How Fine Art Galleries Monetise Short Run Exhibition Catalogs
When the exhibition ends, the physical catalog remains the asset.
2 minute read · Grosvenor & Guild Print, London
Galleries that treat the catalogue as a product rather than a cost recover their outlay and build a permanent archive. Two London galleries show how it is done.
The catalogue as a revenue line
An exhibition lasts six weeks. A well made catalogue lasts as long as the collector who bought it. Galleries across the UK have realised that a premium catalogue at 40 to 80 pounds sells to visitors, to collectors who missed the show and to the artist's future audience. It also supports the price of the work by documenting it properly.
Case one: the Cork Street painting show
A gallery presenting a solo show of large oil paintings commissioned a 96 page catalogue with 42 full page plates. Colour fidelity was the only brief that mattered. We produced hard proofs of every plate on the chosen 170gsm uncoated stock, adjusted ink densities to hold the deep reds and cool greys, and ran press checks with the gallery director present. The edition of 400 sold through during the run and a second printing followed.
Case two: the photography gallery in Shoreditch
A photography space produced a series of 60 page catalogues for four consecutive exhibitions, each sewn, each on the same paper, each with a sprayed edge in the show's accent colour. The consistency turned the catalogues into a collectible set. Visitors who bought one came back for the next.
- High definition digital presses matched the photographer's proof prints
- Pantone references for the sprayed edges were specified from the exhibition graphics
- Runs of 200 to 300 kept capital low and allowed rapid turnaround
What makes a catalogue sell
The successful catalogues share a handful of characteristics.
- Colour that the artist signs off at a press check
- Sewn binding so spreads lie flat
- Heavy uncoated or matte coated stock with no glare
- A limited signed tier at two to three times the standard price
Bring your proofs and compare
Request the Grosvenor and Guild sample pack, which includes printed colour swatches on our fine art stocks. Hold them against your artist's work and see how close print can come.
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