UG2BK - Are there trends and differences in international markets?

 

UG2BK
16" x 12" Deep Wrap Canvas
Ready to Hang




I recently read this article on Artfinder. Food for thought!

"Are you ready for this? Brits prefer animals to people!

That's right - in 2015 overall, a Brit was 26% more likely to buy from the Animals and Birds category than an American, and this trend increased towards Christmas when the Brits were a huge 46% more likely to buy animals than Americans.

By contrast, Americans were 33% more likely to buy from People and Portraits, increasing to 60% towards the Holidays. Clearly this is not only a personal preference, but also a preference we think (rightly or wrongly!) that our loved ones have too.

However, the most popular category for both, and also globally, was Landscapes, Sea and Sky, which attracted 26% of all buyers in the US, and 25% of all buyers in the UK. But abstracts were also popular, attracting 18% of the UK audience, and 19% of the US audience.

We know that it’s dangerous to generalise, but for the first time we have plenty of reliable data to support this line of research, and as Artfinder purchase choices are not influenced by international curators and gallerists but rather by personal taste among our members, they are more likely to reflect cultural differences."

SUMMER BREEZE
24" x 36" Deep Wrap Canvas
Ready to Hang



Now I can certainly confer that Landscapes, Sea and Sky are the most popular of my paintings. My schedule this year has been particularly focused on this genre for my Skyway/Airport venue and repeated requests from Ritchcraft Gallery, which is in a top tourist area. I even met someone yesterday who was interested in commissioning a large landscape/lake painting.

My pet portraits have always been bread and butter for me and even if my animal and bird paintings don't sell immediately they get heaps of views on my websites from the moment I post them. So Animals and Birds are certainly at the top of my painting schedule, even if I don't have a commissioned pet portrait on the easel.

People and Portraits - Well, I don't do many figurative works, but they do sell fairly well when I do. Nudes are not popular, but generic figures do quite well, particularly figures with scenes.

The shocker for me is that abstracts sell equally well in the USA and UK and it's a high percentage of total sales. I have never done well locally with abstracts and my long term website, Daily Paintworks has never sold one even though they have been given awards. We have many excellent and popular abstract artists in my locale, so there is hefty competition. Ritchcraft Gallery doesn't have a good market for abstracts. And I can account for lack of abstract sales on Daily Paintworks because the platform is focused on small paintings, but I really think abstracts need a large canvas. However, I have always held the belief that abstracts are not popular in the USA. I was obviously wrong. I do intend adding more abstract and conceptual work as well as sculpture to my Artfinder shop, but I've been swamped this year and unable to find time to image and post them. Stay tuned!