Our History
FulcrumGallery.com is the inevitable outcome of a seemingly coincidental series of events which started with its founders. Over time, a friendship, an interest in art and decorating, and a strong software development background led to the FulcrumGallery.com that exists today. As the old saying goes, "do what you love, and the money will follow."
Even so, we didn't actually plan to get into this business. As we like to say, it was more of an accident. We didn't sit down and look at the market landscape, deliberate over entry barriers, or consider strengths and weaknesses. In fact, we didn't even intend to be involved in e-commerce in any form at all. FulcrumGallery.com actually started off as a demo website for the software company we founded, Metaverse Corporation. Its purpose was to be an example of how easily a Web site could be updated using Metaverse's Content Management software. While many Content Management companies create a fictitious company for their demonstration Web site, we felt from the beginning that if we were to spend time creating a demonstration Web site, it should have some value on its own. Since we had a deep interest in art, we decided to build an art gallery.
On its launch date, October 10, 2002, the FulcrumGallery.com featured view-only artwork from famous artists. Salvador Dali, one of our personal favorites, was the first featured artist on the site. Since it was so easy to add artwork to the site, we quickly added a page letting visiting artists know they could submit their own artwork for display on the site. First slowly, then more and more frequently, artists started submitting their work. After hearing from several of our artists that they had received referrals from our site resulting in sales of their work, and hearing from art appreciators that they liked the artwork on our site, but were disappointed that there was no way to purchase the work, we decided to make the investment to turn FulcrumGallery.com into an online store and relaunched the site on September 26, 2003.
Initially, we had only a couple hundred pieces of art for sale, all original art (mostly oil paintings). It wasn't until early 2004 that we expanded our product offering to a few thousand open edition fine-art prints. In October of 2004, we added our online Frame Shop, enabling customers to preview artwork with various high quality moldings and mats online. Today we offer a selection of over 200,000 works of art, encompassing nearly every imaginable subject matter, and offer a range of value added services such as custom framing and canvas transfers. We ship to thousands of customers each month, worldwide. We are a privately owned company operating in South Brunswick, New Jersey. FulcrumGallery.com exists because of the continued investment of its founders and employees. It is very much a work of blood, sweat, and tears. We take great pride in what we've created. If there's anything we can do to make your experience with us more enjoyable, please let us know.
Our Name
A "fulcrum" is defined as a hinge or point of support on which a lever pivots to transmit force. We thought this aptly portrayed the role of art in society, and used it to derive our gallery's name. To define art has been a daunting task for any society at any given point in time throughout history. Yet, art has reflected the culture of its respective society consistently. This gallery is a collection of art that serves not only to reflect society but as a means to influence decision makers conflicted by opposing factors - balance is achieved by placing the Fulcrum at the ideal place between those factors.
