Publicly owned or non-profit museums have galleries that host exhibiting traveling, exhibitions, or temporary shows. Smaller privately held art galleries are places where artwork is exhibited and dependent upon whether it’s a public or contemporary galley, art may or may not be purchased. In a privately held art gallery, the gallery owner ordinarily holds shows and hosts openings. These openings are akin to an event, where invited guests circulate, eat and drink, meet the artist, and view the collection; then buy the artwork.
Nonprofit or publicly owned museums display art for the public to view. These museums have halls or rooms devoted to a particular style of art or a particular artist and commonly these dedicated rooms are called galleries. Although the original art isn’t for sale, museum stores and online galleries sell duplications, lithographs, and posters of each gallery’s artwork. These kinds of galleries are overseen by curators and have a board of directors that arrange for exhibitions, traveling exhibitions, and funding. Their goal is to raise funds to buy works of art for their collections and attract patrons who usually donate or raise money by hosting events that showcase the museum’s work.
These are the most famous museums that have art galleries and exhibitions in the world in the ranking of the top ten. The Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Tate Modern and National Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Modern Museum of Art in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, National Museum of Korea, and the Mus’ee d’ Orsay in Paris.
Contemporary galleries may host exclusive exhibitions where just one artist is featured. Contemporary galleries may or may not be open to the public. The gallery proprietors make a profit by taking a percentage of the transaction the piece sells for. Ordinarily, a gallery will concentrate on one or two styles or periods of art such as Postmodern, Modernism, Abstract, Impressionism, Pop Art, Cubism, and Surrealism, among others.
At times artists open their own galleries and show and sell their own artwork. Like how a retail store is operated, these galleries appear and feel just like contemporary galleries, but the business is commonly run as an Inc. or sole proprietor.
Some towns or cities are known for being artist and gallery hubs. Like SoHo in New York, West Los Angeles, these neighborhoods are hugely popular with galleries mixed in with independent shop owners, and bistros, and have a lively and appealing flavor. San Francisco and Los Angeles also host numerous art galleries as do cities like Sedona and Seattle.
The easiest way to find art galleries is to go online. Search the town that you’re in or visiting and type in “art galleries”. Narrow the search by adding keywords of the period or style of art you like. Open the websites and read the site information; see images of the artist’s work on exhibit and plan from there. Another option is online museums and art galleries. You can find lots of galleries that sell their work online.
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