Over the years I’ve had artwork sent to me from people desperate to know if their work will sell.

I get it, we don’t want to pour our heart and soul into creating art and pursue selling it to lead to failure and disappointment. But, there is not one person on the planet who understands the buying habits of the billions of people in the world.

People have opinions, based on what they know and experience. You can’t base your future on the opinions of a few people.

Take Ashley Longshore who was repeatedly told she would never sell for more than 15 years. She now sells her work for tens of thousands to the most luxurious places in the world.

In this blog, I share my thoughts on this topic in more detail. 

The art world 

When I first started United Artspace I had this dream to help artists from around the world to make a living from their art and to bring them together into a community. 

Over the past ten years having worked in this industry, I have seen so many stories and seen lots of evidence that proves anything can sell. All different types of artworks and it boggles my mind and having seen this happen year on year. I truly believe that there is a place in the art world for everybody. 

Art is subjective 

I have never came across a particular category of artwork where I go, ‘no, that just won’t sell’ because art is subjective.

If you ask someone if they think your art will sell, you are receiving their subjective opinion on your artwork. If you approach a gallery and ask if they think your artwork will sell, it’s their opinion. A subjective one. 

The reason for this is, they don’t understand the whole world and the art market. Nobody does and it is impossible for anyone to understand it. It can be a dangerous, damaging place when you are taking 1,2,3 people’s opinions and basing the future of your art on that because it is all led by opinions.

If a gallery says no to you, they are rejecting you because they don’t have your client base or your who. They may not feel a connection with your work (they need this to be able to sell), but it doesn’t mean your art won’t sell. 

Ashley Longshore

Ashley Longshore is an artist who has become really successful. I remember reading about Ashley years ago and how she got rejected repeatedly for over 10 years. She would go to gallery after gallery and was told her artwork was rubbish and would never sell. It wasn’t commercial and that she’d never have a career as an artist. She was told this time and time again. 

One day she created an Instagram account and found her own way to her people, without the need for galleries. From here success has followed and Ashley now sells her artwork for tens of thousands of dollars. Her work is exhibited and featured in shows and has been bought by massive big retailers in the USA. 

It’s a phenomenal story and one that I am sure many artists can resonate with. We can often be disillusioned when people say no and give their own subjective opinion. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. 

Remember… 

It’s such a fascinating topic that I love to talk about as people can often build these walls up around selling for the fear of rejection and you can end up doing yourself a massive disservice. 

Never take no for an answer. Your art will sell, you just need to find your people and the rest will follow. 

Take care,

Michelle x.

P.S. If you want to learn more, listen to E72 of the Your Art Matters Podcast: https://www.unitedartspace.org/the-podcast/