The Paradoxes of the Art World: What is "Cool and Amazing!" vs. what People BUY
Being in the art gallery business in a tourist town offers some interesting insights into the mysteries and strangeness of human nature.
It's a busy holiday weekend here, which means we typically have about 100 people a day come through the gallery.
"The Lonely Seagull"
Some browse fast and move on; some poke in their heads and say something like "Nah, it's an ART shop" and leave without entering, yet others linger and look at everything — a few linger and actually engage for a while.
Observation of the Day:
One of the things I have really noticed in the course of the last couple of days is a strange pattern.
Whereas we are definitely an "art gallery" with original art by some 35 regional artists, we also have quite a few "gifty" items here. For the purpose of this post, however, I'm limiting my consideration exclusively to what I would call "art."
Here it is: With remarkable regularity, the most admired, photographed and declared "WOW! That is AMAZING!" items in the gallery are the absolute slowest to sell.
Conversely, the most... "average"... tend to be what we sell the most of, and the fastest.
It's almost as if people love to be "Wow'ed," just not at home at their house.
Makes me wonder what the psychological background is...
Have a great holiday weekend!
Thank you for reading! Red Dragonfly is a proud member of the @sndbox creative initiative.
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdyRbDAjTPPM6aQpmNRKDoxCcgYGC1wHAjRNJANED1VZ9/follow_reddragonfly.gif)
The Red Dragonfly is an independent alternative art gallery located in Port Townsend, WA; showcasing edgy and unique contemporary art & handmade crafts by local and worldwide artists. All images are our own, unless otherwise credited. Where applicable, artist images used with permission.
Hmm, that is something to think about, I find often my simpler paintings do sell faster than the super detailed ones that make people go "Wow!!". But when people hire me for custom art, they almost always want the super detailed lol
I'm going to guess that by the time someone is getting around to ordering custom work, they have already made a pretty serious commitment to liking your style... more so than the casual "browser." I find something similar to hold true with my own work.