EDITOR’S NOTE: Prices and information below may be out of date. Since launching our own art website service for artists at Foliotwist.com, we no longer feel unbiased enough to continue updating or reviewing other art website services. Visit the website below for their most recent information.
20×200 is an online gallery which features affordable art prints from a variety of talented artists and photographers. Two new prints are posted weekly (one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday) and each one is produced as a limited edition—traditionally, 200 8×10 prints for $20 each, which of course explains the name.
Lately, larger prints have also been made available, from 11×14 prints priced at $50, all the way up to 40×50 prints which cost $5000 and are produced in limited editions of 5.
Since 20×200 is extremely selective about the artists it represents, it’s a little different from most of the online art galleries that I review on EmptyEasel (many of which are all-inclusive). However, being selective isn’t necessarily a bad thing—and I really like how they approached the business of selling art online.
So without further introduction, here’s what 20×200 has to offer the talented artist:
Pricing and features for 20×200 artists
20×200 is somewhat coy about their commission rates (and by that I mean they don’t list that information on their website) which isn’t all that surprising. I suppose they might even offer different commission rates depending on the artist.
Whatever the case, working with 20×200 would be like working with a traditional gallery—most likely the commission for artwork would be between 30% and 50% of the sale price, and there wouldn’t be any sign-up fee.
In return, the artist receives a bio page and the chance to sell their prints worldwide through the 20×200 website.
New artists also get “top billing” for an entire week when their artwork debuts.
20×200’s design and layout
I absolutely love—LOVE—the design of 20×200. It’s both friendly and well-designed, using bright, clean blues and greens with the occasional accent of orange and red.
20×200 also makes liberal use of the dotted line, which definitely lends to its approachability (think “cut along the dotted line” and you’ll see what I mean).
The home page displays one large print, which is the current featured artwork, followed by a double column of past editions which are still available to purchase. Navigation is clear and simple, with five main links across the top of the site.
My only issue with anything on the 20×200 website is the small size of their thumbnails while browsing the main artwork page. They chose to go with 4 columns of thumbnails, and in order to do so, had to limit the size of each thumbnail to 100px wide. Personally, I’d sacrifice the 4th column for slightly larger thumbnails all around.
That being said, the overall setup is a cross between friendly “blog” and trendy “gallery” and it’s just fantastic. Kudos to the team at Little Jacket who worked on the original design; they really did a stellar job.
Finding and buying prints on 20×200
For visitors to 20×200, finding great art is a breeze. Lots of thumbnails are right there on the home page, along with a search bar, and even a list of artists down the right side (if you already have an artist in mind).
Clicking “Browse” puts all of the artwork in front of you in thumbnail form, with filtering options for size, date published, artist’s name, or tag (keyword).
Even better, 20×200 has several buying guides if you’re not sure where to start. Besides listing gift ideas for “The Sportsman” “The New Yorker” “The Wanderer” and so on, they also “Artist Guides” which is truly something I’ve never seen before, and which I’ll try to explain below. . .
20×200’s artist guides are hand-drawn recommendations for artwork—they’re individual pages of scribbled/drawn/painted suggestions, made BY artists who are also represented on 20×200. They’re works of art in and of themselves:
(When you click on one of their drawn thumbnails, you see the actual artwork.)
Put it all together and you not only have an easy way to find art, but you have something quite out of the ordinary. . . even fun!
Is it worth it to try to join?
Absolutely—but the catch is that you have to get past the selection process, which is sure to be difficult.
Take a moment to check out 20×200 and see they looks like they’d be a good fit for your art. If you think they are, then I encourage you to visit their application page and send in your stuff.
If not. . . well then just head on over and enjoy the art. :)
This post may contain affiliate links.