From The Experts: Freya McLeavy, Senior Director & Sales

What does your job entail? 

I'm head of sales at the gallery and senior director at Sarah Myerscough Gallery. I have been working here for 16 years, and so I have a deep understanding of the international side of the of the business and regularly work on international sales with our stable of artists.

What is it that sets international sales apart from domestic sales?

If a maker is looking to sell internationally, I think they need to feel very comfortable with international shipping and tax. They need to be well versed and educate themselves in those purposes. I would always recommend working very closely with a good fine art shipper who can oversee the entire customs process for you. You also have to understand clearly how you need to invoice an international client, but a good accountant can also help you with that. Of course, I would recommend that when you are working internationally, and looking to have international reach, then partner with a gallery. Find a gallery that you have a good relationship with and they are going to have a broad overview of an international market, and the complexities involved in international selling. Also, importantly, they will have the right partners and contacts across the industry to make that process very smooth. You ultimately want the end result to be a very smooth and easy and happy transaction for your collector.

What kind of complications do you and your team have to sort out most frequently? 

I'm going to sound very biased. We're very experienced selling internationally, so we don't actually have many hiccups… but we've spent years perfecting those processes so that there aren't any surprises. However, where I do think you may find surprises, the kind you can’t second guess, is in the shipping process. And that's why I'd recommend you work with really good shippers who are there to support you in the process, as well as your clients. Sometimes, in shipping, there are things that just beyond anyone's control. If you have a very good professional team behind you, then something unexpected can get resolved very quickly.

As a gallery, what do you gain from having relationships with international collectors? 

Our work is to have the incredible creativity of our artists reach an audience that is as far and wide as possible.  It's also about reaching an international museum audience, which means reaching an even bigger network of people and, also, international museums have different budgets. It’s all about giving artists the greatest opportunities. The more people you can speak to, then the greater opportunities you're affording your artists. That’s our job as a gallery.

Do you ever notice any patterns between what people will like in different markets?

I would like to say so, but even so things will crop up that confound me and I have no idea where it came from. But, in all seriousness, you do see patterns. American collectors always love very sculptural light pendants and they’re very ambitious in their unique commissions of artworks involving light. We’ve also always done well with very well with beautiful, sculptural writing desks in Europe and the UK, because I think it fits the domestic space better.

And then sometimes it changes as well. There's so many intricate influences in people's tastes. What we have found, as a gallery who champion artists using natural materials in their work, is that’s having a real zeitgeist moment. There have been lots of changes in the world, not in the least the pandemic, and I feel people have been spending a lot of time in their homes and want to bring the outside in and to know the narrative behind each piece in their home. We’ve been championing that ethos for a long time.

What would you tell someone, with the benefit of your experience, who is starting out and doesn’t have gallery representation? 

Find the right professional support. So you might not have a gallery, but you can have a good accountant and you can have a good shipper.