Comments on: Deep Thought(s) Thursday: Do you owe your gallery?

By: Tess

Tess — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:19:06 +0000

I appreciate that feedback Alyson.

By: Alyson Stanfield

Alyson Stanfield — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:08:27 +0000

Tess: I only got 1 response to this when I asked on Twitter, but she said 20% sounded right.

By: Tess

Tess — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:16:29 +0000

This summer a gallery included 5 of my paintings in a local group show-last summer I participated in a similar event there. I was a late invite by the Gallery (in both cases) and my name was never included on mailings. I did create my own mailing this summer including 3 other venues of my work including this gallery show and mailed it to my sizable list. I have not sold any work through this gallery and feel it is not the right fit. But-the Gallery has told me there is a client very interested in my work, who I met at the opening and they want to bring them to my annual studio event this Fall. If a sale occurs I expect to pay a finders fee but the Gallery and I have no precedent here.15-20% sounds reasonable. I appreciate your thoughts.

By: Gabrielle Jones

Gabrielle Jones — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 04:42:57 +0000

Wow! You sound like a great gallery! Can you represent me? Unfortunately, in my experience, not all galleries are like this and literally hang up the work and wait for someone to walk in. They may also do a little bit of shared cost advertising with the artist, and complain when the artist does their own self promotion and not mention the gallery. You deserve 50% and great loyalty, as for the others…well I left them.
Regarding commissions, if a client contacts you within the area covered by your gallery, then you owe the gallery the agreed , contracted commission. Full stop. You need to ask every contact about your work where thy got your name from. If they contact you directly because they live in your area and that’s not where the gallery is, and you have to do the appointment. sales etc, then you owe the gallery where they saw your work a cut (20% sounds more than fair). If you have another gallery in your own area, you should refer the contact to that gallery – they are probably better at sales than you and that means a better chance of money in the bank. However, if the painting they are interested in has been returned by the gallery or edited out of a show, then you should just pay a referral fee (ie 20%) because you are the champion of the work, not them. Gets complicated, doesn’t it???

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:46:58 +0000

I agree with Keith. This is pretty much exactly what I was about to write after reading about half of the comments. It’s tempting to sell on the side, but you have to remind yourself that the offer most likely would never had arisen if it weren’t for the gallery creating some sort of legitimacy for you, in essence, “branding” you as Keith says. It seems to me that many art buyers want confidence that you’ve achieved a certain level of success by getting gallery representation. Some buyers might be looking for a deal buying direct, but you have to think that if they are looking at original artwork in commercial galleries, they can afford to pay full price. Don’t worry about losing the sale, if they really like your work they will pay for it.

By: Keith

Keith — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:17:15 +0000

This discussion is interesting but it does not touch on the question of the role of a gallery in enhancing the value of an artist’s work. The people who market everything else from baked beans to Bentleys get their contracts by asserting that they do just exactly this better than anyone else and its hard to see why art should be different. It is all about added value. Every artist is in effect a brand and the value of that brand is set in the buyers mind on pretty much the same way as anything else. In my experience self representing artists who do not sell through galleries obtain lower prices and have to do a lot more work. Galleries feel hard done by therefore when artists sell direct and they either see nothing or a pittance and the artist trouser pockets considerably more than would have been the case if galleries had not structured buyers expectations.

By: Alyson Stanfield

Alyson Stanfield — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:25:02 +0000

Phil: Thanks for sharing your experience here. I tend to agree that most artists who have had longstanding relationships with galleries would better understand the need to pay a finder’s fee to the gallery.

I wonder what you think about a time limit? Or if an artist leaves the gallery?

By: Phil Harwood

Phil Harwood — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:02:39 +0000

There has been a lot of sense written in this particular Blog regarding the artist/gallery relationship. As a gallery owner/curator I seem to spend a great deal of my time explaining to artists the real contribution a professional gallery can make to their career. Any resentment of gallery fees/commission usually comes from artists who are at the beginning of their career, wheras the more successful and established painters tend to embrace the idea of the artist/gallery partnership and work it to their advantage.

Self-reperesenting artists will often sell work direct to buyers at a hugely discounted rate to account for what they don’t have to pay in gallery commission. All this does is devalue the work of that particular artist and, in my experience, news of the sale always trickles back to the gallery. Trust & integrity are important qualities, and working against galleries in this way will only lower the respect and reputation they are able to build for themselves within the industry.

By: Alyson B. Stanfield

Alyson B. Stanfield — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:24:56 +0000

Count: If the person found you in the gallery originally and the gallery remains in business (AND you still want to have a good relationship with the gallery), you continue to owe the gallery. In fact, you should just refer sales to the gallery in the first place if they represent you. Once you sever ties with the gallery, you are probably released from future obligations.

Treat your gallery as you would like to be treated. Gallerists know one another well! If word gets out that you are making sales that should have been the gallery’s, you will be ostracized from other galleries.

By: the Count

the Count — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:59:45 +0000

I agree with the paying of commission as a recognition of the gallery’s input and work. At a lower rate as several have suggested. My question is however, do you think this commission at lower rate as a referral fee should have some time limit on it. What if someone contacts the artist directly after say one year, two years..ten years. Might it be an idea to have a set time limit on how long this duty of fee should be paid? If this is open ended then the artist could be paying the gallery forever for many works just because the buyer first became aware of the artist via walking into the gallery…