Everyone’s aware of how retailing has crashed and burned this past holiday season. At first face, one would assume that Macy’s store closings announced today are illustrative of what retailing is facing for the foreseeable future. Frankly, though, we have a dozen Macy’s serving the greater San Francisco bay area and, to my mind, the question has long been begged of how many are really needed.
Still, with our one gallery location, we do from time to time venture forth, to bring our material to where the customer is, rather than just waiting for them to roll in over the threshold. And we will soon be coming to a neighborhood near you, providing you live in Los Angeles. We will be collaborating with McColl Fine Art at the Los Angeles Art Show from January 21 through January 25 at the Los Angeles Convention Centre.
As this is the first show on the coast in the new year, and the first for this show at the LA Convention Centre, we approach it with modest trepidation. Clearly, a show is direct, hard marketing retail- not quite what one normally expects in the art and antiques world. What we are used to, the gallery setting with off-white walls and rows of track lights overhead is actually a post-1950 innovation. The retail art market prior to that time generally was conducted in settings composed of room vignettes, with everything from the chairs and their decorative cushions to the paintings, tapestries, and appliqués on the walls for sale. Interestingly, the modern art fair is more akin to what took place in the Low Countries in the 17th century. English diarist John Evelyn wrote of the novelty of these fairs, surprised to see generic artwork for sale outside the atelier of a master painter. Most of the so-called old master paintings that grace collections today were probably originally sold to their first purchaser at an art fair.
As my 20 or so devoted readers will doubtless remember from previous blog entries on the subject, Keith and I love fairs, despite the work, and expense, of transporting, setting up, and taking down, a short-lived venue. There are dealers we enjoy seeing that we only see at fairs, and naturally enjoy looking at their material. Seeing each other’s stock also keeps all of us in line on pricing- parenthetically, a buyer should note that a fair is, consequently, a great place to comparison shop (and buy, too. A redundant use of parentheses- I should have used brackets.)
In terms of direct marketing, we also see clients at shows that we never see anywhere else. It is gratifying that, whether they are there to buy or not, we have an astonishing turnout from clients and these often involve our making house calls. Whether it is to put a piece in place or consult about their existing collections, it is fun for us as well as the client. I would be lying if I were to say that it isn’t more fun when some business is done.
Times being the way they are, one would assume that the rubber will be meeting the road at the Los Angeles Art Show. Hard to know, as we never judge the performance of the fair until long after its conclusion. With client follow-up and its concomitant palaver, it is 6 months before we can determine the success of any show.