Artist Website Design

Art is judged on detail, and detail means large files. Uploaded unchanged, a dozen high-resolution photos make a portfolio stall on a phone, and the visitor leaves after the first one. The build handles that for you:

• each image saved in several widths and in WebP or AVIF, so a phone gets a light file and a 27-inch monitor a sharp one
• color profiles kept, so your blues stay the blues you painted
• the first image shows immediately, and the others load only when the visitor scrolls to them
• a full-screen view with zoom on details such as brushwork or surface texture

Good photographs matter as much as code. Shoot paintings straight on, in even light and without the frame; for sculpture, three or four angles and one shot that shows scale in a room.

Every work has its own page and address, so you can send a collector a direct link instead of a screenshot. The page lists, as text:

• title, year and medium — “Oil and graphite on panel”
• dimensions in inches and centimeters, with framed size if it ships framed
• status: available, sold, on loan or in an exhibition, with the gallery named
• price, a price range, or an “Enquire about this work” button that sends the title with the message
• a few lines about the work and two or three related pieces from the same series

Sold works stay on the site. They show your range and your market, and a sold label often prompts a commission request for something similar.

Most artists work in bodies of work, and a long grid mixes them into noise. Grouping by series gives each body its own page with a short text — what started it, the materials, where it was shown — and lets a curator see how your practice has moved over the years. Filters by medium, size and availability help a buyer who has a specific wall in mind. Older series move to an archive section rather than disappearing.

Curators, juries and grant panels expect a CV in a familiar order, and gallerists check it before a studio visit. The CV page is HTML text rather than a PDF so it can be read on a phone and found by search engines, with a PDF version to download:

• education and residencies
• solo and group exhibitions, newest first, with venue and city
• awards, grants, public and private collections
• press and publications with links where they exist

Upcoming shows sit on a separate page with dates, the venue and opening hours. The statement and a short bio, written in the third person for press use, get their own page next to downloadable portrait photos.

Commissions need more explanation than a finished work, because the client is buying something that does not exist yet. A dedicated page lays it out:

• what you take on: pet or family portraits, large paintings for a particular room, murals, illustration
• examples of past commissions, with the client’s permission
• the steps: brief, sketch, approval, painting, delivery, and how many revisions are included
• timeline, deposit and a starting price or price per size, if you choose to publish them
• a form that asks for size, subject, reference photos, deadline and budget range

Originals and prints are different purchases. An original usually starts a conversation — about shipping, framing, a studio visit — so an enquiry button often works better than a cart. Prints are impulse buys and sell best with a checkout.

A print shop on your own site

Limited editions show the edition size, paper, printing method and whether each print is signed and numbered. Checkout runs through Stripe or a Shopify store connected to the site, with shipping zones and costs you set. Print-on-demand services such as Fine Art America or Printful can handle production, linked from your print pages.

Links to marketplaces and galleries

If you already sell through Saatchi Art, Etsy or a gallery’s online viewing room, the artwork page links to the listing so prices stay in one place. Photographers who sell prints have different needs; they are covered under photographer website design.

No setting fully prevents copying: anything that appears on a screen can be screenshotted. What reduces misuse in practice is publishing images at web size, about 2,000 pixels on the long side, never your print files; adding your name and a copyright line to the image metadata and under every work; and using a reverse image search now and then to find copies. A subtle watermark is an option for new work you share widely. Blocking the right-click menu mostly annoys real buyers and does little else.

Look through any list of the top 10 artist websites and the pattern is the same: few words, generous white space, fast images, simple menus. Beautiful artist websites are quiet; the art supplies the color.

When a template is enough

Squarespace, Wix, Format, Pixpa or Artlogic’s artist sites are a sensible start for an early career, a small body of work, or an artist who enjoys updating pages personally.

When a custom artist website pays off

Custom design pays off once you manage hundreds of works with status and pricing, sell prints and originals in different ways, show in several countries and need a second language, or want a site that does not look like the same template other artists in your scene use.

Instagram is where many collectors discover new work, and it is worth keeping active. It is still a feed: posts sink within days, sizes and order belong to the platform, and the reach of your next post is decided by an algorithm. Your website is the permanent record — every series, every price, your full CV — and the link in your bio leads to the current series or the available works page rather than the home page.

Buyers and curators increasingly ask AI assistants things like “abstract landscape painters in New Mexico” or “artists who paint large commissions for hotel lobbies”. An assistant can only recommend an artist whose site it can read. Your name, medium, themes, city, galleries and exhibitions are written as text, and structured data describes you, each artwork with medium, size and year, and each exhibition with its venue and dates.

Getting named in those answers takes further work; I describe it on the AI SEO and GEO optimization page.

• A simple artist portfolio website — home, works by series, About with statement, CV and contact: 700–1,400 €, design included.
• A full artist website with artwork pages and status, filters, exhibitions, commissions, a print shop or marketplace links, and a second language if needed: from 2,000 €, design included.

Domain, hosting and the code are registered to you; the running costs after launch are hosting and the domain. Price ranges for every service are on the pricing page, and the way I plan and build sites is explained under website development.

Tattoo studios and tattoo artists, with booking requests and deposits: tattoo website design.