What to Know About Licensing Your Art

Being an artist can be a hard job when it comes to making money and getting customers. One of the best ways to turn your art into income is by licensing your artwork. When you license your art, you’re allowing a bigger company to reproduce it on their end. This isn’t something that needs to be done for all of your pieces, but every artist should have a few in mind that they would like to share with a larger audience. Many times licensed artwork is put onto tote bags, phone cases, pillowcases, and many other products. Licensing agreements state what percentage of sales an artist will receive. Before jumping the gun and licensing your art, here are important things you need to know about licensing.

 

Manufacturing

There are so many ways and places you can license your artwork. Many times opportunities of collaboration will come up with someone you know or even a brand that saw your art on social media. Check out small local businesses that may be interested in teaming up with an artist to work on their products. Some restaurants might want to rebrand themselves by having new cups and coasters for tables and selling merchandise. If you’re interested in working with a larger manufacturer, then check out options on online stores. Redbuddle is an online shop where over 700,00 independent artists sell their art on just about any product you can think of. This option is great for artists who may not have time to create products themselves.

 

Understand your Deal

Every licensing deal is different, so it is important as an artist to sit down and understand the terms. For some companies, you may be asked to create art that is specifically designed for them to manufacture. If you team up with a well-known company to license your art this most times means that they take care of work behind the scenes. From manufacturing, shipping, and customer service, none of these things will be on your hands. Look deep into your deals to see if you can license the same pieces of art to more than one company. The most important thing to consider in a licensing agreement is the responsibility of you as an artist and the amount of money you receive from sales.

 

Enjoy the Benefits

After licensing your art you will begin to gain new customers and attract followers on social media. Your sales won’t only increase through licensing but as well as your selling. It can take some time for your art to be noticed, but once it is, it’s up from there. By continuing to create art and selling it from your home or a local store, and licensing other pieces of art, you’ve created multiple streams of income for yourself! 

Spotlight: Switzerland’s New Platform 10 Art District

Every year in Basel, Switzerland, Art Basel presents an exhibition featuring high end works by local artists. This yearly exhibition has turned Switzerland into more than just a blip on the map in the world of contemporary art.

 

This event brings together hipsters with art curators and gallery owners to create a community of passionate and dedicated artists. Due to its overwhelming popularity, there are now two competing art shows held in Hong Kong and Miami Beach.

 

Art has always been a significant part of the culture in Switzerland. Since Art Basel was launched, the fine arts have been treasured throughout the country. As a result. Switzerland boasts world-famous art museums. Some of these museums include:

 

  • Bern’s Zentrum Paul Klee Museum
  • Zurich’s Kunsthaus
  • Lucerne’s Rosengart Collection

 

Currently, under construction, Plateforme 10, set to be the largest museum in Switzerland, will be the next-door neighbor of the Lausanne train station. As the center of the city, it will be a prime spot for tourists to visit.

 

Once it is open for business, the Plateforme 10 is poised to set the city’s definition of an art district. It will hold a total of three museums on its property. These three museums are currently spaced out around the city. The Plateforme 10 will be the new home of:

 

  • Musee Cantonal des Beaux-Arts
  • Musee de l’Elysee
  • Museum of Contemporary Design And Applied Arts

 

In total, the three museums will come together to cover a campus stretching 237,000 feet. As a result, all three museums will have more space in which to display their exhibits.

 

To many, Lausanne is the perfect place for this new museum to open. The city is known as the world’s most free-spirited. As the Canton of Vaud capital, Lausanne borders the French Alps and Switzerland’s famous Lake Geneva. The city exudes the vibes of a young generation. As an artistic hub, it embraces a generation that thrives on their creative spirit.

 

Any art lover owes it to him or herself to plan a trip to Switzerland The Platform 10 District is not to be missed. It is an experience that visitors will never forget.

How to Collect Art That is Meaningful to You

man looking at art

 

While navigating the art collecting sphere can be a daunting and sometimes a burdensome process, it is important to not lose sight of the specific reasons you are collecting these pieces. The nature of art collecting is very much grounded in passion and it is therefore essential to keep in mind that in fact scouting pieces that you are drawn to, have a particular interest in, and which you are able to create a good sized collection are all vital signs to move forward.

 

Purchase what you like

A big part of art collecting can entail purchasing art that is on the rise or is deemed by critics to appreciate in value exponentially in the coming years. The best course of action is to invest in art that you have a connection to and genuinely like. Some companies or services specialize in a model that appraises art based on artist, genre, date range, content, materials, size, coloration, style, etc. Be sure to take a look at the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (aka the IRS appraisal) for more information.

 

Research first

The internet can definitely be too overwhelming when deciding what kind of art collection to start, so visiting art galleries, connecting with individuals who work at museums and exploring different art vis-a-vis is the best way to narrow this down. Speaking with professionals in person can help you become involved in a market that has a high-cost barrier to entry (which can be very intimidating to the first time art collector).

 

Putting in the time

Above everything else, remember that crafting a successful art collection is a lengthy process. If you want your collection to have a specific focus, it makes more sense to purchase one or two more valuable pieces per year–to pursue quality rather than quantity.

What You Need to Know About Art Authentication

Although it can be a bit difficult to decipher whether or not a certain individual is deemed as a “qualified authority,” when approaching a conversation with this kind of individual, be sure to make note of the following:

Generally speaking, individuals who are known as qualified authorities are people who have extensively studied the artists, published scholarly papers about them and Also, another important attribute of a qualified authority is if this certain individual has sold a mass scale of anywhere between twenty to a hundred works by the given artist, or has previously written or is currently writing a piece highlighting the artist’s life work.

art authenticationQualified authorities may also be the artists themselves, relatives of artists, employees of artists, direct, individuals who have legal, formal, or estate-granted entitlements to provide their professional opinions on works of art created by particular artists. Among the rest of these important attributes, qualified authorities are those recognized throughout the art community as the professionals who are able to provide in depth analysis of a particular artist and their work.

Before purchasing art, be sure to look out for these traits that indicate the individual is not a professional qualified authority in the art community.

► Individuals who have written about an artist’s work or experience, but are not the primary experts in the art field.
► People who in any way, shape, or form attribute their art to artists, but who have no concrete proof of attribution and who are not recognized authorities on those artists.
► During this process, individuals that believe or sell art on the fact since art is signed by a certain artist, there is no question that work or painting is authentic.
► People who say “that’s what the previous owner told me,” but who have no other forms of proof.
► Be sure to keep a lookout for individuals who may be self-proclaimed qualified authorities, but who are not recognized by their peers as authorities.
► Art appraisers who are not recognized authorities on the artists in question, but who appraise the art as
being by those artists anyway.
► Individuals who are unable to produce tangible first-party proof that their art is by certain artists. This lack of evidence therefore highlights that you should in fact not go through with the deal.

Along with these tips, it is important to utilize a fair amount of common sense before you purchase art from a certain person. In addition to being extremely careful under all circumstances, make sure you have concrete proof that everything you’re being told is true before you make the purchase. Also, if you have the time or resources, make an extra effort to look for a second opinion to reaffirm any lingering doubts or concerns you may have.

Rare Swatch Collection Sells for CHF 1.3 Million

Swatch by Keith HaringA rare collection of 1,000 original watches by Swatch were recently sold by Sotheby’s at a Geneva auction for CHF1.3 million ($1.3 million). The collection was comprised of the timepieces created in the brands most popular period in the 1980’s. The brand was so popular that it’s credited with saving the Swiss watchmaking industry.

The collected had been stored in an attic in canton Neuchâtel for years. It included 380 prototypes, as well as technical drawings, dials, sketches, and artwork spanning the 1981-1986 period. It belonged to the Swiss designers Bernard Müller and Marlyse Schmid, who were responsible for creating much of Swatch’s iconic visual identity in the early 1980s alongside Müller’s engineer brother Jacques.

The Schmid & Müller collection is a delight for collectors and appreciators. As Sotheby’s watches department manager Pedro Reiser explained,

It’s very rare to have such an extensive collection. This completely unique and historic selection of timepieces, components, and designs maps out the creative process during the fascinating early years of Swatch.”

Swatch was founded because it’s creators saw the need for a Swiss-made plastic watch that didn’t sacrifice quality while hitting an affordable price point. It’s development required technical innovation, with each watch only having 51 parts, as opposed to nearly 100 needed to make a traditional wristwatch. This reduction in parts allows it to be produced for 80% cheaper and assembled using a fully automated system.

For us the challenge was to establish plastic as a noble product,” said Müller. “Among the various components, the watch dial was the most expensive piece. This initially meant we were only able to use one or two colours at most. Swatch’s almost instant success allowed us free reign with our creativity, enabling us to change the look in an infinite number of ways following new fashions and trends.”

The Schmid & Müller collection contained a number of iconic pieces, including the original Jellyfish Swatch — the first transparent watch that started the trend of see-through watch movements. It was designed by Marlyse Schmid, and it was part of a 200 piece limited edition.

It also included original prototypes from the “Swatch Art Special” series, including the first model featuring artwork by “Kiki Picasso.” At the height Swatch’s popularity at the end of the 1990s, a single model sold for CHF60,000.

Another highlight was a series of models and artwork by US artist Keith Haring, who took two years to come up with his 1986 collection of six designs.

There’s been renewed interest in vintage watches as of late. Back in April, Sotheby’s auction house in Hong Kong sold one of the biggest private collections of Swatch watches in the world. The collected contained 5,800 timepieces that had been collected over a period of 25 years. It sold for $6 million.

Müller hopes that his collection is able to stay in one piece and enrich other Swatch collections.