The bartering of one’s art is a form of currency. Picasso was known for his bartering endeavors. Today, “Art-Money” is an international movement that began in 1997 when a contemporary Danish artist, Larse Kraemmer, wanted control over his financial security. Inasmuch as he was not making a living with his paintings (he couldn’t depend upon promotion by galleries or purchases by collectors), he came up with the idea of creating his own money with his artwork!

He produced small pieces of art, signed and assigned serial numbers, then went to several shops where he found acceptance for his concept of bartered art–recognizing the art work as a currency. He priced each work at 20 Euros; if the value of his purchase was less than 20 Euros, Larse got back change.

Initially, artists were skeptical about this mode of earning. However, Larse successfully approached galleries in New York and Vancouver to exhibit art-money, and was able to interest 20 others in it.

Since his first exhibition in 1998, he has interacted with artists from around the world. Many of them have used art-money to pay for their travel, accommodations, spa treatments and beauty salons, as well as buying art materials.

The retailers view this as an opportunity to buy original art work at affordable prices, and collectors of art-money can exchange it with others for larger works. Registered artists with the movement are required to accept up to 50% as payment for work in art-money.

Larse Kraemmer?s idea has lead to the establishment of the Bank of International Art Money, and offers artists worldwide the chance for financial freedom and global exposure. For more details see: ArtMoney

To learn the in’s and and out’s of barter get a hold of: FastStart

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Entrepreneurs & Small Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.