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From the Bello team

Notes on collecting and the marketplace.

Latest story

What a condition report actually protects you from

2 min read

“A condition report photographed on the day a work ships sounds like paperwork. In a dispute, it's the only thing standing between 'he said, she said' and an actual resolution.”

Building a collection instead of just buying art

Owning ten paintings you love isn't the same as having a collection. The difference is a point of view — and it changes what you buy next more than any single piece does.

2 min read

Why commission rates say more than they seem to

An 8% commission and a 50% gallery cut aren't just different numbers — they're different bets about who's taking the risk on a sale, and that difference shapes how a marketplace actually behaves.

2 min read

Why escrow changes how collectors buy

Most collectors have been burned once — a wire sent before a painting shipped, a print that never arrived. Escrow removes the leap of faith without adding a platform fee for it.

2 min read

The slow return of hand-registered printmaking

While most editions today are giclée pulls off a digital file, a small number of printmakers still register each block by hand — and collectors are starting to notice the difference.

2 min read

Buying your first original: what actually changes

Most first-time buyers assume owning an original is mainly about money. The bigger shift is usually about attention — how differently you look at a piece you actually own.

1 min read

The technique behind Marta Vroom's work

Marta Vroom works in digital compositions built on a strict modular grid, released as archival pigment editions and as licensed files — and, occasionally, painted back into oil — a set of technical choices that shape everything from how a piece ages to how it should be priced.

1 min read

Behind the work: "Grid Study IV"

Built on a nine-cell module with the weights of the rules doing all the work. Delivered as a layered file and, optionally, as a print. A closer look at how Marta Vroom built the piece, and what it's actually made of.

1 min read

Running a presale for a body of work still in progress

Running a presale for a body of work still in progress — the business side of a studio practice, from an artist's perspective rather than a collector's.

1 min read

The technique behind Ingrid Halvorsen's work

Ingrid Halvorsen works in paints weather and daylight off the norwegian coast from field notes taken over weeks at a time — a set of technical choices that shape everything from how a piece ages to how it should be priced.

1 min read

Studio overhead, and why it belongs in your pricing math

Studio overhead, and why it belongs in your pricing math — the business side of a studio practice, from an artist's perspective rather than a collector's.

1 min read

Behind the work: "Still Water VII"

The seventh and last of a sequence about a pond that no longer exists. A closer look at how Ingrid Halvorsen built the piece, and what it's actually made of.

1 min read

Behind the work: "Intersection, Wet"

A city crossing at the exact moment the rain stops being interesting to everyone but the painter. A closer look at how Rei Nakamura built the piece, and what it's actually made of.