Selling Your Artwork: Choosing a Dealer or Gallery

Q: I've tried all kinds of ways to sell my artwork and in my opinion, far too many artists have problems with dealers. Sometimes artists have trouble collecting money from dealers or galleries, sometimes they have their artwork lost or damaged, sometimes they get fooled into thinking that more will artwork sell than actually does, sometimes they're told that no artwork has been sold when it actually has. Why do things like this happen and what can we as artists do about it?

A: You sound like you've had several bad experiences or have been swapping sob stories with fellow artists. Just about any artist can come up with at least one problematic dealer or gallery encounter when put to it, but the truth is that the overwhelming majority of art dealer and gallery dealings are positive. Never lose sight of this fact and, more importantly, don't let a few bad incidents color your beliefs and attitudes about art dealers in general. Viewing all art dealers as evil is unquestionably hazardous to your career because the truth is that the almost all of them are reputable and upstanding. If they weren't, they'd be either out of business already or on their way out soon.

As is the case in any other business, problem dealers and galleries do exist. By learning to spot them ahead of time, you can avoid them altogether. First meetings with dealers or galleries are the most important in clueing you into the quality of your potential impending working relationship. When you don't know someone very well, you tend to react more on an instinctual gut level in many ways and make more accurate judgements-- so pay special attention at the outset. Initial negotiations with any dealer or gallery interested in selling your artwork should be smooth, clear, unambiguous, and comfortable for both you and the dealer or gallery. Watch for warning signs like minor differences of opinion, disagreements, or arguments. These may not seem like much at the time, but as the relationship progresses, they can and often grow increasingly serious. And if negotiations are already touchy at the first meeting, that may not bode well for the future. So no matter how excited you are about having a show and selling your artwork, don't ignore signs that things may get a little rough down the road.

In addition to seeing how you feel around a dealer, check out his or her reputation in the art community and particularly among other artists. See what dealer or professional organizations they belong to, how long they've been in business, whether their shows get reviewed in local or regional newspapers, or better yet, in art publications. Speak with artists who've had personal experiences or shows with the dealer and find out how well their artwork sold, how problems were resolved, how quickly they got paid, how well the dealer responded to their needs, and how straightforward the overall relationship was. Sometimes you hear a variety of stories during the course of your research, both good and bad, in which case you have to weigh the plusses and minuses and decide for yourself. Usually, however, the consensus opinion is pretty clear cut.

Investigate any claims or promises that dealers make about how much artwork they think they can sell, how fast they expect to sell it, and what they can do for your career. Once again, ask artists who've shown with them whether similar promises were made and whether or not they came true. Younger artists are particularly vulnerable here. They get so excited about having successful shows that they dispense with double-checking and barge blindly ahead. They feel great for a while telling everyone they're having shows, but if they've made poor choices, they pay for those moments of excitement for months to come. When the outcome looks dismal, saying "no" might be painful, but it's the best way to go.

On the flip side, some artists try to protect themselves against every possible negative outcome with a myriad of legal requirements and restrictions that dealers must obey before they can host shows. This may be acceptable behavior when you're famous, but when you're not, the best way to go is to keep things as simple as possible. The closer you can come to a handshake, a smile, and a simple one page contract, the better. Become known as someone who's hard to work with or who's willing to go legal at the drop of a paintbrush, and no one will work with you. Going legal should be an absolute last resort-- remember this.

Increasingly in today's market, artists have the option of foregoing dealers altogether and renting wall space or entire rooms in rental galleries or in artist cooperatives, or even setting up galleries online. These may sound like a great opportunities to show your artwork, but once again, you have to check around with other artists who've shown at these places or tried online options to find out who came to see the artwork and what sold. If hardly any artwork sells or the art community doesn't take the gallery or website very seriously, seeing your artwork hang on their walls or in your web gallery may be good for your ego, but do little for your career or your bank account.

Choose your dealers by a combination of their reputation in the art community, results of their previous shows, feedback from other artists, and the level of rapport that you develop in your initial negotiations. If you decide to go with a dealer who's known as being difficult from time to time, but other benefits outweigh possible discomforts and inconveniences, that's fine too. At least you know what you're getting into ahead of time.