LONDON, ENGLAND.- The Saatchi Gallery and Clear Channel Outdoor are launching a national outdoor poster campaign across the UK to help artists and people interested in buying art during the financial recession. Saatchi Online provides a free global platform for artists to show their work to an international audience and to sell it to collectors without the usual 50% commission taken by galleries.

It has always been very difficult for artists to have their work seen by potential collectors. Dealers are often too busy to look at new artists work and often rely on their own stable of artists to introduce new ones to their gallery. This has made it difficult for unknown artists not in the right social mix to get any attention.

Since its launch in 2006, Saatchi Online has become the leading art gallery website, and research among artists registered on the site at the end of its first year showed that approximately $130 million annual sales were being achieved by artists selling directly to collectors and dealers. Since then the site has more than doubled in size and now averages 70 million hits a day. There are currently over 120,000 artists and art students from all over the world for whom being registered on Saatchi Online provides a unique showcase.

Buyers can view works and make contact with artists via their profile pages on Saatchi Online and all artists registered on the site are able to sell work through the site with no commission charged to buyer or artist. Payment can be easily made using PayPal. It is free for all artists to have a profile page on Saatchi Online and it is free for all visitors to use and buy from the site as well.

Through its support of Saatchi Online, Clear Channel Outdoor is effectively sponsoring over 120,000 artists to sell work direct while saving collectors the normal 50% dealer commission.

After the UK launch, Saatchi Online is already looking at plans to expand the FREE THE ARTISTS campaign in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US.

“Only the top 1,000 artists who sell at leading auctions and exhibit with leading dealers have much visibility. We hope this initiative will make the next decade easier for the great majority of world’s artists,” said Charles Saatchi.

SAATCHI ONLINE SUCCESS STORIES
Whitney McVeigh has sold over 30 paintings since registering on the site and has been invited to appear in many exhibitions. She is not represented by a gallery and before joining Saatchi Online found it hard to sell work. She lives in London.

Dutch artist Jaap de Vries was the 45th person to register on Saatchi Online. As a result of being on the site, he has been offered shows in the US, London, Europe, and has sold many works. He was awarded the 2008 Wim Izaks Prize (€10,000) and has been able to move to a bigger studio.

Maurizio Anzeri graduated from the Slade in London in 2006 and is not represented by a gallery. Over the last two years the majority of his income has come from works sold as a result of being on the site. He has been offered a solo show at Riflemaker in London in April 2009.

Robin Cracknell is a London-based artist who was offered a solo show at the Whitecross Gallery, London, after director Francesco Petillo saw his work on Saatchi Online.

Hannah Bureau graduated in 2008 with an MFA in Painting from Massachusetts College of Art. Through Saatchi Online she has sold over 25 works to collectors such as Beth Rudin DeWoody.