Qahtan Alameen (Iraq/Canada) ∙ Today and Yesterday (2015)

Marsoum Art Collective connects art buyers with artists, sometimes directly, and at others through partner galleries. 

When you order an artwork through Marsoum Art Collective, we share the order information with the artist or partner gallery and the artwork is shipped directly to you through a trackable, expedited mail provider. For more details on shipping, click here.

We primarily operate on a consignment basis, which means that the majority of the proceeds go towards supporting an artist that would not normally be able to sell their artworks internationally or online. In exchange for our commission, we assist artists in gaining exposure and making a living by featuring them on our website, blog, social media, search engine marketing campaigns, and live pop-up exhibitions. For more information on our mission, click here.

Shipping times are indicated on the artwork detail pages, and typically range from 3-10 business days, depending on your location, that of the artwork, and other factors.

We send you two emails when you order something from us. The first confirms that we received your order information and payment. The second email usually follows within a week and confirms that your artworks were shipped out, including details such as the tracking number. For more details, head over to this page to learn about our shipping times & methods.

We want you to be completely satisfied with your new artwork(s), so we give you 30 days from the date that the artwork reached your address to return your unused artwork(s) in its/their original condition & packaging (or packaging that offers the same level of protection as the one you received it in). 

In order for us to process your return, we must receive your artwork(s) within 30 days of the date the tracking information shows that your artwork reached its destination. Please account for the time it takes for your carrier to ship your artwork(s) back to where it came from.

Artworks that are discounted (on sale), and ones that were paid for with a gift card cannot be returned. Also, any artworks marked final sale cannot be returned either.

Please keep in mind that we don’t refund any shipping costs you may have incurred to either clear the artwork or to return it to us/its place of origin.  

Read the full policy here.

As a rule of thumb, anything below 1,000 (one thousand) USD is considered “affordable” art, although some define it as anything under 10,000 USD.

Pricing is probably one of the biggest mysteries in the contemporary art world, so we will do our best to provide the biggest factors to consider when questioning the price of an artwork:

 Is the artwork unique or of multiple editions? More editions = cheaper

How big is the artwork? Larger = more expensive

What materials or media did the artist use? Oil is more expensive than watercolor, was any gold leaf used?, etc.

How long did it take the artist to produce the artwork?

How well-established is the artist? Artists that have been creating and selling works for a long period of time usually have a consistent level of demand for their works, which helps dictate a fair market price as any given point in time through benchmarking. An emerging artist, on the other hand, doesn’t have a lot of brand equity, or sales history. We work with emerging artists to set fair asking prices based on the other factors mentioned above.

The following factors, while still valuable, are not as reliable when assessing the price of an artwork:

Were any of artist’s works featured in an auction recently? One-off and charity auctions should be used with a grain of salt and only for artworks that are very similar to the one being assessed. 

How old is the artwork? Mostly if the artist has gone through several eras and one is considered more desirable than others.

Is there any secondary market data available? All artists go through a stage of establishing a secondary market for their works, where there is discrepancy from the gallery prices—and only a small number of artists really make it beyond this point.

Is this artist alive? Certain artists’ works appreciate in value when an artist is deceased & therefore supply of his/her works is limited, but this isn’t always the case.

We negotiate preferential volume rates with our partner carriers & pass those savings on to you. Our partner carriers charge based on the following:

Size

Weight

Artwork Value

Place of Origin

Destination (categorized into zones based on distance, with each zone having a set cost per kg)

Special Requirements, if any (e.g. extra padding for fragile sculptures)

Our website is configured to automatically calculate shipping based on the criteria we just listed, so you should not expect to be charged any adjustments for shipping after placing your order. You can rest assured that we do not mark up shipping costs with the intention of making a profit on them.