CHARLES SAATCHI
YOUR GALLERY
by Charles Saatchi
For years, artists have brainstormed on ways to get their work seen by renowned collector Charles Saatchi, whose gallery owns one of the leading collections of contemporary art in the world today. In mid-2006, Saatchi took them far beyond that wish and broadened their horizons considerably when The Saatchi Gallery website added innovative elements that changed the way art markets worldwide view new works, spot emerging trends and artists, and do business.
The Saatchi Gallery launched Your Gallery, an online initiative that provides a free global platform for all artists to promote their art. It quickly became one of the biggest market places for the art community to “meet,” chat, and show—so successful that within a few months The Saatchi Gallery introduced STUART (STUdent ART), a Your Gallery location where students from around the world can “exhibit” their work at no cost.
The response has been incredible. At the outset, Your Gallery and STUART were pulling an average of 3 million hits a day to The Saatchi Gallery site. In the first month of 2007, daily hits leapt to average more than 5 million, as artists, art students, collectors, dealers, and those who follow news in the contemporary art world visited the sight to access visuals and information directly, view the site’s online daily magazine, blog, and chat live.
In early 2007, Your Gallery added to this highly popular mix a special section designed for museums—“Museums Around the World”—which enables museums to show their collection highlights and exhibition details on The Saatchi Gallery site. The world’s most prestigious art museums, among them MoMA and the Whitney, Tate, LACMA, and the Louvre, signed on. Next, The Saatchi Gallery launched “Art Colleges Around the World,” which allows visual arts, performing arts, fashion and design institutions to display in detail all their degree show work and prospectuses. Student art began selling from the site. (The Saatchi Gallery does not charge any commission on works sold, nor does it collect fees from collectors or dealers.)
The ultimate virtual salon and meeting place for the art world, The Saatchi Gallery’s Your Gallery and STUART continue to redefine how today’s leading and aspiring art enthusiasts show & tell, buy & sell. I look forward to talking to you about The Saatchi Gallery, Your Gallery and STUART.