The role of public galleries,
commercial galleries and
other art spaces.
Public Art Galleries
Public art galleries:
Galleries, cultural institutions funded, owned and established by the government.
The aim of a public gallery is to educate and/or inform the general public along
with schools and universities, and to collect and promote art.
Public galleries are not operated to generate a profit and are therefore devoted to
collecting, conserving and presenting to the public an array of Australian and
international artworks.
These may include various art forms such as sculpture, painting, ceramics and new
media. In order to be exhibited in a public art gallery an artist needs to be very well
established with an excellent reputation in the art world and the public domain.
For example:
National Gallery of Victoria, International
Ian Potter Centre, Fed Sq
Heide Gallery of Modern Art
Australian Centre of Contemporary Art (ACCA)
Gertrude Contemporary Art Space
Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP)
Australian Centre of Contemporary Art (ACCA)
www.accaonline.org.au
Ian Potter Centre, Fed Square
National Gallery of Victoria, International
www.ngv.vic.gov.au
Heide Gallery of Modern Art
www.heide.com.au
Gertrude Contemporary Art Space
www.gertrude.org.au
Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP)
www.ccp.org.au
Funding
Public art galleries are funded, owned and established by the government. They do
not rely on the sale of artworks as they receive funding from state, federal and/or local
government bodies as well as corporate and private sponsors. Public art galleries may
also receive bequests and donations from individuals, couples, groups, businesses,
philanthropists and other collectors. To receive tax deductions, artists may select works
to donate to public gallery collections.
Marketing and promotion
Public art galleries use funding from large company sponsorship to promote exhibitions along
with money from an allocated budget. The galleries also rely on monies raised through
‘friends’ of the gallery, whose purpose is to support the gallery through fundraising, social
events and activities.
Marketing and promotional avenues include:
•Print media – newspapers (eg the Age), specialist magazines and journals (eg Art Australia,
Art Almanac) and billboards.
•Electronic media – gallery websites, television and radio
•Direct marketing
A database is also used when establishing mailing lists to forward
pamphlets and invitations to openings.
Education
Public galleries run education programs for schools, universities and the public. They offer
professional development programs for primary school, secondary school and university
educators along with offering guided tours of exhibitions to the public. Most public galleries
employ a full-time or part-time educational officer.
Conservation and preservation of artworks
The preservation and conservation of artworks is a high priority for public art galleries as
they house valuable artworks that are either on loan from another gallery or form part of a
gallery’s permanent collection. A permanent collection contributes to the cultural wealth of
the state and country and the collection may develop an international reputation.
The Rokeby Venus is one of the finest nudes ever created. This
painting held at the National Gallery in London, is a life-sized painting
of a nude woman of the Baroque period.
Mary Richardson, who said she didn't like the way men looked at the
Venus, took an axe to the painting, as described in The Times of
Wednesday, March 11, 1914:
"The famous Rokeby Velasquez, commonly known as the "Venus with
the Mirror," which was presented to the National Gallery in 1906, was
mutilated yesterday morning by the prominent militant woman
suffragist Mary Richardson. She attacked the picture with a small
chopper with a long narrow blade, similar to the instruments used by
butchers, and in a few seconds inflicted upon it severe if not
irreparable damage. In consequence of the outrage the National
Gallery will remain closed to the public until further notice."
The painting was carefully restored, but the slash marks are still
faintly visible.
The Night Watch was first hung in the regimental HQ of the
militia company it depicts. In 1715 it was moved to the
Amsterdam town hall, where it did not fit on the designated
wall, so it was cut down on all four sides.
Luckily, the Rijksmuseum holds a smaller reproduction of the
original work, so at least we know what it used to look like.
Rembrandt
The Night Watch, 1642
Oil on canvas
363 x 437 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
On the eve of the German invasion in WW2 the great painting
was removed from its frame and rolled into a cylinder. It was
then buried in sand dunes but later hidden, with the bulk of
the Rijksmuseum’s treasures, in a mine.
It survived the rigours of war with no damage, only to be
attacked in 1975 by an unemployed school teacher, who fought
off a museum guard and told bystanders that he "did it for the
Lord." The painting suffered a large zig zag of slashes. It was
successfully restored but some evidence of the damage is still
observable close-up.
In 1990, a man sprayed acid onto the painting with a concealed
pump bottle. Security guards intervened and water was quickly
sprayed onto the canvas. Luckily, the acid had only penetrated
the varnish layer of the painting and the painting was fully
restored.
The Mona Lisa was stolen on August 22, 1911 and wasn’t recovered until 2 years
later by an employee Vincenzo Peruggia of the Musee du Lourve who had entered
the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet and walking out with it
hidden under his coat after the museum had closed. Peruggia was an Italian patriot
who believed Leonard’s painting should be returned to Italy for display in an Italian
museum. He may have also been motivated by a friend who sold copies of the
painting, which would skyrocket in value after the theft of the original.
After having kept the painting in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew
impatient and was finally caught when he attempted to sell it to the directors of the
Uffizi Gallery in Florence; it was exhibited all over Italy and returned to the Louvre in
1913. Peruggia was hailed for his patriotism in Italy and only served six months in jail
for the crime.
Leonardo da Vinci
Mona Lisa, 1503-1519
Oil on poplar
77x 53cm
Musee du Louvre, Paris
During World War II, the painting was removed from the Louvre and taken safely, to
a number of galleries, then finally to the Ingres Museum in Montauban, southern
France. In 1956, the lower part of the painting was severely damaged when a vandal
doused the painting with acid. On December 30 of that same year, a young Bolivian
named Ugo Ungaza Villegas damaged the painting by throwing a rock at it. This
resulted in the loss of a speck of pigment near the left elbow, which was later
painted over.
The use of bulletproof glass has shielded the Mona Lisa from more recent attacks. In April 1974, a handicapped
woman, upset by the museum's policy for the disabled, sprayed red paint at the painting while it was on display
at the Tokyo National Museum.
On August 2, 2009, a Russian woman, distraught over being denied French citizenship, threw a terracotta mug or
teacup, purchased at the museum, at the painting in the Louvre; the vessel shattered against the glass
enclosure. In both cases, the painting was undamaged.
Public art galleries
The aim of public art galleries is to educate the public and promote art.
Non-profit based. Public art galleries are funded, owned and established by the
government.
They do not rely on the sale of artworks to finance the gallery as they receive funding
from state, federal and/or local governments and corporate and private sponsors.
They are devoted to collecting, conserving and presenting to the public an array of
Australian and international works of art.
Commercial Art Galleries
Commercial art galleries
Aim
The aim of a commercial art gallery is to make money through selling and/or lending
contemporary and historical artworks to art collectors and/or the public.
Commercial art galleries operate as businesses to make a profit for the owners of the
business.
For example:
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Sutton Gallery
Darren Knight Gallery
Sutton Gallery
www.suttongallery.com.au
Catherine Bell
Gordon Bennett
Kate Beynon
Vivienne Binns
Stephen Bush
Eugene Carchesio
Jon Cattapan
John Citizen
Brett Colquhoun
Aleks Danko
Anne Ferran
Elizabeth Gower
Helga Groves
Sara Hughes
Ruth Hutchinson
Raafat Ishak
Helen Johnson
David Jolly
Lindy Lee
Nick Mangan
John Meade
Deborah Paauwe
Rosslynd Piggott
Peter Robinson
David Rosetzky
Nick Selenitsch
Jackson Slattery
Simon Terrill
Jane Trengove
LAURENCE ABERHART
JOANNA BRAITHWAITE
JON CAMPBELL
BEN CAUCHI
ETSUKO FUKAYA
JASON GREIG
MICHAEL HARRISON
PATRICK HARTIGAN
DON HERON
MARK HILTON
Darren Knight Gallery
www.darrenknightgallery.com
ANTHONY HOPKINS
ANDREW HURLE
DANIUS KESMINAS
HORST KIECHLE
SASKIA LEEK
EUAN MACDONALD
ROB MCHAFFIE
NOEL MCKENNA
JENNIFER MILLS
JAMES MORRISON
MICHELLE NIKOU
KENZEE PATTERSON
PUNKASILA
ROBERT ROONEY
SLAVE PIANOS
CHARLIE SOFO
MICHAEL STEVENSON
RICKY SWALLOW
THE HISTRIONICS
RONNIE VAN HOUT
ANNE WALLACE
LOUISE WEAVER
AES&F
LIDA ABDUL
PETER BOOTH
CHRISTINE BORLAND
STEPHEN BRAM
PHILIP BROPHY
LOUISA BUFARDECI
JANET BURCHILL
BURCHILL/MCCAMLEY
IAN BURNS
MUTLU ÇERKEZ
SUSAN COHN
SHANE COTTON
PETER CRIPPS
DANIEL CROOKS
ANGELA DE LA CRUZ
MIKALA DWYER
EMILY FLOYD
DALE FRANK
Anna Schwartz Gallery
www.annaschwartzgallery.com
MARCO FUSINATO
SHAUN GLADWELL
ANTONY GORMLEY
ROBERT HUNTER
LYNDAL JONES
ROBERT KLIPPEL
JOSEPH KOSUTH
SHELLEY LASICA
AKIO MAKIGAWA
GABRIELLA MANGANO & SILVANA MANGANO
CLEMENT MEADMORE
CALLUM MORTON
JAN NELSON
TOM NICHOLSON
JOHN NIXON
ROSE NOLAN
MIKE PARR
STIEG PERSSON
KERRIE POLINESS
STUART RINGHOLT
VIVIENNE SHARK LeWITT
YINKA SHONIBARE, MBE
KATHY TEMIN
PETER TYNDALL
BRENDAN VAN HEK
DANIEL VON STURMER
JENNY WATSON
JOHN YOUNG
Callum Morton
Hotel, 2008
installation, EastLink commission
Emily Floyd
Signature Work, 2004
an anthropomorphic toy rabbit
Docklands Park, Melbourne
Emily Floyd
Public Art Strategy, 2008
fabricated steel
installation, EastLink commission
Funding
Funds are generated from commissions charged by the gallery on the sales of
artworks. The commissions may range from fifteen to thirty per cent of the sale price,
depending on the particular gallery. Funds are also generated by hiring out the gallery
space and charging general exhibiting fees as commercial galleries require the artist to
contribute to costs involved in an exhibition such as advertising, printing invitations
and catering costs for the opening.
Marketing and promotion
Commercial art galleries have a database of collectors who buy work from them on a
regular basis. This database is also used to create a mailing list. As with public
galleries, commercial galleries also use print media and electronic outlets to market
and promote exhibitions.
Through regular newsletters, the gallery’s website and advertising in specialist
magazines such as Artlink and their website, the gallery is able to promote current
exhibitions and acquisitions.
Commercial galleries promote and market the artist. If an artist wishes to exhibit their
work in a commercial art gallery, the artist needs to submit to the gallery a CV
outlining previous exhibitions, qualifications and experience in making and exhibiting
art. If successful, the artist will be asked to come into the gallery for a meeting with
the directors (the owners) to discuss marketing strategies for the artist’s work. To
sustain a viable business, the commercial gallery owner relies primarily on income
from the sales of artworks. By necessity, directors must be very selective in their
choices regarding the stable of artists they represent, as their artworks need to sell for
the gallery to make money and stay in business.
Education
Commercial galleries generally do not offer any education programs. The services that
they offer include advice concerning framing and organisation of transport once a
purchase has been made. Some commercial galleries may educate their clients about
art and art collection to enhance their business. They may also opt to provide
students with access to their exhibitions for educational purposes. Educational visits
should always be pre-arranged for courtesy, security and occupational health and
safety reasons.
Conservation and preservation
Commercial galleries are generally responsible for more short-term aspects of
conservation while the artwork is being exhibited and stored in the stockroom.
Commercial art galleries
The aim of commercial art galleries is to sell and, at times, lend or lease contemporary
and historical artworks to art collectors and the public.
Profit based. Commercial art galleries operate as businesses to make a profit for the
owners of the business. Money is generated from the commissions charged on sales
of artworks and the exhibition hire fees charged by the gallery.
Commercial art galleries promote and market a number of artists and offer ongoing
support and promotion for artists whose artworks sell and make money for the
gallery.
Types of
galleries
Public art
galleries
Commercial
art galleries
Alternative
art spaces
Aims
Examples
Funding
Marketing
and
promotion
Education
Conservation
and
preservation