by Robert Maniscalco 11/06

Should artists warehouse their unsold artwork or gift if out to friends and family? That's a very interesting question, important for all artsits to ask. The first thing that comes to mind is back in the 70's my father led a protest in Detroit in which artworks were burned and/or ripped to shreds because of the inheritance tax and the fair market laws in Congress. Still today, many artists cause a financial burden to their heirs if they stick them with lots of unsold artworks. The IRS taxes unsold artwork left in the artists estate based on their fair market value. Of course, if an artist donates a work to charity or to a museum they still can only deduct the cost of materials. There's been a bill floating around congress to remedy this last bit. See Fairness for more info on this bill.

What is really going on behind the desire or necessity to warehouse works of art? There are several root issues here. I think artists fail to find markets for their work because they're too lazy or too intimated about approaching galleries in several cities in addition to their own. Approaching a gallery has to be done in person where personal relationships can be built over time. Determine if there is a need for your work by visiting the gallery before there is any solicitation on your part. It’s called market research. I can talk more about approaching galleries (I give workshops on the subject and have developed some tricks over the years).

Warehousing artworks, out of public view, keeping them off the market is a smart thing to do if the work is not up to the high standards you've worked hard to establish. Another good reason for warehousing is if you are in the process of building a body of work for a show. Most amateur or student artists who paint whatever they feel like, an abstract today, an impressionist painting tomorrow, collect a lot of works that do not have any relationship to one another. There may be one or two among them that are the beginnings of a body of work worthy of exhibition but they never follow through with the series. This hit or miss approach results in a lot of work hanging around the house. Right now I'm doing a series of Lowcountry (landscape of the flatlands of southern SC) incorporating the figure. It’s a very specific theme and it takes a lot of focus from me to come up with fresh ideas and spinning the idea day in and day out. But since I've found a market for such work I'm motivated to continue to explore the possibilities and produce more work.

But should we keep these, often worthwhile, experimental works at home or lend them to friends and family? I know an artist who “lends” art to people for whom he cares and who are smitten by a particular work of his, with the agreement that they can never resell the work. He asks that they return it once they are finished exhibiting it in their home, that it not be transferred to heirs once they've died. This same artist also makes a point not to sell certain major works to individuals, holding out for public collections, even if it means getting less money.

I keep straying from the question at hand because it keeps evoking deeper questions. Okay, here's my best answer to the question. Giving or lending art to loved ones or fans of your work can be an excellent piece of marketing if you know they will have a certain amount of foot traffic in their homes, i.e. parties, etc., resulting in good PR word-of-mouth for you. My best friend is a major collector of my work and he's gotten very good deals on the purchase of my work because he does it often, buying 2-3 paintings at a time. He also is very creative about bartering for things I need. I once sold him a painting for a king size bed he had in storage. Bartering is much easier with family and friends. There’s a reason I avoid talking about giving artwork away with no mutual gain: it is against my religion. My goal is to stamp out the notion of the starving artist. I detest the very concept of it. Let’s face it, even the extreme case of giving a work of art out of love implies getting something in return: more love.

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