About
Galeria Nara Roesler was founded by gallerist Nara Roesler in 1973 and Galeria Nara Roesler represents 44 of some of the most prestigious contemporary artists both within and outside Brazil, including Antonio Dias, Alexandre Arrechea, Julio Le Parc, and Lucia Koch.
https://www.artsy.net/nara-roesler
Location
São Paulo • Rio De Janeiro • New York
Installation view of Not Vital, Saudade at Galeria Nara Roesler, Sao Paolo 2018. Courtesy of the gallery.
For São Paulo–based Galeria Nara Roesler, “first” is a familiar accolade. Committed to furthering its global mission of having more people connect with the artists it represents, over the past 30 years, the gallery has been in a constant state of growth, becoming the first Brazilian gallery to open a location in New York City and to have a presence on Facebook and Instagram.
Doing so has required an open mind, thoughtful planning, and a platform that grows alongside the gallery’s development, rather than hinders it.
So, how did Galeria Nara Roesler build a global online presence that is effective, flexible, and sophisticated enough to align with its growing business and already established brand? And what role did Artsy play along the way?
About Galeria Nara Roesler
Galeria Nara Roesler was founded by gallerist Nara Roesler in 1973. The gallery started small, opening in Recife under the name Artespaço. A visionary woman, Roesler started off by working with mid-career Brazilian artists, and eventually relocated to São Paulo, where she founded Galeria Nara Roesler in 1989. Today, Galeria Nara Roesler has solidified its place as an establishment in the international and Brazilian art scenes, with three locations in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and New York City.
Galeria Nara Roesler represents 44 of some of the most prestigious contemporary artists both within and outside Brazil, including Antonio Dias, Alexandre Arrechea, Julio Le Parc, and Lucia Koch.
The challenge
One of Galeria Nara Roesler’s primary goals, says Nathalie Felsberg, the gallery’s director of communication, “has always been to find innovative ways of setting benchmarks for the Brazilian art scene, including in the digital sphere.”
When Galeria Nara Roesler decided to open a space in New York City four years ago, the team faced a challenge. They needed to create an effective digital strategy that would help collectors discover the gallery’s program beyond those in Brazil.
With a marketing plan that relied primarily on art fairs, emails, events, and the gallery website, Felsberg and her team turned to Artsy for support in building a global digital strategy that would promote the gallery’s program to a wider audience, without compromising the quality of its artists’ works and trajectories.
Today, our marketing and sales strategy is riding the new wave of the digital. We believe that having a strong online presence is a testament to the gallery’s offline trajectory, as well.
Nathalie Felsberg, Galeria Nara Roesler
Steps for Success
1. Start with Artsy
“Today, our marketing and sales strategy is riding the new wave of the digital,” Felsberg explains. “We believe that having a strong online presence is a testament to the gallery’s offline trajectory, as well.”
For the team at Galeria Nara Roesler, it was a combination of best-in-class digital tools and a user-friendly interface that attracted them to Artsy.
Felsberg elaborates: “What drew us to Artsy is the facility with which you can make artworks available—the amount of information you can insert with each artwork, and how easy it is for the user to navigate the website…not only the user, but also the gallerists, the people that are marketing works on Artsy. Artsy’s Content Management System (CMS) is extremely user-friendly.”
Artsy CMS allows galleries to upload all of their inventory and gallery information. This includes uploading unlimited artworks, artists, and exhibitions, making all of your inventory available for collectors to find. Exceptional customer support from Artsy also proved to be beneficial as the team behind Galeria Nara Roesler learned how to navigate and optimize the gallery’s presence on the platform.
Instillation view of Arquiteturas do Imaginário at Galeria Nara Roesler, Rio de Janeiro. Courtesy of Galeria Nara Roesler.
“The facility we have with the people that manage our account, like our Artsy liaison, is always impeccable,” Felsberg says. “She is always finding new ways in which we can better our performance on the site. When there’s a new feature, we’re always aware.”
Using Artsy as the foundation of Galeria Nara Roesler’s digital strategy proved to be exactly what the team needed to develop the international audience they sought.
Whereas Artsy was a new tool only a few years ago, it has become a part of my daily routine,” Felsberg remarks. “[Artsy] has proven to be an efficient tool to reach new people and promote our artists 24/7, all over the world.”
[Artsy] has proven to be an efficient tool to reach new people and promote our artists 24/7, all over the world.
Nathalie Felsberg, Galeria Nara Roesler
2. Strive for quality worthy of art
As one of the leading contemporary Brazilian galleries, Galeria Nara Roesler felt it was important to partner with an online art platform that would add to the elevated brand it had established. This was especially important given that the gallery’s launch in New York City relied heavily on a digital presence as opposed to marketing efforts in Brazil, which tend to focus more on in-person networking.
“We are always cultivating and promoting our artists here in Brazil, but we’re [also] always thinking about the world in terms of communications, digitally,” Felsberg observes.
Aesthetic presentation and navigability are paramount for art platforms like Artsy, especially as collectors become increasingly accustomed to discovering and buying art online.
“For art and a well-done digital insertion of the works, Artsy is certainly a pioneer,” Felsberg says. “Artsy has created a way in which art becomes easier to look at and more accessible. I think that it’s always good to be associated with a brand that has technology, innovation, credibility, and creativity as [its] pillars, which we can see in the forefront on the website.”
Artsy has created a way in which art becomes easier to look at and more accessible. I think that it’s always good to be associated with a brand that has technology, innovation, credibility, and creativity as [its] pillars, which we can see in the forefront on the website.
Nathalie Felsberg, Galeria Nara Roesler
Karin Lambrecht, Nascimento e Amor, 2015. Courtesy of Galeria Nara Roesler. Artwork placed in private collection via Artsy.
3. Strengthen your network
Beyond aesthetic presentation, Galeria Nara Roesler has benefited immensely from gaining access to Artsy’s vast audience of over 1 million users across more than 190 countries. This allows the gallery to reach beyond its regional network, and to market its program and artists outside of Brazil.
“With our expansion to New York, Artsy was a big propeller for us to reach new collectors,” says Felsberg. “We use Artsy to become more visible in regions other than Latin America, and we notice that most requests are coming from Europe and the United States. [Artsy] creates opportunities for us to get in touch with clients we would not otherwise reach.”
Artsy creates opportunities for us to get in touch with clients we would not otherwise reach.
Nathalie Felsberg, Galeria Nara Roesler
According to Felsberg and her team, collectors come to them via Artsy through a variety of different avenues. While some may reach out due to Artsy’s presence at a fair, many collectors that contact Galeria Nara Roesler will have the artist in mind, but will use Artsy to do research on what’s available. More recently, collectors who already have a relationship with the gallery will now reach out via Artsy, which Felsberg notes is “an interesting development.” But for Frederik Schampers, Galeria Nara Roesler’s assistant gallery director, the best sales on Artsy are those that lead to long-term relationships.
“Some people [I meet through Artsy] I’ve still never met,” Schampers remarks. “However, we’re frequently in touch and even planning trips cross-country to visit each other. These are valuable relationships that are built solely through the Artsy networks.”
4. Empower collectors to learn, discover, and buy
As a gallery whose core mission is to connect collectors around the world with the artists and works it represents, Galeria Nara Roesler has been most impressed with Artsy’s dual function as a comprehensive resource and an educational platform for collectors from São Paulo to Manhattan.
“Artsy has proven to be a useful tool in engaging with our collector base in Brazil, as well as [keeping] them informed of our participation in international fairs and exhibitions all over the world,” Felsberg observes.
This not only plays into collector education through editorial content, but also through facilitated discovery. Felsberg notes,“Artsy’s technology has made it possible [for people] to discover artists they didn’t even know they were looking for.”
She is referring to The Art Genome Project, Artsy’s classification system that uses an algorithm to recommend related artworks to collectors based on artists, styles, and periods they like. “The algorithms [on Artsy] that allow recommendations enable people that are not even looking remotely for an artist of ours…to reach them,” Felsberg says.
“That’s a portal Artsy opened for collectors, and I feel that the advancements made throughout the years on Artsy helped us propagate our artists—physically and through the website,” she continues. “One leads to another.”
Artsy’s technology has made it possible [for people] to discover artists they didn’t even know they were looking for.
Nathalie Felsberg, Galeria Nara Roesler
What’s next for Galeria Nara Roesler?
With no plans for further physical expansion in the immediate future, Galeria Nara Roesler will continue to focus on cultivating its collector base and promoting its artists around the world. With Artsy as one of the gallery’s primary online art platforms, Felsberg is confident that Galeria Nara Roesler will be at the forefront of the digital art world as it leverages and extends its reach—online and offline.
“Artsy’s ability to serve as both an editorial and commercial digital platform has made it our go-to third-party partner,” Felsberg notes.
“Galeria Nara Roesler is a forward-thinking gallery,” she continues. “The sky’s the limit.”
