How To Ship Artwork Internationally: The Complete Guide For Artists

How To Ship Artwork Internationally: The Complete Guide For Artists

Shipping your work to another country is the moment most artists get nervous. Customs, damage, delays, cost. This guide removes the guesswork. It covers packing, couriers, customs paperwork, insurance, timing and returns, whether you are sending a painting to New York or a print to Berlin.

Before the detail, the shortcut: if shipping is the barrier, digital exhibition at Streeters Gallery or The Holy Art needs nothing but a file. For everything else, read on.

Step one: decide if the work should travel at all

Check the show's size limit first. Streeters accepts work up to 80cm on the longest side, which also keeps shipping affordable. Fragile, heavy or glass framed pieces are the ones that cost most and break most. If you have a choice, send the piece that ships well.

Step two: choose the courier

Use a tracked, international courier: DHL, FedEx, UPS or your national postal service's tracked international option. Compare prices for your box dimensions and weight, and check each courier's rules on shipping artwork, since some have specific packaging requirements or value limits.

Book the return at the same time you book the outbound, or arrange with the gallery to collect. Streeters holds no work beyond the stated collection window, so the return has to be solved before the show.

Step three: pack for survival, not for looks

Remove glass from frames. Glass breaks, adds weight and can slice the work. Use acrylic glazing or ship unglazed and glaze on arrival if needed.

Cover the surface with glassine or acid free tissue. Protect corners with cardboard or foam corner protectors. Wrap in bubble wrap, bubbles facing out. Sandwich flat works between two rigid boards larger than the work. Place in a rigid box with two to three inches of padding on every side. Fill voids so nothing moves when you shake the box. Mark FRAGILE and THIS WAY UP, and put your name and the show name inside the box as well as on the label.

Canvases can ship stretched in a box, or rolled in a tube face out for large works if the gallery agrees to restretching; check first.

Step four: customs paperwork

International shipments need a customs declaration. Describe the contents accurately as original artwork with the medium, dimensions and a stated value. Artwork is generally classified under Chapter 97 of the international HS tariff system (original paintings and drawings, prints, sculptures). Your courier will ask for the description and value and generate the paperwork.

Declare an honest value. Under declaring risks the shipment and your insurance; over declaring inflates any duties.

For shipments between the UK and the EU, or into the United States, duties and taxes may apply depending on value and destination. Check your courier's guidance for the destination country, and decide whether you or the recipient covers any charges; for gallery exhibitions, sender pays is standard. Consider temporary import options if the work is returning unsold; your courier can advise on the paperwork for your route.

Step five: insure it

Courier standard cover is usually low. Add declared value insurance to the shipment for the work's full value, and keep photographs of the packed work and the sealed box for any claim. Both Streeters and The Holy Art advise artists to insure work in transit; the gallery takes reasonable care but is not liable for damage in shipping.

Step six: timing

Ship to arrive at least a week before the delivery deadline, never on it. International shipments get held, rerouted and delayed, and a late arrival cannot be hung. For the Streeters shows in London (November 6 to 8), New York Tribeca (November 20 to 23) and Berlin (December 5 to 7), work backwards from the delivery date in your confirmation and add a week.

Step seven: label everything

Your name, the artwork title, medium and dimensions on the back of the work. The gallery's delivery address exactly as given in your confirmation, with the show name and your name on the outside of the box. Tracking number saved and shared with the gallery.

A quick checklist

Within the size limit. Glass removed. Surface covered, corners protected, wrapped, boarded, boxed, voids filled. Accurate customs declaration as original artwork with honest value. Full value insurance. Shipped to arrive a week early. Return prebooked. Everything labelled. Tracking shared.

The alternative that skips all of this

Digital exhibition. A high resolution file, displayed on screen at the venue and promoted with the show, from £45 at Streeters. Many artists exhibit physically in their home city and digitally everywhere else, which is how an artist in Lagos or Manila builds a London, New York and Berlin exhibition history without shipping a single box.

Frequently asked questions

How do I ship a painting internationally? Remove glass, protect the surface and corners, board and box it rigidly, declare it accurately as original artwork, insure it for full value, and ship tracked to arrive a week before the deadline.

Do I pay customs on artwork shipped for an exhibition? Possibly, depending on the destination and value. Check your courier's guidance for the route, and ask about temporary import options for work that will return.

What is the cheapest way to exhibit abroad? Digital exhibition. No shipping at all, from £45 at Streeters Gallery.

Is my work insured by the gallery? Galleries take reasonable care at the venue but artists should insure work in transit and at the show.

What size can I ship to a Streeters show? Up to 80cm on the longest side.

Ship it, or send the file

Streeters Gallery: London, New York, Berlin. Physical and digital.

The Holy Art: nine cities, physical and digital, free to submit.

The work travels. Or the file does. Either way, it gets seen.