We Help You Buy & Sell Contemporary Art Online
Who we are?
Composition.Gallery was founded as a way to buy and sell original artworks, limited edition prints and sculptures by the world’s best artists. We partner with galleries and publishers from around the globe and we invite collectors to consign their works to sell to our database of over 50.000 worldwide subscribers. We are one of the longest existing online art galleries, and each individual artwork featured on Composition.Gallery, is curated and selected for its quality and authenticity.
FAQS
Combined shipping is available if the items are purchased from the same gallery or seller.
We can accept payments in the following currencies: EUR, USD, GBP and AUD.
Our listed works are located in many different countries across the world, so it is not always possible for us to facilitate a viewing prior to the purchase. However, if a particular work is located near you, we may be able to arrange an appointment – please contact us with your requests, we can then review and respond as soon as possible. If an appointment is unavailable, you are able to use our ‘zoom’ and ‘view in a room’ features for a more detailed and contextual view of an artwork.
Our prices will either match, or be lower than the price you would expect to find in galleries.
Pricing is determined by a number of different factors and is a joint decision between Composition.Gallery and the owner of the artwork; among the factors that affect pricing are: the size of the artwork, the medium, the popularity of the artist (as well as their rating at the point of sale), the overall quality of the work and the importance of the work in terms of an artist’s overall oeuvre.
We take great pride in the accuracy and fairness of our pricing system and we also encourage our sellers to be realistic in their expectations when setting a price for an artwork.
If you are looking for works from a particular artist, there may be occasions where we don’t have any listed – in such instances, you can set an alert so that you receive a notification when new artworks become available. To do this, please visit the artist or the artwork page and click the button that reads ‘update me’.
Most listed works are available for purchase unless they have been updated as ‘sold’ or ‘currently unavailable’. We have direct communication with owners and our sale structure is designed so that we seek clarification of an item’s availability, prior to finalising any purchase – it is only on rare occasions that an item’s ‘sold’ status is not promptly updated.
Yes. Over the past 17 years, the Composition Gallery team has facilitated thousands of artworks sales with collectors from all over the world. We developed a trust system specifically for the art market, to make collecting high caliber artists as easy as possible.
Many of the artworks listed come with a fixed price due to our direct work with galleries, publishers and artists – this figure is either equal to, or lower than the price you would find at a gallery. However, we do have other works on which you can make an offer lower than the original listed price; once we receive your offer, we will forward it on to the proprietor of the work and provide an update upon their response. When browsing, you may also come across artworks that are listed alongside a ‘make an offer’ option – you are welcome to submit your proposals for these pieces.
In the art industry, a ‘price on demand’ item has usually been listed as such by the seller, as they have not yet determined the price of the art work by the time it has been published on our website – this is especially common if the artist is currently in high demand. A price may appear at a later date on some items listed with ‘price on demand’.
We must also consider that the art-market is fast-moving and subject to constant change, and so sellers may not want to commit to a price in case there is the option for it to increase. The price listed today may vary from the price tomorrow.
Our selected galleries are among the most reputable and reliable – we take great pride in our partnerships and can guarantee that every listed artwork on Composition.Gallery is sourced from a trustworthy and esteemed partner or publisher.
All items for sale are signed by the original artist, and the majority of works have a certificate of authenticity (COA). All certificates are signed by the artist, the artist’s representative, or the gallery itself; the certificate, alongside the invoice, is a legal document that certifies the authenticity of the work and is usually posted to a buyer once the artwork has been delivered.
A framing service is not something that we currently offer due to the heightened risk of damage during shipping; transportation costs would also increase due to the additional weight of a frame. However, if you are interested in framing your purchased artwork, please feel free to get in touch with us and we will source a reputable framing service local to you.
Logging in to the site is not necessary in order to complete a purchase – simply select the BUY option listed against an artwork and fill in your details on the form that appears. Upon receiving your details, we will respond as soon as possible to finalise the purchase with you.
We believe that purchasing an artwork of art is a special occasion for many people and as a result, our site does not include registration forms, a shopping cart or credit-card entries. Upon confirming your purchase, we will provide you with a gallery invoice, alongside instructions for a bankwire payment – this is available in EUR, USD, GBP or AUD.
In certain cases, we may be able to accept cash and/or credit card payments – a 2.7% fee is added to such transactions.
Please also note that the purchase must be paid in full before we can ship an artwork.
Artworks sold through Composition.Gallery are not eligible to be returned, nor can they be cancelled at any point once an order has been confirmed– all sales are complete and final at the point of purchase.
However, if you receive your order and feel that it differs from its description or has been damaged during shipping, then please contact us immediately - please note that any claims of this kind must be made within 5 days of receipt.
If the owner of an artwork is looking to retain their privacy, or the privacy of a particular piece, they have the option of listing the work privately, meaning an item cannot be viewed until a prior request has been made. On pieces that have been listed privately, an image will be unavailable and you will instead see an image of the back of an artwork; in such cases, if you request access to the piece, we can provide a full and detailed view, as well as the option to purchase.
We will provide you with an electronic invoice via E-mail once your order is confirmed.
We do not include shipping costs in the listed price as many variables can affect the cost of shipping; the weight, price and dimensions of an item will all affect this cost, as will the item’s origin and its shipping destination.
If you require an estimation of shipping costs on a particular item of interest, please get in touch via contact@composition.gallery and we can assist you with your query.
Yes, we are able to ship most unframed artworks to any destination across the world – if you are unsure about a particular destination, please contact us.
Most artworks are transported via express couriers such as UPS, DHL, FedEx and TNT – the exact courier depends on the item’s origin as well as its final destination.
We will always endeavor to offer you the most economical service.
Of course. We will discuss and arrange the practical aspects - such as the pick-up location and time - when we finalise your purchase.
Our artworks are housed across the world in various galleries – if it happens that you are local to the gallery in which your purchase is located, then please contact us so we can put you in touch with the seller of the work. You will then be able to liaise directly with the seller to arrange a date and time to collect your purchase.
Once an order has been finalised, we are not able to facilitate any returns or cancellations on any of our listed artworks.
However, if you feel that your purchase has been damaged during transportation, or is unlike its original description, then please contact us within 5 days of receipt at contact@composition.gallery
Once the courier has collected the artwork from the seller, we will provide you with a unique tracking number.
We would also strongly recommend that the buyer of an artwork signs up for E-mail and/or SMS notifications directly through the courier.
No, this is not something that can be facilitated – for the purposes of security and liability, all artworks require a signature upon receipt.
Although our partners are experienced in shipping artworks securely and correctly, there is still a possibility that damage may occur during transportation.
If you notice that the packaging is damaged in any way, please include details on the courier’s delivery report and send us the details, alongside images, by emailing us at contact@composition.gallery.
The same applies to any damage found on the actual artwork or cases in which the item shipped differs from the item you expected – all claims must be made within 5 days of receipt.
Most couriers will attempt to deliver your purchase a second time and/or leave a note. If you miss an attempted delivery, you can contact the courier, quoting the unique tracking number, and organise a new delivery time.
If you are unable to receive your purchase, the item will be sent back to the seller and you will be liable to pay any additional shipping fees. If, for any reason, you will not be able to receive your artwork in person, please contact us immediately at contact@composition.gallery
We always endeavour to get any purchased items sent out as soon as possible, but we must first make sure that all shipping documentation and packaging have been sufficiently prepared.
Please also note that various factors, such as the origin and the final destination of the artwork, have a significant bearing on the delivery timeframe. Overall, most artworks are dispatched within 5 working days once the full payment has been received.
Please take care when unpacking and handling artworks – to ensure your artwork remains in great condition during unpacking, we recommend the following steps:
1. Before unpacking, ensure you thoroughly check the parcel for any external damages – if you happen to find any, please take several clear images from a number of angles.
2. Remove each individual layer of packing material slowly and carefully – ensure that the outermost layer is removed prior to proceeding to the inner layers. A sharp utility knife can be used to cut the tape on both the outer and inner packaging; the blade should be only just long enough to cut cleanly through the tape.
3. Always use gloves when handling artworks. If you remove the artwork from the provided packaging without wearing any gloves, there’s a chance of irreparable damage to it in the form of visible fingerprints or stains.
4. Thoroughly check the entire contents of your shipment – multiple artworks may be delivered in one package, or the parcel itself may contain additional components or the appropriate documentation. If your work arrives in a wooden crate, you may need to use standard drill bits in order to remove any screws from the lid; never attempt to pry the lid open. Please also note that larger crates may require more than one person to be safely opened.
If your artwork is packaged in a tube, avoid pinching or pulling on the work itself – try to keep a hold on the inner layer of protective paper in the tube when removing the artwork.
5. Once your artwork has been unpacked, please confirm the condition it has arrived in. If you feel that the work you have received differs from the online description, please send images of the item alongside the original packaging and a detailed summary of its current condition and any discrepancies to contact@composition.gallery - we kindly ask that any contact of this kind is made within 5 days of receiving the work, and that all original packaging is kept for reference.
The security and confidentiality of any personal data is of utmost importance to us and we can assure you that this data is never passed on to any third parties. Our site is secure and all personal information provided will be handled in a secure and private manner and will not be visible to any other users of our site. For more detailed information on how we handle personal data, please read our Privacy Policy.
If an artwork is shipped across country borders then you may incur an additional tax charge known as import or customs duty; the terms of these taxes can vary according to country regulations and the product that is being shipped. In the case of both the proprietor and the buyer residing within the EU, no import taxes will be applied and artworks being sent into the USA from other countries will also be free of import duty in most circumstances.
We are unfortunately unable to guarantee any specific tax rates or amounts for our listed items, so please seek more details about applicable duties and taxes with your local customs office.