Sooner or later someone asks to see your work: a gallery owner, a curator, a journalist, a collector who met you at an opening. Sending a folder of images and a loose list of prices rarely makes the impression the work deserves. A short, well-made catalogue does, and it takes less effort than most artists expect once their records are in order.
This guide walks through building a catalogue for a specific reader: choosing what goes in, presenting it well, sending it with the right controls and following up afterwards. It also covers when a catalogue is the right tool and when something more permanent makes more sense.
Start with a purpose, not with everything
The most common mistake is sending everything you have. A catalogue works best when it is built for one reader and one purpose, because what a gallery needs to see is not what a collector needs to see.
Match the selection to the reader
- For a gallery: a coherent selection that shows direction, ideally from one series, with recent work first. A gallery is judging whether you have a body of work, not whether you can make a single good piece.
- For a collector: available pieces with sizes, media and prices, so they can decide without writing back for basic facts.
- For a journalist or curator: a clear overview with titles, years and a few lines of context, and images they are allowed to use.
Keep it short enough to finish
Choose between 8 and 20 pieces. That is enough to show range and few enough to be read to the end. If you are hesitating over a piece, leave it out: a catalogue is remembered for its strongest pages, not its length.
What makes a catalogue read well
Good images, consistently shot
A catalogue can only look as good as its photographs. Use similar lighting and framing across the selection, and crop out the surroundings. If a piece does not have a good image yet, leave it out for now and add it when it does. Mixed quality of photographs reads as mixed quality of work, however unfair that may be.
The right details, nothing more
Title, year, medium, dimensions and, when relevant, edition and price are usually enough. A one-line note about the idea behind a piece can help, but long texts belong elsewhere. Decide in advance whether prices appear at all, and be consistent across the selection: a catalogue where half the works show a price and half do not looks unfinished.
A sequence that makes sense
Order the pieces so the eye moves naturally: by series, by period or by theme. The first and last pages carry the most weight, so put your strongest work there. If you have a piece that explains the rest, such as a key early work from the series, place it near the beginning.
Generate it from your records
The easiest way to keep a catalogue accurate is to generate it from the same records you use for everything else. When the title, dimensions and images come from the artwork record, there is no second document to keep in sync, and a corrected detail shows up everywhere. If your records are still scattered, start with What to Record for Every Artwork.
How it works in Art2App Artist Studio
On the Masterwork plan, you publish an online catalogue of selected works, protect it with a password and an expiry date, and decide whether visitors can download it. You send a link instead of a heavy attachment, and the catalogue can close itself when the opportunity has passed.
Send a catalogue, not a folder of images
With Art2App Artist Studio on the Masterwork plan, you publish a catalogue of selected works from your records, protect it with a password and an expiry date, and share a single link.
Discover Artist StudioFree up to 50 works • 30-day trial on paid plans • No card required
Good habit: set an expiry date every time. A catalogue that quietly closes after a few weeks is easier to control than one that stays online indefinitely with prices that may have changed.
Sending it well
The catalogue is half of the impression. The message that carries it is the other half, and a few small habits make a noticeable difference.
- Write two sentences to go with the link: who you are and why you are sending this selection to this person.
- Share the password separately, by message or phone, when the catalogue is protected.
- Decide about downloads. Allow them for a gallery that needs to forward the work, restrict them for an early conversation.
- Choose an expiry date that gives the reader a fair window, usually two to four weeks.
- Follow up after a week, and record the conversation in the contact's record.
Different readers, different follow-up
A gallery may take weeks to respond, and a polite reminder after a week or two is normal. A journalist works to a deadline, so send the catalogue only when you can answer questions quickly. A collector who asked for a catalogue is already interested, so follow up within a few days and offer a studio visit or a call. In every case, write down what was sent, to whom and when, so the next conversation can pick up where this one stopped.
When a catalogue is not enough
A catalogue is a snapshot for a specific audience. If you want a permanent, public place where anyone can find your work, an artist website generated from the same records is the natural next step. See how a website built from your records works. And once pieces start to sell, Certificates of Authenticity & QR Verification explains how to document each sale.
Ready to put your studio records in order?
Art2App Artist Studio keeps your whole body of work in one place, from first sketch to sold piece. Start free with up to 50 works, or try the paid plans for 30 days.
Discover Artist StudioFree up to 50 works • 30-day trial on paid plans • No card required