Now that we are on the other side of the big gobble gobble, I can shift my focus to Miami Art Week! Mid-November through the end of the year is really a marathon and a sprint. I love Miami in December but prepping for the biggest week of the year the week after Thanksgiving is a tall order. To come out successfully with your sanity in tact, you have to go in with a game plan and then you have to stick to the plan. (Stick to the plan!…Leroy Jenkins, anyone?) Forming a game plan for an art advisor means combing through the hundreds (yes, literally hundreds) of email previews I am receiving from all of the exhibitors, identifying what I want to make sure I see and mapping out my strategy. Yes, that literally means taking a fair map and highlighting the booths I want to make sure I hit while also leaving time and space to discover something new. I am also juggling meeting up with friends and colleagues, balancing the party/event invites I want to accept, giving tours on behalf of NADA Collects, and wheeling and dealing acquisitions for clients. What? Like it’s hard?

Since many of you reading this here missive are new to art collecting, I had planned to put together a glossary of sorts that would help you speak the art fair lingo, but as I started brainstorming, I realized that the main thing you need to learn is what a preview is, how to get it, and how to use it. So allow me to drop some knowledge on the art industry’s most infamous blessing and curse, the necessary evil we all love to hate–the humble preview <<in an Oprah voice for effect>>!

Sidebar:

If you are already familiar with the ins and outs of previews jump over to The Collection to see what goodies I have added this week. If swaying palm trees and the gentle sea breeze is calling your name but you can’t sneak away, grab an hour or two on my fair schedule for a FaceTime video call so I can show you around the fair of your choice.

Now, The Preview.

What is a preview?

The Preview is generally a dossier about an exhibition that typically includes an essay about an artist or exhibition, the artist’s CV/resume, and the list of available works in that exhibition.

Who sends a preview?

Broadly speaking, the gallery sends a preview of an upcoming exhibition. If you work with a specific person at a gallery, you will usually receive the preview personally from that person. If you are just on the general mailing list, then you will receive it in their general email marketing, anywhere from a day to a week after the personal emails go out.

When do previews go out?

Some galleries send previews of previews well in advance of an exhibition to start giving folks a taste of what is coming. Typically, a preview will come anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of days before an exhibition. Timing can depend on a lot of factors, such as:

1. How V your I is in VIP
2. If the work has been professionally photographed or when that is happening
3. If the gallery likes to include installation shots in their previews

A gallerist will usually send their best clients the preview first and then send out a second wave of emails before it goes out to the general public. Also, you usually will not find this information on a gallery’s website. You have to ask or be in their orbit to receive it. That said, you should never be bashful about asking. If you come across a gallery that is interesting to you, ask to get on their preview list. Eventually you’ll work your way onto the A-list if you develop the relationship. 

If not on the website, where do previews live?

A Preview is either a PDF document or a live link. If it is a live link, galleries will usually keep availability up to date so you can see if something has been sold or not. If it is a PDF, all of the work in the preview may not be available by the time you see it. If you find a work in a PDF preview that you like, you should prepare yourself for potential disappointment as it may already be sold.

Why are previews a necessary evil?

Previews are the expected way that clients and advisors receive information about exhibitions. However, when you are on hundreds of preview lists, they all come around the same time and it is overwhelming. We need them but they can be a slog to get through. Compound the frustration when a gallery insists on withholding pricing information unless you ask for it, and it can be a real pain in the you-know-what. The more progressive galleries who get it will include prices but usually you have to ask for them. If you are requesting a preview, ask for prices. If you are on a gallery’s email list, they will send you a preview and it probably will not include prices. You are allowed to ask for pricing information as a follow up to receiving the preview.

How to put a preview to its highest and best use?

First of all, you should know that the art in the preview is available to buy. You don’t have to wait until the exhibition opens to inquire about or reserve a work. Secondly, use the preview as a way to engage in a dialogue with a gallery that interests you. Demonstrating interest in their program will help bump you up the food chain. If you are still working on developing your taste, use the preview as an opportunity for education and discovery. Even if you think you don’t like the look of an artist, flip through the preview to get to know more about the work. You may surprise yourself but you will also start to discern perhaps what it is about that work that turns you off. Save them in a file on your computer to reference later. As you start collecting, you will probably want to refer back to an artist’s earlier exhibitions or pricing history.

Here’s another word of wisdom: sifting through previews is a full time job, my full-time job to be precise. If you have ever wondered how a collector can see something and make a snap decision, it is because they have invested their time and treasure into their collection. They have either hired an advisor who they trust to know the market and guide them to the right work or devoted their own time to knowing the market so that when that perfect work comes along, they are ready to pounce. In either instance, they have spent time homing their eye and their taste usually by looking at previews!

If you’re curious about where to start, I would recommend upgrading your subscription to a paid subscription so you can access The Collection and my Galleries & Museums map. These tools are the perfect place to begin discovering new galleries and artists that you would like to follow. Just remember, it is a journey. Where you start is not where you are going to finish. If you are open to surprise and discovery, the journey will be one of the most fulfilling of your life!

I hope everyone had a joy and gratitude-filled Thanksgiving and looking forward to the festive season ahead!