Exporting Art (Part 1): The Invoice

This is a technical post about what you need to include on an invoice when exporting an artwork to another country.

I've got two reasons for producing this post

• First, to be honest, I'm writing it all down because I forget!  I've sent quite a few artworks overseas but I always have to spend time double-checking I've done everything correctly after referencing all the proper sources of information.
• Second, I periodically hear about people whose artwork has got stuck at Customs.  I must confess I do speculate to myself about whether they've maybe missed out one of the essential tasks! (see Parts 1 AND 2 OF "Exporting Art")

Below you will find

• a checklist of information which should be supplied to enable artwork to clear customs quickly and without a problem
• a link to where you can download a proforma invoice like the one I use (see below).  

Proforma Export Invoice for Artwork
(right click to see a larger version in new tab)

What to include on an invoice when exporting art

The example proforma invoice referenced is for an artwork which had been commissioned and is to be exported to another country.

You can find An Export Invoice for Art available as a Word document on my Making A Mark website - which you can download for FREE.

Your Information

Shipping artwork internationally - how to send art to overseas exhibitions and clients

Many artists sell art across borders to other countries these days - but there's not a lot of help out there in terms of:

• what you have to do to move art through Customs
• what's the best way to pack and label art and ship it internationally

a new resource for artists - all about how to master customs tariffs, documentation
and services to get artwork from your studio to its final destination in another country

My very first serious exhibition 20 years ago was in the USA. I had to learn pretty fast about how to pack art so it arrives safe and sound and which service works best for getting the artwork there by the due date - and the customs documentation and tariff codes required and how to display it so that the package actually got out of Customs and arrived at the Gallery!

Everything went fine - but it was a long wait until I got the confirmation everything had arrived safely!

Since that date I've heard of numerous artists who have messed up on sending their artwork to other countries. It's hugely disappointing to the artists who have invariably made their best efforts - but just didn't get everything right because they'd never ever done it before.

• The artwork often remains in Customs while the exhibition goes ahead without them!  
• Or the artwork arrives damaged because allowances were not made to what can happen to artwork moving overseas. 
• Or it just disappears......

Which is how come I've remained interested in the topic and developed a site to share the information with those for whom sending art overseas is a new and mysterious challenge!

I've now transferred that information to my art business website.

Guide to how to send art to other countries

This is my new page about How to ship art internationally on my Art Business Info. for Artists website

Information is divided into two sections.

The paperwork for Customs

• How to produce an export invoice
• UK Trade Tariff - export commodity codes
• HOW TO: Complete Customs documentation in the UK
• ​HOW TO: Complete Customs documentation in the USA
• The ATA Carnet​

What else you need to know

• Size, Weight and Content Restrictions and Prohibitions (International)
• ​HOW TO: write an international address correctly​

The page is part of a major section on my website which is all about....

How to pack, post and ship art

This is what my section on How to pack, post and ship art covers:

Packing your art

• How to pack, post and ship art (Section HOME Page) including 10 Top Tips for Packaging and Shipping Artwork
• How to pack artwork for shipping Overview: Generic advice about packing and shipping
• Tips from artists, photographers, galleries, curators, museums, conservators, art societies, art collectors, shippers and more
• How to create an internal package which protect and cushions artwork
• How to create an external package for artwork which survives transit.
• How to pack framed works
• How to pack fine art prints and works on paper
• How to pack pastel paintings​​
• Packaging Materials for shipping artwork
• The pros and cons of different types of packaging for the external and internal packages
• ​warnings about how packaging can damage your art
• how to be sustainable and reuse materials when shipping​

Special Shipping Challenges for Art

CN 23 Customs Declaration form for artwork valued in excess of £270

• How to ship art to exhibitions Exhibitions bring a particular challenge when artwork needs to be submitted minus packaging!
• How to ship internationally​ Information about all the documentation required for international shipping
• How to produce an export invoice
• All about export commodity codes
• How to complete customs documentation 
• How to write an international address correctly

Postal, Parcel, Courier and Shipping Services for Art

Royal Mail Services

• How to post art - Post and Parcel Services in the UK and USA
• ​List of UK Art Shippers, Movers and Couriers​ national and regional + websites and contact details including carriers listed by art competition organisers​
• List of USA Art Shippers, Movers and Couriers recommendations welcome

Feedback please

I'd love to get any feedback

• either in terms of practices or services you have found helpful 
• or about queries you have which are not answered by this page or this section on moving art from studio to exhibition, gallery or art collector

Thanks in anticipation....

Review: The 7th Derwent Art Prize (2024) Exhibition

This is a summary of my thoughts about the Derwent Art Prize Exhibition at gallery@OXO. This is in addition to:

• my review of the prizewinners - see Derwent Art Prize Exhibition 2024 - Prizewinners
• my Making A Mark Facebook Page Album of views of the exhibition - The Derwent Art Prize 2024

The aim of the Derwent Art Prize Exhibition is to 

• reward excellence by showcasing the very best artworks made in pencil by artists from around the world.
• showcase c.80 artworks in an exhibition.

The Prize invites artists to submit the very best 2D and 3D artworks created in any pencil, including colour, water soluble, pastel, graphite and charcoal pencils.

This year, the Judges shortlisted just 68 artworks, however 2 artworks did not make it on to the walls because they got stuck in Customs! See the end for tips for getting your work through Customs

I'm writing this post essentially for all those who might like to submit artwork to the next Derwent Art Prize because, although you can see the images online, you cannot see how they are presented. 

That said, judgement is always on the basis of the digital image of the art.

Artwork at the entrance
varying sizes, subjects and presentation

My perspective on the Derwent Art Prize Exhibition 2024

First off, the main point I want to emphasise is that there is a lot of exceptionally good artwork in this exhibition. I'm guessing that the reputation of the Prize - and the fact it's still going - means that this prize attracts many more professional artists these days as well as young / aspiring / emerging artists.

For me, the appeal of the exhibition is that:

• it often presents novel perspectives on the very ordinary 
• as well as extraordinary insights into the very unusual. 
• ALL delivered while demonstrating an exceptional degree of technical accomplishment.

Essentially, it's NOT artwork which is technically good but actually dull - as much hyperealistic artwork can be.

Nor is it exciting concepts which are then delivered by people lacking in skills associated with creating art - which is the sort of art I hate.

To get selected, the artwork has to move mind or spirit AND also be executed by somebody who demonstrates they're very good at wielding the media used for pencil art.

For me, it has come on a lot since the very first exhibition - which I remember really well because it demonstrated news of thinking and recording in pencil media.

I'd just like to see some 3D artwork next time!

PS There are emphatically no cats, dogs or horses or any other sort of animal mammal in this exhibition! There is one very dead bird.... (Just saying....)

The exhibition demonstrates a wide diversity in terms of

• styles
• subject matter
• size
• age of the artist
• country where the artist lives

It is truly international - with over 6,000 entries by 2,324 artists from 77 countries. 

That means it's getting an entry way bigger than most of the prominent open art exhibitions of national art societies!  One might be tempted to ask what is this art competition offering that other open exhibitions are not. My answer would be "big cash prizes". Any time you have an art competition with very significant cash prizes you get a lot of entries.

Call for Entries: Derwent Art Prize 2022

The 6th Derwent Art Prize is a major INTERNATIONAL art competition for artists working in dry media - and is now open for entries. 

Deadline for entries is Tuesday 4 January 2022 (5pm GMT)

Below you can find out about this major art prize, the prizes on offer in 2022, the selectors and the exhibition and, most importantly how the call for Entries works

The Derwent Art Prize was conceived in 2012 and aims to reward excellence by showcasing the very best artworks created in pencil by artists from around the world.

The Derwent Art Prize is a global art competition with a prize pot of some £12,500. 

The exhibition was conceived in 2012 and has been consistently sponsored by Derwent, the internationally renowned fine art brand since that date. It is

• A Biennial Open Exhibition
• Open to artists from around the world; and 
• Rewards excellence by showcasing the very best 2D & 3D artworks created in pencil or coloured pencil, pastels, graphite and charcoal.

Last time, this exhibition was held in 2020, there were:

• 4,756 entries 
• submitted by 1,884 artists 
• from 72 different countries. 
• The Derwent Art Prize judges selected a shortlist of 70 pieces.

The last Derwent Art Prize exhibition in a gallery - at the Mall Galleries in 2018

The Prizes

CONGRATULATIONS TO DERWENT for maintaining the prize fund in an era when many commercial / organisational sponsors have been turning their faces to the wall and leaving formerly prestigious art prizes to disappear.

I also like the fact that the main prize fund pot is equally split across 

• all entrants and 
• those aged 25 years and under.

Derwent Art Prizewinners with Selectors in 2016

Prizes valued at £12,500 will be awarded to entries selected for the exhibition at the Private View at the Exhibition at the Gallery@OXO, London.

A total prize fund of £12,500 will be awarded. Prizes are as follows:

• Derwent Art Prize (£6,000)
• First Prize £4,000 plus a year’s supply of Derwent products**
• Second Prize £2,000
• Young Artist Prize - for artists under 25 years (£6,000)
• Young Artist First Prize (For artists under 25 years) £4,000 *
• Young Artist Second Prize (For artists under 25 years) £2,000
• People’s Choice Award £500

All the First and Second prize winners will also receive a special box of Derwent Lightfast Pencils which have a core which is resistant to prolonged colour change- meaning artwork hung in archival/museum conditions will not fade for up to 100 years.

The Selectors

This year’s entries will be judged by a panel of selectors comprising an artist, a critic and a curator. a fourth Judge is to be announced.

• Katy Hessel - a London-based art historian, curator, podcaster, and founder of the influential Instagram, @thegreatwomenartists.

Writing and speaking about art history in an accessible and fun manner, my goal is to readdress the gender imbalance in the art world by reinserting women back into the canon of art history.

• Paul Hobson - Director of Modern Art Oxford - 

he has worked for more than twenty years in the art world in senior roles for the Contemporary Art Society, The Showroom, the Serpentine Gallery, and Royal Academy of Arts in London. He has been Director of Modern Art Oxford since 2013.

• Charmaine Watkiss - Artist - pencil and paper are her main materials of choice

Her work is concerned with what she calls ‘memory stories’. She creates these stories primarily through research connected to the African Caribbean diaspora, and then maps the stories onto life sized figures. 

The Exhibition

From the open submission applications the panel will select approximately 80 works for exhibition.

At the bottom of the page you can find my previous reviews of this art competition, the prizewinners and the exhibitions - and see the diverse range of artwork which has been selected in the last eight years. 

The exhibition will be held at Gallery@OXO in central London will be from 24 February – 6 March 2022.

This is situated on the Riverside Walkway at the heart of one of the richest cultural areas of London, between the London Eye, The Hayward Gallery and Tate Modern.

How to enter the Derwent Art Prize

Who can enter

Entries are invited from international artists

What can you enter

Artists may only enter once, with a maximum of 6 images.

28th October 2012 - Who's made a mark this week?

Quilts by Kaffe Fassett

I've been a huge fan of Kaffe Fassett for ages - I think his talent with colour and mixing patterns is absolutely phenomenal.

In 1988 Kaffe became the first living textile artists to have a one man show at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The exhibition attracted such crowds that the Museum doubled attendance figures during the run and has since visited Finland, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, Canada, USA and Iceland (where 5% of the total population attended.)

Back in the days before tenosynovitis set in, when I could still grip and  hold knitting needles, I loved to knit his designs.  If you are in any way interested in colour and/or textiles and/or patchwork/quilts then you should definitely take a peek at his website.

Anyway - his quilts were my main reason for going to the RHS London Autumn Shades show at the RHS Halls in Westminster last week - as there were to be a number of Kaffe Fassett quilts on display.

I walked in and was absolutely amazed to find they'd hung the quilts in mid-air so both sides could be seen and you could get a close look without there being any danger of them being damaged in any way.

Kaffe Fassett Quilts hanging in mid air at the RHS London Autumn Shades Exhibition
- also reproduced below as images in the rest of this post

So quilts by Kaffe Fassett will punctuate this post as I think they're wonderful!

Going to the exhibition also meant that I got to meet two more RHS Gold Medal winners - this time for botanical photography - see RHS Gold Medal winning Botanical Photography for the images of the photographs.

Coming out of that is a post next week about Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560 - 1627) the artist whose style influenced Clay Perry's work when photographing heritage fruit and vegetables.

I was intrigued to find when I got home that Clay Perry used to photograph the avant garde art scene in the 1960s - including Robert Rauschenberg and Yoko Ono - this is a link to Clay's photos of Yoko Ono and her Half-a-Room installation in 1967.  I also discovered that he also photographed R&B bands in the 1960s who subsequently became rather famous! Cue moody photos of Eric.

So I dug a bit further and found out that he had been a pupil of Ifor Thomas who was a pioneer teacher of photography as fine art (from this interview).  That to me came over very clearly in the photographs in display at the exhibition.  I always say that I have no difficulty identifying Gold Medal work as it always stands out.

Artists and Art Blogs

Call for Entries: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2023

This is about how to enter the Summer Exhibition 2023 of the Royal Academy of Arts - as in

• the summer exhibition which is the LARGEST OPEN EXHIBITION IN THE WORLD 
• it opens on 13th June and continues until 20th August 2023
• the Call for Entries opened TODAY
• the Digital Submission closes on Tuesday 14 February 2023.

The following blog post covers the process for entries and "what you need to know" if you want to enter - including TIPS relating to aspects it's important to get right.

TIP: This is an exhibition I would definitely recommend to anybody who creates original prints. The RA Summer Exhibition always has a big print room and because the exhibition has a huge number of visits you can sell lots and lots of prints if people like your print. But it has to be an ORIGINAL! Plus you have to do the delivery and you need to factor the delivery price into the sale price.

"Sleeping Mouse" by Sarah Roberts
- from a previous Summer Exhibition

The 2023 Summer Exhibition

An Important Distinction between registration, entry and details

To be able to enter you must first register for an account HOWEVER

• registering for an account in order to enter does not mean you have entered. 
• To be able to enter you must first purchase an entry form.
• you do not need to complete the details when you purchase the entry form. You can do that later

Please note that the RA has indicated that the number of entries is capped at 16,500. 

That means that:

• if you leave your entry until nearer the deadline that you may not be able to submit this year if you have not purchased an entry form
• if you buy an entry now, you can complete the details later - but you cannot be reimbursed if you fail to submit.

BELOW you can find more details and helpful links to further information on the exhibition and "how to enter".

So how much is the Duty on Art again?

Royal Mail introduced its new "Postal Delivery Duties Paid" service today for those wanting to send art to buyers in the USA

There's just one problem. It doesn't tell you what the duty will be until you've paid the postage! 

So how does the artist add any duty payable into the invoice he or she sends to the artist - given artists want paying before they ship?

I posted this comment on the Royal Mail Facebook Page

WHY are you only telling people what the duty is AFTER they have paid the postage.
For people to make an informed decision about whether or not to send a package they need to know ALL THE COSTS before they pay anything.
What provision have you made for people wanting their money back if they decide not to send after finding out about the cost of the duty?
HOW do you ensure that people are using the correct tariff code so they can continue to enjoy EXEMPTION from Duty by using eg the correct code for sending original fine art - as per the Harmonised Tariff Schedule agreements?

There's NO SCOPE to 

• identify what your package is about and to.......
• identify the correct tariff COMMODITY CODE - remembering of course that 
• IN THEORY some items - like original fine art paintings, drawings and prints are EXEMPT from paying any duty 
• but others, like reproduction prints or hand-painted or hand-decorated manufactured articles; collages, mosaics are NOT EXEMPT
• identify the applicable duty rate so you can make provision for this in the price you charge / quote to your buyer if overseas (as in "price before all applicable tax, duty and shipping")

9701 21 0000 is the tariff code applies to fine art paintings, drawing and print which are exempt - and below is the US version of the Harmonised Tariff Schedule which says this.

What is not clear is whether the new duty Trump seeks to levy is in addition to any status identified in the Harmonised Tariff Commody Code Schedule

This is the USA version of the Harmonised Tariff Schedule

Plus to quote the UK Integrated Online Tariff 

Heading 9701 does not apply to mosaics that are mass-produced reproductions, casts or works of conventional craftsmanship of a commercial character, even if these articles are de-signed or created by artists.

For the purposes of heading 9702, the expression ‘original engravings, prints and lithographs’ means impressions produced directly, in black and white or in colour, of one or of several plates wholly executed by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed by him, but not including any mechanical or photomechanical process.

Heading 9703 does not apply to mass-produced reproductions or works of conventional craftsmanship of a commercial character, even if these articles are designed or created by artists. 

I've done some more reading today. 

I continue to be absolutely horrified by the way in which the US side of the documentation continues to be POOR - particularly the website relating to Customs and Border Protection which is shambolic and really out of date in relation to Trade

This is what I got when looking at Importing in the US. Note the date on the document

THE BOTTOM LINE

My take on it is I don't care if people say "they've worked it out" - this is a government and an administration which is comprehensively and seriously failing to provide proper, comprehensive, articulate and up to date guidance to people engaged in trade!!

If I was an artist exporting to the USA I wouldn't.

If I was an artist wanting to enter an open exhibition or art competition in the UK - and then re-export to the USA - I wouldn't.

That's about as plain as I can make it