Roundtable: the ins and outs of selling art: experienced gallery owners discuss what they've learned over the years about the art business

Art Business News, Jan, 2005 by Joe Jancsurak

Smith: The most rewarding aspect of the art business for me is that it has given me the opportunity to meet and talk with people from all over the world and from all walks of life. Some of our customers are second and third generations of families that have visited with us through the years. I feel that my life has been enriched with this experience. The least rewarding aspect is paying bills.

Woolsey: The most rewarding aspect is the relationships with customers and the least rewarding is the need to constantly press because the art isn't going to just sell itself.

Cuningham: Most rewarding aspects include being able to create a market for an artist and his work. It is so stimulating and rewarding because you know the work so well and you want to make it understood and appreciated. And when it works, it's the best. The least rewarding aspect is when you put out a lot of energy as well as money, and the artist calls you at 6 p.m., and still wants more.

Meet the Participants

Betty Cuningham is owner and director of the Betty Cuningham Gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York. She is living proof that for many, owning and operating a gallery is something that becomes a part of you that is difficult to leave behind. Cuningham once had a gallery in SoHo from 1972-1982. She went on to be a director at Hirshl & Adler and Robert Miller. Last September, she once again became an owner/director of the Betty Cuningham Gallery in Chelsea on 25th Street. Cuningham has a BA from Finch College in New York and a MFA from Hunter College in New York.

Jonathan Kodner, an internationally recognized consultant and dealer in the field of fine and rare art, is president and director of Kodner Gallery, St. Louis, which has one of the largest and most eclectic inventories in the Midwest. Known for his expertise on French and American Impressionists; masters of the Old West; regionalists; 17th- to 20th-century American and European landscape, still life and genre; and modern and contemporary masters. Kodner began his career in 1986 as the assistant curator of art collections and exhibition technician at the Missouri Historical Society after graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute. After several years with the Historical Society, he was led to the gallery that was originally opened by his father, Martin, in 1971. He became a member of the United States Appraisers Association; The New England Appraisers Association; and the Appraisers Association of America, while he worked alongside his father. Today, he and his brother David continue the family tradition, offering their expertise in the appraising, buying and selling of paintings, sculpture and fine art.

Richard Roberts has owned the R. Roberts Gallery for 10 years, after purchasing an existing gallery in 1994. Representing local, regional, national and international artists, the gallery is considered to be one of the region's most prominent purveyor's of fine art. Located in the historic Avondale area of Jacksonville, FL, the gallery offers an extensive selection, custom framing, restoration, personal on-site art and framing consultation and portraiture services. In a New York Times article, the gallery was referred to as the "center of the Avondale art universe." Prior to entering the gallery business, Roberts had a 26-year career in the petroleum industry, holding a variety of positions with Exxon, Grand Bahamas Petroleum, New England Petroleum and Charter Oil Company. In 1993, he co-founded Ortega Automotive, and sold his interest in that business in the late 90's. A native of Key West, FL, and an engineering graduate of the University of Florida, Roberts has lived in Jacksonville for the last 20 years, where he supports many community organizations and has served on the boards of several nonprofits.