What To Do With Your Older Works of Art

An artist who requested I write an Art Review for her told me about a problem she had. She explained, now that she has all this new artwork what can she do about her older work?

Perhaps you are also facing this challenge. If you have a lot of art that spans several years the older work may not longer fit in with your current style.  You’ve run out of room in your studio, closets, garage and attic. However, they are good works of art and throwing them away is not an option. So, what can you do?  This article offers some solutions about what to do with your older works of art.

Evaluate the Quality and Condition.

You know that a lot of your artwork from your previous series is beautiful and must be valuable to many people. Set aside those works of art that are in excellent condition. Make minor repairs and touch ups to those in satisfactory condition.  Then take photographs of all works of art that are saleable. Those you can offer by using one of the solutions offered below.

If there are those you have evaluated as less than satisfactory, use the Recycle and Upcycle option offered later in this article.

Announce Special Offers.

Get out your list of buyers who purchased art from your older series. Send them emails, call them, write to them, and offer them the opportunity to purchase these works to add to their existing collection.

Ask current buyers of your new work if they would like to own art work from your earlier periods at special prices.

Caution: Resist the urge to offer big discounts! When you’re selling these older works of art emphasize the positive attributes about them, such as any awards you won for them or if they were included in important exhibitions. Just because they are older works does not make them any less valuable.

Consider placing pictures of the older works of art in an “Archive” section of your website to demonstrate how your art has evolved and the directions you have taken.

Seek Outlets.

Turn up the volume of your creative imagination and consider there are many different sales outlets you may not have considered in addition to galleries, art consultants and arts organizations.

These many options may include furniture stores, interior designers, corporations, restaurants, and other types of businesses where you can place them on consignment or bundle several pieces together for one large sale.

Barter.

View your art as a valuable commodity to be bartered for goods and services with accountants, medical providers, website designers, administrative assistant, social media consultants, cleaning services, etc.

Trade.

Expand your personal art collection. This may be the opportune time to exchange your work of art you with one created by an artist friend who is in the same situation.

Recycle and Upcycle.

If you’re a collage or mixed media artist one simple solution is to cut it up and recreate something new.

Repurpose the art.  I’ve seen artists turn their art into extraordinary small area rugs, headboards, lampshades, storage box covers, placemats, book covers, and other amazing decorative items.

Consider if some of your works of art might sell better if you cut them into smaller sizes.

Mount the smaller pieces on heavy card stock to give as cards.

For those that are undesirable, give them a coat of white paint and start new pieces.

Gift and Donate.

There are many healthcare facilities, medical centers, hospitals, senior home, community centers that have drab walls that could use a dose of positive inspiration.

Consider donating them for a charity fund-raiser.

Your art could be a perfect gift to relatives and friends. You’ll save money on purchasing store bought gifts and bring pleasure to them.

Donate them to a thrift store to help them raise funds so they can continue to carry out their missions.

Prevent The Problem from Reoccurring.

You may not be able to avoid this from ever occurring in the future. However, you can take steps to minimize the problem of having too many old works of art pile up around you.

A short term solution to save space is to remove large paintings from their stretcher bars and roll up the canvases for easier storage. However, that may only postpone the inevitable consequence of having too many pieces.

The long range solution is to put a plan into place. Every 3 or 4 months evaluate your inventory and follow one or more of the options offered above.

Create an Art Business & Marketing Plan and follow it consistently. Your goals should be to sell your art as fast as you create it, so you won’t have to face this problem in the future.