NEW YORK—In the competitive art market, gallerists and dealers are finding new ways to reach their clients. We spoke to Robert Rogal, director of RoGallery, an online gallery whose warehouse is based in Long Island City, New York, about his innovations. Not only does he deal in all types of art, but he offers a variety of art services as well, including framing, appraisals, online auctions, and corporate consulting.
Epoch Times: How did you start dealing art?
Robert Rogal: I started out in corporate finance in the 70s. There was no Internet, no fax, no cell phones—it was essentially a mail order business. I had a warehouse but no method of distribution. When the Internet came, I decided that was my opportunity. All our business is online now—I don’t do walk-ins and show at the warehouse by appointment only.
Epoch Times: Many gallerists specialize in a certain genre, medium, or period. Your collection includes over 5,000 artists in paintings, photographs, prints, and sculpture. Why this approach?
Mr. Rogal: We’re all over the lot. We’re more on the contemporary side than on the vintage side, but we love it all. Art is like music—you’ve got the jazz, the rock, rap...we like it all. And we have artwork from all over the world.
Epoch Times: You allow clients to trade in their artwork for other pieces—that’s not a common practice.
Mr. Rogal: We let them trade something they have with something different. You look to make a deal any way you can. If they don’t have the money, this is a way to enable them to get new artwork—we’re a dealmaker.
Epoch Times: Tell me about your corporate artwork services.
Mr. Rogal: We’ve worked with Time Warner, legal offices, insurance companies, arbitrators, medical offices... Where there’s a wall, there’s a market. We’ve gone corporate spaces to entire buildings, depending on the need. We go in and suggest and assist with completing their decorating scheme. We’ve also done hotels and residences. And we have the depth of selection to do that.
Epoch Times: What’s popular in your gallery right now?
Mr. Rogal: Right now we have the estate of Picasso. It’s popular because it goes in any environment and is very recognizable.
Epoch Times: You’re having a massive sale this weekend. What’s on sale?
Mr. Rogal: We took in a lot of things from various estates—paintings, prints, sculptures, lamps, and rugs—and we want to make room for more acquisitions. Discounts will be taken by category.
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A very rare event, RoGallery.com is opening its doors to the public for one weekend to have a gigantic sale on everything inside.
When: Saturday April 20th & Sunday April 21st
Time: 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT
Where: 47-15 36th Street, Long Island City, NY 11101
Website: www.Rogallery.com
Contact: 718 937 0901 / toll free: 800 888 0163
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