Tag Archives: Mads Dahl Pedersen

Art Clubs – what a brilliant idea!

Sold! This lady will be traveling to her new home(s) in Denmark.

Untitled © Imke Rust
Untitled, 59 x 42cm, Ink, Acrylic on paper. © Imke Rust

I have just sold this drawing on paper from my current figurative series to the  Danish art club “C67” (from the town of Hjørring) after they visited me in my studio. Their visit to galleries and artists’ studios in Berlin was organized by the Danish artist Mads Dahl Pedersen, who’s studio is in the same building as mine. (Go and check out his artworks by clicking on his name, once you are finished here).

Besides being happy about another sale of my art, I also got to know about art clubs for the first time. Here is what I learned about them:

Art clubs are very popular in Denmark and it sounds like such a cool idea: Each member pays a small monthly fee and the money gets used to buy art. The members of the art club can then hang the work in their own houses for a month, after that time the work goes on to the next member, so that everybody gets a chance to live with the artwork. Once a year they hold an auction, where the members can bid on the works they really like and want, and the highest bidder gets to be the final owner of the work. What a cool idea to stimulate the interest in art and keep it fun and interesting, while at the same time building up a good collection of art!

This particular club has eleven members. I think that is an average number so that each member can have each artwork for one month in the year. And each member pays about 60 Euros per month. I guess the amount payable is made up by the group and depends on their income. So that starting an art club is not a matter of being well-off, but rather of putting your money together to buy great art. And you meet once a month, go to galleries together, talk about art and exchange ideas and views.

Maybe this idea can take root in Namibia (or wherever you are living)? What do you think, is this a brilliant idea or what?