Cornelie Wolff: Impressionism Redefined

The contemporary South African artist, Cornelie Wolff, has been working as a full-time artist for eight years. In that time, Ms. Wolff has demonstrated her ability to create work of high interest and quality.

As an impressionist, her style is influenced by low light photography, painting only what is essential. Leaving the rest for the viewer’s eye to complete – compelling the viewer to add emotion to her work.

Cornelie works mostly with oils on canvas. Her second love is charcoal. When working in oil, the artist aims to leave texture and visible brush strokes on the surface. Her love of colour is what makes her works stand out. Unlike other contemporaries, the use of muted tones with splashes of crimson, bright blues or pinks give Ms. Wolff’s work a sense of calm.

Most of her subjects are people captured in natural poses doing everyday things. With a background in art therapy, her studies of people – especially children at play – appeal to the casual viewer. Certain portrait studies of adults convey the subject’s thoughts and emotions in powerful understatement. Viewers are forced to wonder what are the stores behind the pigment and the canvas.

This artist’s work is influenced by great names such as Rika de Klerk, Willie Jacobs, Koos Bronkhorst, Niel Moss, Rentia Coetzee, Ruth Walters, Elize Bezuidenhout, Charla Maarschalk and Jennifer McChristian

When asked about what inspires Ms. Wolff to create her work, she said: “People mostly. I can be anywhere and a moment or interaction or the colours will just transform into a painting in my head. Sometimes I would have read something or had an inspirational conversation with someone and then see a flower or birds or a person in a certain circumstance and that will symbolize for me my own experience in that situation, again becoming a painting in my head”.

In the last 24 months, Ms. Wolff has sold more than 300 works, and her popularity as an artist is on a steady rise.

Gaining Trust from Art Buyers or Art Investors

Introduction

Arum Creative Studios often notice how artists at any level are discouraged because their works do not sell as rapidly as the hoped.

This short article wants to discuss some observations made by Arum Creative Studios. These observations can be seen as guidance for anyone who wants to pursue a career in art.

Those who buy or invest in art, are not necessarily interested in the idea that the price of a work reflects the quality of the work. The professional image of an artist is just as important as the artwork itself.

What Buyers and Investors Want to See

Artists are measured by a set of universal criteria that included but are not limited to:

Number of years active
Number of works created
Number of works sold
Average price of works sold
Basic profile of persons who bought or invested in an artist’s work (friends, family members, galleries, museums, etc.)
Galleries (brick and mortar or online) where an artist’s work is displayed. Social media pages are not considered by most buyers or investors
Art fair or art competitions in which the artist participated
Provenance of works sold. On this point, it is a myth that only famous works need provenance. All artists are encouraged to build provenance and to ensure that their works are sold as such. It raises the confidence of buyers – especially in cases where works are considered by secondary markets.
The identity of an artist, for example, if an artist is working under one or names, buyers would like to know that fact.

Why is This Important?

Arum Creative Studios recently opened a new exhibition space in Montpellier, France. Works submitted to this space, requires Arum Creative Studios to submit a full track record of an artist so that the artist can build up a professional rating preferred by international buyers and collectors.

Why is my art not selling?

Clouds: A digital work by the contemporary South African artist Peter van Nieuwenhuizen

Arum Creative Studios often hear artists say that their art is not selling despite posting their works on many social media platforms or online stores.

“My art must not be good enough to sell”, is a comment we often see when we ask artists why they think their works do not sell.

The fact is that the vast majority of artists in the world are not “established” according to art dealers and according to some galleries. Works of these “unestablished” artists form part of the so-called primary market. In other words, their works are not yet bought by investors who then re-sell them as an asset to other buyers or investors.

In addition, most artists in the primary market are either unwilling or unable to show how many of their works have been sold to buyers over a given period.

When one approaches most galleries and one is able to move past the “unestablished artist” mantra, the next question from gallery owners are: “How many art works did you sell and what was the price of each one?”.

This question seems to be harsh and unfair but there is a reason for it. Knowing how many works an artist sold over time and knowing the price of each work, gives secondary buyers an idea of the perceived value of an artist’s works. Let’s look at the table hereunder:

John completed 100 works and sold 10 works
Sally completed 100 works and sold 80 works
Harry completed 100 works and sold 50 works

Which artist, in your opinion, is the more “established” artist? Why do you say so?

It is not the asking price that is of interest, but the final selling price that grabs the attention of the secondary market.

Have a look at the table hereunder to see what we mean:

John asked R 1000 for a work and the buyer agreed to pay R 1 500
Sally asked R 1 000 for a work and the buyer agreed to pay R 1 000
Harry asked R 1 000 for a work and the buyer agreed to pay R 1 200

Which artist, in your opinion, is the more “established” artist? Why do you say so?

This is the reason why art catalogues are important. Not only should it show how many works are available from an artist, it should also show how many were sold, what was the original asking price and what was the final sales price.

The difference between the asking price and the final sales price of a work drives the value perception of a work.

To determine a fair asking price on your artwork, contact info@arumgallery.co.za for guidance.

In the next discussion: Gaining buyer trust

Sales, Advertising and Marketing: what is the difference

It is essential to understand the difference between “Sales” and “Marketing”. Marketing does NOT equal sales, and sales cannot happen without marketing. This statement sounds like ancient Babylonian Mathematics, so we have to clarify what is meant.

Marketing is a series of activities whereby an interest in a product or service is created.
Sales, on the other hand, is to convince an interested person to buy your product or service AFTER they became aware of your product/service AND AFTER they decided to contact you regarding your product or service.

If marketing is about the creation of awareness, is it the same as advertising?

Marketing is series of actions to create pools of potential buyers who could show an interest in products or service by communicating sending specific messages to potential buyers trough a medium of advertising.
Advertising is a sub-component of marketing in which specific messages about a product or service is sent to a target audience.

Marketing and advertising are proactive communication to potential buyers. There more potential buyers are told about a product or service, the greater is the chance that they would be willing to consider buyer your product or service.

Sales is a set of reactive set of actions. Only after an interested buyer makes and enquiry about a product or service, a sale can happen.

Next, marketing focuses on specific questions that help narrow down the pool of potential buyers to whom we want to send messages about a product or service:

Who are likely to buy a product or service?
Why should they be interested in a product or service?
What makes a specific product or service preferable about others?

Without clear answers to the above three questions, it is very difficult to achieve sales.

In the next edition: “Why is my art not selling?”

Cornelie Wolff: A Subtle Portrayal of the Real South Africa

**Waiting: Oil on canvas by Cornelie Wolff**

Cornelie Wolff’s work represent a prime example in the effective use of a small palette. Her mastery to create rich tones and textures without a battalion of colours is what makes Ms.Wolff’s work unique. Her subjects are without pretense; direct, honest, creating moods that are hard to find in similar works by other artists.

Contemporary South African art, such as the works by Ms. Wolff, are rich in evidence that great works not do have to make loud statements. Subtlety is often more powerful than mega decibels. In addition, not all South African art is about the Big Five or about angry warriors taking on a few besieged homesteaders in some forgotten armpit colony somewhere on the dark side of the world. Instead, Ms. Wolff chooses to show South Africa for what it really is: a country full of ordinary people and ordinary scenes far away from sensation and near the inner being of all who value humanity for kindness, decency and honesty.

For more works by this artist, go to http://www.arumgallery.co.za/c-wolf.html

Who are we and what do we do at Arum Creative Studios?

We are multimedia artists and we want to showcase South African talent to the world.

Art, in any form is an expression of humanity
The greatness of art is to be found the the eyes of the spectator and not necessarily in the eyes of the critic

On this platform we will not only talk about South African art. We will showcase pieces that interest us. After all, Arum Creative Studios is a virtual art gallery where we welcome South African artists to showcase their work.

Key issues

Many artists are frustrated because galleries do not consider them well-known or established
This means that such artists cannot find a place where people can view their work.

That is why this platform has been created. Art lives in the eyes and the minds of the viewers.