A website for visual artists that does more than a gallery
Curators, collectors, gallerists and grant panels all visit an artist's site, and each wants something different: the work, the thinking behind it, a record of shows, or a way to buy. An image gallery covers only the first. Add a short statement, a CV in the format the art world expects, current and past exhibitions, a clear route to enquire about available work, and a way to pay once you've agreed a sale.
Who visits, and what they look for
| Visitor | Looks for | Make sure the site has |
|---|---|---|
| Curator or gallerist | A coherent body of work, recent shows | Work grouped by series, a current CV |
| Collector | What's available and roughly what it costs | Availability marked on each piece, an enquiry route |
| Grant or residency panel | Evidence of practice and intent | Statement, CV, a link they can cite |
| Press | Images they can use, a short bio | A bio at two lengths, image credits |
| Fans and friends | What's new, where to see it | Upcoming shows near the top |
The pages that do the work
- Work
- Grouped by series or year, not one endless grid. Each piece with title, year, medium, dimensions and, if it's for sale, its availability.
- Statement
- A short paragraph in plain language about what you make and why. Skip the jargon; curators read hundreds of these.
- CV
- Solo and group exhibitions, residencies, awards, collections and education, newest first, each with year, venue and city.
- Exhibitions
- Current and upcoming shows with dates, venue and opening times; past shows with installation photos.
- About and contact
- A bio in the third person at a short and a long length, a portrait, and an enquiry form.
Photographing and presenting the work
Images are the site, so their quality matters more than any layout decision. Photograph flat work square-on in even, indirect light, crop to the edge of the piece, and add one installation or detail shot for scale and texture. Name image files and write alt text that describes the piece, not the file: "Oil on linen, a grey estuary at low tide with a single red boat". The alt text guide has more examples.
Prices and selling originals
Whether to show prices is a real choice. Shown prices bring in buyers who would never ask; "price on request" suits work that's also represented by a gallery, whose pricing you shouldn't undercut. A middle course is a price range per series.
An original exists once, which changes how you take payment. A buy button that anyone can click risks two people paying for the same painting. The safer pattern for originals is enquire first: the collector sends a message, you confirm it's still available and agree shipping, and then you send a payment link for the exact amount. For editions and prints, where you have several of the same item, a buy button straight to checkout works well; if your provider can cap the quantity of a product, set it to the edition size.
How Anticode builds it
Start with a description like "a portfolio site for a painter, with work grouped by series, a statement, CV, exhibitions and an enquiry form". The portfolio kind and a separate Work page fit this well. Upload your photographs and the model sees them and places them. Keep exhibitions and the works themselves in CMS collections with fields for title, year, medium, dimensions and availability, so marking a piece as sold is a one-field change, and each work gets its own page you can send to a collector. Editorial (Geist) and Swiss (Inter Tight) keep the attention on the images; Brutalist (Archivo) suits work with an edge.
The contact form asks for a name, email and message, and each enquiry is saved, sealed at rest and emailed to you. Buy buttons open your account's one payment link, from Stripe Payment Links, PayPal, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify or Whop; with several editions for sale, point it at a product list at your provider. For more on portfolio layout, see art galleries and the art commission page guide.
What it won't do
- No shopping cart, shipping or tax handling. Payment is through your provider's checkout; work out shipping by email or in the provider.
- No stock tracking that marks a piece sold when it's paid for. Update its availability yourself.
- No zoomable high-resolution viewer on design-engine pages, which run no scripts.
- No private viewing rooms: published pages are public. Send a PDF or a separate link for previews you'd rather not publish.
Questions people ask
Do I need a separate shop?
Not for occasional sales of originals and small print runs. If you sell many prints with shipping options, a shop platform linked from your site may suit better.
Should my CV include everything?
Include exhibitions, residencies, awards and collections. Group early or minor items under "selected" headings rather than leaving them out entirely.
Can I update the site myself after a show?
Yes. Add the exhibition to the collection in the dashboard and upload installation photos.