Hyping up an artwork before trading, is it necessary?

George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright and political activist, once said that, “Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.” Obviously, art is not meant to alter reality, but having it in one’s life could definitely be a plus. Therefore, demand for artworks that are created primarily for aesthetics and beauty, or fine art, skyrockets among those who can afford them.

Fine art is a form of art that is, according to European academic tradition, separate from decorative or applied art. Larry Shiner (2003) in his book “The Invention of Art: A Cultural History” specified that there was indeed a traditional “system” of the arts in the Western part of the world (Europe) before the 18th century, in which artists are considered skilled workers. The more appreciated their works are, the bigger their role in a society.

However, an artwork does not simply manifest and be considered a form of fine art right after the artist created it. For it to be valuable enough to be traded, effort and time are needed. However, in Indonesia, many aspects affect the growth and development of the fine art industry.

In the 1990s, the go-go capitalism phase, in which the country began to open up, opened more opportunities for people to collect more wealth. At that time, wealth became more evenly spread among the people and lo, a wave of nouveau riche, many of whom are of Chinese descent, emerged. Demand for Indonesian artworks, especially those originated from Yogyakarta, peaked as owning any of those became a token of one’s sense of nationalism.

In 1997, the local art market started to deteriorate due to political turmoil and economic crisis. However, treading into the early 2000s, the boom began collapsing. According to Andonowati, the founder and the director of Lawangwangi, the collapse started in 2006 and lasted until 2009. The collapse was caused by a far-from-sustainable system that was implemented by industry players after the boom began to take place.

“During the boom, a lot of artworks, especially from Yogyakarta, fixed their price via auction halls before they got to be exhibited in galleries,” she explained. To put it bluntly, the price was fixed to create an impression that the works are valuable. The second the works hit the galleries, they would be sold out instantly. This trend was probably the result of the lower standard starting prices offered by galleries.

Indonesia’s economic slowdown was reflected in the rise of the middle-income population in the late 2000s. During this time, Indonesian art trading stagnated. By 2010, the art trading industry collapsed as the dominant price fixing system was not sustainable. That is because buyers no longer kept the artworks as a collection, but as a short-term investment. Since the investment did not generate any return, many of these investors decided to drop art trading and left the market. This greatly affected art galleries in Indonesia.

After 2010, there were barely any art investors left and Indonesian collectors began to redefine themselves. Lawangwangi Art Gallery, for example, is seeing more and more collectors from the younger demography. However, similar to the Indonesian art collecting pioneers in the beginning/prior to the “art boom”, these younger collectors exhibited more awareness of and knowledge about art.

The Indonesian art market today has become more versatile as price fixing is no longer dominated by the secondary market. This situation is considerably more preferable as according to Monica Gunawan, Managing Director of Art:1 New Museum, the ideal price fixing process of an artwork should begin in a gallery.

“To have a real market price, an artwork must debut in a gallery exhibition before it is auctioned,” she concluded.

Originally, auction halls were never the primary benchmark for fixing the market price for art pieces. However, many fresh artists opted to go to auction halls before going for gallery exhibitions because by doing so, they might be able to set a high price for their work. “To go to the auction hall, the time scope of the art piece should be at least two years after its debut in the market,” Monica added.

“Artists have the very right to determine the value of their own works and art galleries would help them sell the pieces and bring them to the right crowd,” said the museum director.

Monica explained that basically, every artist, both old and new, can put their own price tag on their own works as they see fit. In Art:1 New Museum, for example, the gallery will assist the artists by having curators appraising their works. Aside from that, the gallery will study the artists’ track record that includes, but not limited to, their participation in art fairs, biennale, or other reputable exhibitions.

They will later discuss the fitting price for the exact piece based on the appraisal. The gallery will offer a contract to sell the art piece only if they reach an agreement regarding the price. The price also comes from the museum’s contant study on the market by reaching as many artists as possible. For example, when an artist with a 10-year track record comes to them, they will fetch the data that fits the artist’s criteria as a guide.

Then how did galleries manage to find new talents to support?

Andonowati told TFR that Lawangwangi Art Gallery has a slightly different method to scout new talents. “We started Bandung Contemporary Art Awards in which the jurors are selected stakeholders in the art industry,” she revealed. The stakeholders include, but not limited to, reputable art curators, art writers and art collectors.

As stakeholders involved in the process are all reputable individuals in the art industry, winning the awards means that the artists win their recognition as well. Therefore, when Lawangwangi offers an exclusive contract to the winners, their newly obtained reputation helps the gallery promote their works as well as for the artists to enter the market.

However, winning the awards is not enough for an artist to be scouted. First and foremost, the artist has to exhibit a good attitude. They also have to go through several trial exhibitions to see the compatibility between the artist and the gallery in working together. During this process, the gallery and the artist are basically trying to get to know each other in order to project future cooperation.

For Andonowati, “promoting an artist is like building a start-up brand,” and therefore the collectors are like “shareholders of the said brand.” Just like an actual start-up, an artist will eventually go public, and by doing so, their work will eventually end up in an auction hall.

Therefore, the gallery is responsible to carefully select genuine collectors who are not purchasing art pieces for short-term investments. It has to strategise on marketing their artworks by making sure that they do not flood the market and avoid collectors who are trading for instant monetisation. To support the marketing strategy, it will also be a plus if the artist builds their own personal brand.