About
About LaArt
An independent journal about emerging artists. This page says who writes the profiles, how an artist ends up here, and where our money comes from.
What this site is
LaArt writes about contemporary painters and visual artists, most of them early enough in a career that the work is still undervalued. A profile carries a biography, selected works, a note on the studio practice, and a plain read on what the work costs today.
The list stays small on purpose. We would rather follow a few careers properly (studio visits, current prices, the series that did not work) than name hundreds of artists we have never met. A profile goes up when the reporting behind it is finished, not on a publishing schedule.
How an artist ends up here
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We look at the work
It starts with the work itself. An editor sees it in the studio or at an exhibition; when neither is possible, in high resolution with a condition report. If the work does not hold up to close looking, nothing else matters.
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We look at the career
Consistency across a body of work, output over several years, exhibition history, the way the artist handles materials. Then we ask around: galleries, other artists, the people who bought early.
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An editor writes the profile
The artist reviews facts, dates and prices before publication, but the wording and the judgment stay ours. Nobody has paid to be listed, and nobody can pay to change what we write.
How we make money
Affiliate partnerships. A few of the artists we profile sell through partner galleries such as RakovGallery, and a referred sale pays us a commission. Others sell through partner platforms abroad, where some of the links are affiliate links and a purchase through them may earn us something. Those links carry a Partner tag every time they appear.
That is the entire model. Nothing here is paid placement, and the advice on the Ask a Curator page costs nothing whether you buy or not. The reporting behind a profile, and the way we arrive at a price range, is spelled out under Editorial Standards.
Every page here is published by LaArt, which is independent and pays its own bills. Some of the galleries and platforms selling the work we write about, RakovGallery among them, pay us a commission. Read our judgments with that in mind, and hold us to the standards we publish.
Who writes this
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Alex Kravetz
Senior Editor
Has edited the directory since 2019 and works directly with the artists on it: studio visits, condition checks, pricing. He answers every letter sent to Ask a Curator himself.
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Daria Lebedeva
Contributing Curator
Reports the studio notes on the Russian artists we follow. Before this she spent six years in a Moscow gallery handling inventories, condition reports and shipping.
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Mikhail Voronov
Market Editor
Keeps the price data honest. He collects asking prices from partner-gallery sales and from partner platforms, turns them into the ranges you see on the profiles, and rechecks them quarterly.
Questions about a specific work or artist? Ask a Curator. The consultation is free.
Or open the full Artists Directory, then this year's Artists to Watch.