U.S. publishers poised for growth in Europe: Euro-operations, art fairs and synergies are paying off

paces taken by U.S.-based art publishers to extend their businesses in European Union (EU) countries are yielding positive rises according to several key firms.

single such step was taken years ago by means of Bruce McGaw Graphics (BMG), whose decision to establish King and McGaw in 1989 prov to be "a great move" according to Amy Wessan, BMG's vice president of sales and design. Today, this U.K.-based operation acts as the full-service sales and distribution center for BMG headquartered in West Nyack, NY

In fact, beneath the leadership of CEO Gyr King, the company has expanded its distribution into Western Europe says Wessan, owed in large part to the fact that King and McGaw is station up as an independent company, indigenous to the United Kingdom and Europe and is in no way perceived as an American company doing business in Britain and Europe Many of King and McGaw's publications are derived from agreements with British museums, like as the Hayward Gallery, which granted rights for Roy Lichtenstein's "Ohhhh Alright ..." (shown).

of the like kind agreements involving American artists "have been instrumental" in opening up Europe for Bruce McGaw Graphics, says Wessan. "We also have rest that many trends and industry changes many times germinate in Europe and then spread to the United States.

"For instance," Wessan continues, "our UK office saw the increase of the wholesale framing business happening well before the roller of what we have newly seen develop in the United States. from one side this information, the U.S. operation began looking at its publishing in a whole novel way. We started creating prints sized and single outed to fit the wholesale framers' straits We published in suites of sum of two unitss and fours. We studied color tends and had in-house artists, similar as Denise Duplock (see "Pistachio IV" image), design pieces that worked with what we were seeing in the domicile furnishings' market.

Wessan goe upon to say, "As our business grew with the wholesale framers, we then designed of recent origin lines such as Tribeca Works, a standalone catalog filled with more than 175 decorative prints.

"King and McGaw has also seen the development of black-and-white photography in the European market and urg us (BMG) to expand the collection, which we did. above the past few years we've published black-and-white photographs of celebrities like as John Wayne (shown), as well as many pieces from MoMA's (Museum of recent Art's) photography collection."

The synergy between King and McGaw and Bruce McGaw Graphics is fantastic, says Wessan. "We're continually learning and changing our business based upon the information exchanged."

present to view Business Proves Critical

"We've been able to penetrate the international market during the last seven to eight years, and we're seeing great growing in our international sales," says Leesa Gango, vice president of sales for Portland, OR-based Gango Editions. "This is being accomplished by means of having representation or exhibitions at the Birmingham (England) Spring and Autumn Fairs and the Quadrum/SACA exhibit in Bologna, Italy," she says, adding that the weak dollar abroad has helped as well.

Gango continues: "Fortunately for us, more and more of our images are crossing above into Europe. For example, we released more [i]or[/i] less cocktail images with bright colors by means of Mary Naylor and those are doing well, the couple internationally and domestically. In limited European markets, photography does well, and when it advances to color--more is better, as is the case with images through Amy Melious. And, of course, we are doing more and more artwork that has a French/Italian influence. If it is authentic enough, it will work in the pair the American and Western European markets"

Gango's prints are in U standard sizes, which are familiar to Western European countries, and the company's catalog exhibits sizes in both inches and centimeters.

The European displays are also important business opportunities for Wild Apple Graphics. The Woodstock, VT firm has been selling into Western Europe since 1991 says Kimberly Lohr international sales manager. She approximates that 30 percent of the company's international business tend hitherwards from EU countries, and says that about 32 percent of the company's featured artists are European, including Michael Clark and Naomi McBride, the pair of Scotland, and Albena Hristova and Silvia Vassileva, the two Bulgarians, now living in California.

Lohr travels to Europe three or four times a year, typically to attend the Spring and Autumn Fairs in Birmingham, England; Quadrum/SACA in Bologna, Italy; and the International Maison et Objet (a leading domicile decoration, giftware and tableware exhibition) in Paris. Lohr says that these exhibits provide good growth opportunities for U.S.-based firms and are great venue for noting European inclines For example, at the Maison et Objet she noted that works featuring a fate of bright pinks, greens and red were shown and well accepted. "And now," says Lohr "you're seeing a destiny of bright colors in art being shown in the United States.