say applies to any artist who is not dependent on their artwork selling to have a normal life. If you have independent means, you can price however you like.

By way of contrast, what I say is crucial to the understanding of those artists who "need to know" how to achieve sales i.e. study the marketplace, what's on offer and what the price competition looks like.

UPDATE 31 December 2024: This post has now been UPDATED with reference to artists who sold more than one artwork - providing summary details of the type of art and prices of sold artwork.

Why artists get prices for their art wrong


Artists are very invested in their art. They often price in an unsound way which reflects motivations which have nothing whatsoever to do with selling art. 

The reasons for getting the price wrong are:
  • thinking too much about the hours and effort put into a painting and not enough about whether that's marketable
  • not visiting an annual open exhibition in advance of submitting an entry
  • not observing the prices of the work which has sold - when your research can be done online
  • not looking at last year's exhibition online - and noting the price bands where there are few sales
  • not reading this blog! I've been banging on and on about the need to tailor prices to the marketplace for specific art galleries. 
    • specifically in relation to the FBA Societies at the Mall Galleries
    • specifically in relation to pricing just below and not just above important threshold prices i.e. the level at which people start thinking "No" rather than "Yes" 
Bottom line, your art is only worth an "inflated price" if you can find somewhere where it will sell at that price. Otherwise it's just numbers on a label and a painting which will be returned to you unsold.

I can by the way spot all the artists who have been reading this blog and have adjusted their prices and are now selling again after a fairly rough marketplace in recent times. :) 

While writing this post, I also noticed an awful lot of artists who used to sell well on a regular basis who are no longer doing so. Time maybe to review their strategy for getting their artwork sold?

2024 Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics by FBA Societies


Below you will find charts of sales at the 2024 annual exhibitions of the art societies who belong to the Federation of British Artists based at the Mall Galleries i.e.
  • Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
  • Royal Institute of Oil Painters
  • Royal Society of British Artists
  • New English Art Club
  • Royal Society of Portrait Painters
  • Pastel Society
  • Royal Society of Marine Artists
  • Society of Wildlife Artists
Each chart is the exact same size - which helps make each comparable with the others. However the numbers of sales by members/associate members and those selected via the open entry are
  • identified by price range in which they sold 
  • with a coloured column each for member artists and open entry artists
  • with an additional total column for all sales in each price range
UPDATE 31.12.24.: I'm also adding in - under each chart - the names of artists who sold well (as in 2 or more sales) in the 2024 exhibitions. It is possible to identify the TYPE of art which can sells well. Of which more in the future....

Who are the buyers at the Mall Galleries?


I started characterising buyers at the Mall Galleries as being essentially "middle class, middle aged and middle income" some years ago. 
  • They typically like buying artwork priced at less than £1,500 - and they like it even more if it is priced at less than a £1,000. 
  • You should bear this in mind as you review the charts and commentary below and as you check the profiles of the price ranges of artwork sold in the charts below
Essentially annual exhibitions at the Mall Galleries are about affordable art for most of those who visit, view and buy art.

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours


They exhibited 450 artworks and sold 87 paintings (19%).
  • members sold 47
  • open entrants sold 40
  • The top priced painting was £3,250
No open artist sold a painting for more than £1,000. 

There were a LOT of sales priced under £1000 with specific hot prices such as £650 and £450. Interestingly
  • open artists dominated the below £500 category
  • members dominated the £501-£1000 category
Unsurprisingly, watercolours are considered to be more affordable artwork - so long as artists produce suitable sizes and prices for them to be considered affordable. When they do, they sell like hot cakes!

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist

Artists who did well include:

  • Member: Matthew Phinn RI RSMA - 2 x landscape paintings @ £1,700 and £550
  • Member: Paul Talbot-Greaves RI - all landscape paintings 2 x £400 and 3 x £750
  • Member: Hannah Woodman RI - two watercolour and gouache landscape paintings @£3,250 and £1,950
  • Member: Geoffrey Wynne RI - all landscape paintings priced under £2000, sold 4 including 3 at £850
  • Open Entry: Miranda Brookes - sold two landscapes at £650 each
  • Open Entry: Sandra Doyle - sold two botanical art paintings (£750 and £425), which she could have sold again and again!
  • Open Entry: Julia Groves - 2 x flower paintings @ £870 each
  • Open Entry: Kate Osbourne - sold 2 x watercolour and gouache paintings about allotments @ £395 each
  • Open Entry: Jian Yuan Ong - sold 2 @£400
Note the theme re subject matter?


Royal Institute of Oil Painters


They exhibited 347 artworks and sold 87 (25% of the hung artwork). This was by far the best sales performance by any FBA Society in 2024. Significantly it was also the exhibition in which the open entry artists sold more paintings than members/associates.
  • 51 artworks sold were by open entry artists compared to 36 artworks sold by member artists
  • 52 paintings / 60% of hung artwork was sold for less than £1,000
  • for paintings priced above £1,000 - 17 paintings by members and 18 paintings by open entry artists were sold - meaning the open entrants are providing still competition for members and providing quality candidates for future members
However this year the ROI had an extra week added on to their exhibition in the run-up to Christmas.  They sold a lot more art as a result. 

ALL the exhibitions used to have more time for their exhibitions in the past. It raises a serious question of whether an exhibition should be routinely be kept open for longer if there is no other booking for the space.

Royal Institute of Oil Painters
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist

Artists who did well with 2 or more sales include:

  • Member: Linda Alexander ROI - 3 x still life paintings of fruit @ £1,645 £1,850 and £1,950. A classic example of an artist with a solid following who sticks to the price range she knows serves her well - because she regularly sells.
  • Member: Lucy MicKie ROI - 3 paintings - a classic pickandmix @ £1,550 and 2 x still life paintings of fruit @ £1,550 and £1,450
  • Member: Adam Ralston ROI - 3 x landscape paintings @ £2,650 £850 and £750
  • Open Entry: Lizzie Black - two still life paintings @ £650 each which she started painting during lockdown. How to make an opportunity out of a constraint!
  • Open Entry: Steven Smith - 2 x still life paintings of vintage sweetie packets @£1,995 each. 
Like I said, selling well from the open entry has its rewards. Steven Smith was made an Associate on the ROI last month, following the closure of the exhibition.

Royal Society of British Artists

They exhibited 491 artworks and sold 52 (10% of the artwork hung). 
In doing so they significantly underperformed 
  • against the sales record of some of the other societies in 2024
  • compared to their own RBA sales made in 2023
RBA Sales in 2023 analysed by price category
  • above £1,000 sales were minimal (14 artworks or 27% of sales - compared to 29 in 2023)
  • the majority of sales (38 artworks / 73%) were below £1,000 - compared to 68 sales / 70% of the total for the same category in 2023 
  • all 27 artworks priced above £5.5K remained unsold
The RBA sold a LOT more in 2023 i.e. 
  • they sold 20% in 2023 rather than 10% of the artwork hung in 2024
  • the sold 68 artworks below £1,000 in 2023 compared to 38 sales for the same category in 2024
Royal Society of British Artists
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist

An artist who did well was Malcolm Ashman RBA - 3 portraits @ £480

This is what I said in my Call for Entries post re the 2024 exhibition. It needs reiterating for 2025. I'd even go do far as to say that the RBA needs to vet open entry prices much more carefully and, if necessary, offer advice to open entry artists
TIP: Do NOT be silly or over ambitious about prices - especially if you are unfamiliar with sales at this venue.
  • small works priced between £300 and £500 typically sell very well (i.e. a much high percentage in this price bracket will sell compared to others - because they are more affordable)
  • most works sell below £1,000
  • members sell well between £500 and £1,500
  • if you are pricing above £2,000 you are:
    • either a well known artist with some years experience, a bunch of collectors and a credible track record of sales above this price point
    • or you have a very big ego and/or opinion of your own work and/or lack experience in exhibiting/selling your work
  • NEVER EVER price just above the big price point breaks (£500, £1000, £1,500) - always just below!

SEE ALSO 

New English Art Club


They exhibited 398 artworks and sold 61 artworks (15%). 
  • members sold 42 
  • open entrants sold 19
74% of the artwork at the 2024 annual exhibition sold for less than £1,500.

The most expensive artwork sold was priced at £6,500.

This society probably has more professional artists and less open entry artists than any other society. However the Open Entry artists are frequently members of other FBA societies. Which probably explains why they have so much unsold expensive artwork.

New English Art Club
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist

Artists who did well with 2 or more sales include:

Royal Society of Portrait Painters


They exhibited 224 artworks - of which 51 were "not for sale" and sold 23 (10%).
  • members sold 10
  • open entrants sold 13
However, the top priced painting sold was priced at £21,400 and the next most expensive sold was £20,000.

This is a completely different type of exhibition. 
  • Essentially it is a marketplace for marketing to those who want to commission a portrait artist to do a portrait. 
  • Money made is essentially via commissions - which is why members exhibit so many "not for sale" portraits to demonstrate examples of the work they do.

Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist
(EXCLUDES commissions taken at the exhibition for future portraits)

Smaller artworks and artwork for sale for less than £1,500 is typically the work of open entry artists.

Pastel Society


They exhibited 359 artworks and sold 59 (16% of the total hung). 
  • members sold 34 
  • open entrants sold 25
The price of the most expensive artwork sold was £2,850.

Last year's exhibition strongly suggests that buyers of pastel artwork much prefer artwork to be priced less than £1,000. There were minimal sales, mainly by members, above this price threshold. 

Open entries would be well advised to price below £1,000. One way of adjusting your artwork to keep it compatible to sales prices achieved elsewhere is by varying the size of the artwork. 

Pastel Society
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist

Artists who did well with 2 or more sales include:

Notice a couple of themes emerging?

Royal Society of Marine Artists

They exhibited 452 artworks across three galleries and sold 55 - or 12% of the artwork hung. I'm puzzled as to why so few sales this year.

The price of the most expensive artwork sold was £17,500 by an extremely well known and well established marine artist. The next most expensive artwork was £4,750

Key Features:

  • most of the artwork sold (71%) fell into the £500-£1000 price bracket
  • there was an awful LOT of expensive and unsold artwork. This suggests marine artists - both members and open entrants - would do well to reconsider their pricing strategy for achieving sales.
  • buyers of this type of art tend to be specialist collectors. Many of these own boats of one sort or another and know the difference between an artist who knows their boats and one who doesn't. I was once treated to a memorable tour of the annual exhibition by a boatowner who enjoyed pointing out to me all the aspects which were less than authentic - because painted by people who didn't know/love boats. In any genre where the buyers are enthusiasts you've got to get everything right!
  • However there's a lot of scope to interest those who recognise, for example, specific areas of coastline

Royal Society of Marine Artists
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist

Artists who did well with 2 or more sales include:


Society of Wildlife Artists

They exhibited 372 artworks and sold 62 artworks (16%). The highest price sale was £6,000.
  • members sold 49 
  • open entrants sold 13
79% of the artwork was sold by members, many of whom have very loyal collectors. 

This society is one of two societies with the lowest number of overall sales by open entry artists.  This could be because open entrants are getting their prices badly wrong.

The bulk of sales (47 artworks) were priced below £1,000 (i.e. 12% of artwork hung but 76% of artwork sold). The main reasons for this are typically that the SWLA exhibits both 
  • fine art prints - there's an excellent range every year - which are typically priced lower than original paintings in other media; and 
  • "sketchy" drawings and paintings which are much loved by collectors.
This is also an exhibition where sculpture is regularly sold - but it is typically competitively priced.
Society of Wildlife Artists
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist

Artists who did well with 2 or more sales include:


Strategies for selling art without selling out


Any artist MUST always maintain pricing which is the same or similar wherever it is sold.

However artists are allowed to vary the size of their artwork to enable them to cater for the price ranges which people like buying in.

My recommendations to both member and open entry artists at the Mall Galleries would be to exhibit:
  • a large artwork of the type you have SOLD previously elsewhere - essentially this is your marketing artwork - and you may get lucky (i.e. if you've not sold above £1,500 you may well not appreciate how pricing works in different places - and you need to learn rather than speculate)
  • a medium sized artwork for under £1,500
  • two smaller artworks for under £1,000
The medium and smaller artworks must NOT be slapdash (an error many member artists have made in the past - which gets expensive when you have to keep transporting unsold artwork around). On the contrary, such artwork needs to be smaller versions of your best work.

There will be an optimum size and price which will really connect with the people who view and buy art at exhibitions you exhibit at. If sales matter to you (eg you are a full time artist) then your job is to find out what that sweetspot is.


REFERENCE

There are two things you need to know about pricing affordable art.

The first is that what the PUBLIC think is "affordable" is the only game in town.
It's emphatically NOT what the artists or the art galleries and art fairs think it is.
That's because they're trying to make money for themselves so they have a huge incentive to call it "affordable" but then pitch the price high!

The second is that it's the PSYCHOLOGICAL VALUE of a number that really matters.

Posted by Making A Mark on Monday, December 30, 2024
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