Contemporary Art Gallery Help and Information

Here is a short list of questions and answers about our online galleries of contemporary art.

If you have a question that isn't answered here, please don't hesitate to contact us. We are happy to hear from you and we'll do our best to help.

Contents

• Tax
• Approval Scheme
• How to purchase
• Payment methods
• Delivery of Art Works
• Viewing the Galleries
• About Art Works (provenance, framing, ...)

Purchase and Delivery

Our aim is to make selecting and purchasing art as smooth and reliable as possible for you. Quality of service is our top priority.

Unlike many other virtual art galleries, all the works we offer are in stock so there is no delay in despatching items.

• Tax
  All prices include VAT (Value Added Tax) where applicable. This tax is payable only by purchasers resident in the European Union (EU). Residents of the US, Canada, Australasia, Hong Kong and everywhere outside the EU do not pay VAT.
  Note that VAT is payable only on our commission and not on the entire cost of the work.
  Import duties or taxes, if payable in the country of import, are the responsibility of the purchaser.
• Approval Scheme
  We appreciate that it's difficult to judge a work on a computer screen and that you may well wish to evaluate it in your own home or office. For this reason we can supply works 'on approval' for you to view in comfort in your own surroundings. Thus you don't need to commit to purchase until you have seen the work.

  Just let us know you require the work on approval and purchase it in the normal way (see below). We will send the work to you in a reusable package for you to evaluate for up to 14 days. If the work does not meet your requirements, return it to us undamaged in the original packaging and we will refund the purchase price to you. Please see the Terms and Conditions for full details.

• How To Purchase
  Click on the Add to Cart button and our Shopping Cart will pop up with your item already added. (You can find the Add to Cart button on the details page for an individual work.)

  Enter your region in the cart to see the P&P/shipping, select a payment method: PayPal or cheque/check, and follow the subsequent instructions.

  We despatch your purchase as soon as possible after your funds have cleared.

• Payment Methods
  You can pay by credit card, or by personal or business cheque, cashier's cheque, or money order.

  Credit card payments are processed by PayPal®. If you have used PayPal before, for example on eBay, then you will already be familiar with the procedure, which is similar to other internet credit card payment transactions. Please note that you don't need to register with PayPal to make a purchase. However, if you are registered with PayPal, you can fund your purchase from a bank account without the need to use a credit card.
  Arts and Designs is a PayPal Verified merchant, which means we have successfully undergone a procedure independently administered by PayPal to satisfy them of our integrity.

  Payments by cheque/check take longer to clear - we keep you informed of progress by email. Your purchase is readied for despatch while your funds clear and is despatched as soon as possible thereafter.

• Delivery
  Delivery of artistic works is via reputable carrier to your door and is insured and signed for. We despatch a work as soon as possible after confirmation of your order and we keep you informed of its progress via email.

Using the Galleries

The permanent gallery contains our ongoing exhibition of fine art originals.
When you first visit the permanent gallery, it displays the work of one of our featured artists. You can select a different artist or search for works matching specific words.

Occasionally we mount a specially themed exhibition. This is an extra opportunity for you to view up-and-coming contemporary artists.

• Viewing different artists and works
  Click on one of the featured artists to see all the works by that artist.
  or... Use the Artworks Quick Find pull-down to find works by subject, medium, artists, or size
  or... You can enter a word or words in the search box - pictures matching any of the words will be found
• Viewing a larger image of a work
  You can view a larger image of a work and details like dimensions, price, and so on by clicking its thumbnail image in the gallery or clicking on its title. A higher quality image that you can zoom is shown on the details page. This page also gives you access to the view-in-context tool.
• Getting a better idea of what the work looks like in real-life
  Click the thumbnail image to get to the details page and then click the 'See it in Context' button. This shows you the work in the context of a room (contemporary by default). You can pick from a range of rooms to see how the work looks in different settings. You can customize room colouring and framing properties to suit your own taste.

Original Art Works

• Provenance
  Each original work is supplied with its own Certificate Of Authenticity signed by the artist. The sale details are recorded as provenance for the future.
• Framing
  Works are supplied ready to frame or ready to hang. Ready to frame gives you maximum flexibility in matching your own taste and decor; ready to hang maens you have no further decisions to make.
  If a work is marked as already framed and you want to choose your own frame, please inquire as we can reframe it at additional cost.
• Watercolors
  Most watercolours are supplied single mounted/matted ready to frame.
  We supply a mount/matte that suits the painting's tone but we can change it to suit your own preference. Please inquire.
• Oils, Acrylics and Mixed Media
  Oils are supplied ready for framing, if framing is intended by the artist. Some oils are supplied 'canvas wrapped' - these are intended to be hung unframed and are ready to hang.
• Others
  These vary: some are mounted ready to frame; some are canvas wrapped. We follow the artist's intentions. Please inquire if you are uncertain about a specific item.

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