3/03/2017

Artworld
THE MYSTERIES OF ART BUSINESS
or: How to earn more as an artist and pay less as a collector...



   In the last years a lot of online art galleries came into business, some of them offsprings of well known art galleries. They are giving the artists the opportunity to present their works to a broader audience and sell them online. Is this a good way for an artist to sell his work? And is it a good way for collectors too? To check this out I, together with a friend in Moscow, Russia, started some kind of „experiment“, just to learn about the procedure. Here are the conclusions...

  I offered one of my pictures (a small one) on a well-known online gallery (they call themselves „The World‘s Leading Online Art Gallery“) and priced it at $100.00 (out of a certain reason as you will see later). My friend in Moscow purchased it online in the middle of December. And now the „adventure“ begins...

   To the $100.00 was added the shipping costs of $35.00 (which is ok, I shipped some picts to Moscow earlier for this price too). But then the surprise: The final sum was $218,13. How so? The gallery added „custom charges“ of $83,13 to the invoice. Now thats interesting as we already know that in Russia all goods worth up to $100 are free of custom charges. Also we inquired about this charges we got no reasonable explanation and my friend‘s credit card was charged with the full sum immediately after ordering.

  The rest of the story is more about the „handling skills“ of the gallery. They completely forgot to order the courier for the first appointed day (and I was waiting the whole day as they didn‘t inform me), where able to make a new appointment for pick-up only about a month later. And there was the next surprise: The shipping address in London? Why? No explanation again, just some flimsy excuses about „having problems to ship to Russia directly“ etc. So it took until the first week of February when finally the picture arrived at its destination in Russia (usually, as I know from previous shippings, it takes less then 24 hours).

Oh, and I almost forgot: The gallery is taking 30% commission from the artist.

So here is the final conclusion:
  • An artwork offered for $100,00 finally cost $218,13
  • The artist gets $70,00.
  • The collector is finally paying twice the asked price.
  • And due to the „professional“ handling of the gallery the whole procedure took two month (or even longer for the artist because I got my money finally in the end of February).


So my advice for (fellow) artists: Set up your own online-shop. You for sure can handle it much better then this „professionals“.

And for collectors: Contact the artist directly (you can find the contact details on artist‘s page of  this „Online Galleries“ ;-)). Its cheaper, faster - and you are in contact with the artist himself...

1/30/2017

The Inner Light Gallery
PRINT SALE #2

Exclusive print sale by The Inner Light Gallery.
A great opportunity for collectors: A monthly print sale with original prints in a limited edition.

€ 250,-
FROZEN LIGHT  | 2016  | 27x19cm  | matted on 30x40cm
Archival pigment print |  Edition of 15 | Signed, dated and numbered
Shipping: €10 | Ships within five business days directly from artist.


1/08/2017

My newest publication
UTOPIEN DES OKTOBER [Utopias of October]

I proudly present my newest publication (in German; publication date: February 2017).

Chris Dematté
UTOPIEN DES OKTOBER  [Utopias of October]
Denkmäler der Sowjetunion [Monuments of the Soviet Union]

Photographs: Chris Dematté
Texts: Vladimir Mayakovsky
           Proletkult
           John Reed
           Derek Weber

Hardcover, 30x22cm, 88 pages, 65 photographs
ProMedia Verlag Wien
ISBN 978-85371-420-1
Price: € 24,90/US$ 26,20 (incl. VAT excl. shipping)

You can preorder the book >here

Some example pages:











12/06/2016

The Inner Light Gallery
PRINT SALE

Exclusive print sale by The Inner Light Gallery.
A great opportunity for collectors: A monthly print sale with original prints in a limited edition.


VESTIGE #1 by Chris Dematté
2016 | 27x19cm | matted on 30x40cm
Archival pigment print | Edition of 15
Signed, dated and numbered
Shipping: € 10 | Ships within five business days directly from artist.
€ 250,- (incl. VAT, excl. shipping)


SWITCHING OFF

Sometimes it´s probably better to just switch off.
Sometimes it´s probably better not to keep oneself busy with fictional or real problems.
Sometimes it´s probably better not to think constantly about things oner can't influence anyway.
Sometimes you have to relax. Or at least try to.
Because if you don't you will get crazy...



12/03/2016

HELLS BELLS 2016

The word Krampus originates from the Old High German word for claw (Krampen). In the Alpine regions, the Krampus is a mythical horned figure represented as accompanying Saint Nicholas. Krampus acts as an anti–Saint Nicholas, who, instead of giving gifts to good children, gives warnings and punishments to the bad children. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly in the evening of December 5, and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and whips and bells. This figure is believed to originate from stories of house spirits such as kobolds or elves. Nowadays one can find "Krampusläufe" also in towns and rural areas.