Which one of the scenarios below sound familiar?
A. You sold your art to an excited buyer, only to remember after the fact that it’s currently tied up in a gallery show.
B. You resorted to calling multiple galleries to ask if they had that piece you can’t seem to find.
C. You can’t remember who has collected your pieces over the years and their contact information is lost forever.
D. All of the above and more.
At one point or another, almost every artist has struggled with not knowing where their work is located, when they need to get it back, and making sure they don't miss deadlines or double sell a piece.
But, if you are going to be a successful artist, this one fact is irrefutable: you need to keep track of who has your art.
Otherwise, as you can tell by the choices above, you’ll appear unprofessional, lose art sales, and make it ten times harder on yourself to become a full-time artist.
Staying organized means staying profitable. All you need to do is have a system in place for keeping track of your art. But, not just any system—one that is easy to use and stick with, one that is made just for artists.
So how can you finally keep track of where your art is? By using an art inventory software system like Artwork Archive. Here’s how it works:
Take the Inventory Plunge (It's not as scary as it seems)
First, take inventory of your pieces by photographing your works and gathering their critical information.
Next, upload those images and record all the info collectors need to know—height and width, medium, notes, and more. The next time a collector asks to see a list of your works that are a certain size, color, or theme—bam!—easily pull up a list of your works that you can filter by any criteria that they are looking for in an artwork.
Track Your Artwork as It Moves From Gallery, Show, or Personal Collection
Next, add all of the places you display your artwork, including galleries, exhibition spaces, juried shows, consignment shops, and more.
By adding the contact and client information you can make sure to follow up on the assigned dates to that show or reach out in the future about new work that you have available.
The Magic Happens When You Seamlessly Move Your Inventory
Whenever your artwork is sent to a new location, you can track this on Artwork Archive.
With the click of a button, you can move your art in and out of inventory, to different locations or shows, and even to a contact when something is sold.
Keeping Track of Your Artwork Has Major Benefits
There are a lot of perks of keeping track of your art inventory!
When you mark a piece as sold from a gallery or show, you can use the Insights feature to narrow down your art business strategy by seeing which locations are performing the best.
Ready to get started?
By staying on top of where your artwork is, you’re not just getting organized—you are setting yourself up for success. With an art inventory software like Artwork Archive, you’ll always know what’s available to show and sell and which collectors you should be talking to sell more art.
