Trust between an artist and gallery has never been more important in the digital age. Whereas in the past a gallery could simply remove an artist’s label from a painting, in the digital age, direct contact to an artist is far easier for a customer… and so should it be as long as both gallery and artist are acting honourably.
So how should we protect each other’s interests in this complex arena? As I see it, by asking the customer one simple question: “Where did you hear about my work?”
If a customer has come to an artist directly, through the artist’s own website, social media pages or from an independent exhibition… fair play: the artist should take 100% of the sale: you’ve done the legwork, you should receive the benefits.
Of course that only applies if you have the artwork in question in your possession. If it’s in a gallery, I would suggest you should always direct the customer back to that gallery. You have entrusted it to them to market, so they should have the chance to do just that. And have almost certainly spent a lot of time and money marketing it for you already, so they should be given the chance to recoup those costs.
If when the question is asked, the answer is through a gallery’s shop, website, social media promotion, or other, then of course it is they who have paved the way for that sale and so it’s they who should close the sale and take their cut.
As mentioned in previous articles, being respectful of your gallery’s work and efforts is not only showing professionalism to your customers, it’s also protecting your position with the gallery… your shop-front!
If I sold only one painting from an artist, then all subsequent sales sold direct from the artist, how could I support having that artist on my walls? For a gallery to keep promoting you, we need to live, so in this heady and confusing digital world, we must work together to create a safe and sustained arena for customers to buy from us… and that means working together for the same aims.
N.B.: Galleries have huge costs (especially if on a high street) with rent, rates, lighting, staffing, digital promotion, etc. This means each artwork they hang on their walls has an intrinsic cost to it. Galleries must recoup those costs and create a profit to stay in business. So, with this in mind… support them!
If (even after reading this book) promoting yourself isn’t something you’re prepared or want to do, you need to support them in supporting you… regardless if you feel they’re not doing the job you would. And the only way of doing that is by acting honourably. Once trust has gone, it’s gone, so protect your partnerships.
Framing
Recently, one of my artists turned up at an exhibition with an entire collection in black frames. Up to then, she’d only used white frames, so I was understandably taken aback.
There is nothing wrong with black frames per se, but as my customers were used to her white frames, the reaction was mixed and in the end we had to exchange some frames on paintings that sold so they matched paintings my customers had bought before.
Framing of any artwork is a very personal choice for both artist and customer. As such, I feel involvement from a third party like a gallery only complicates the issue. That said, it’s always advisable to have that conversation with your gallery/ies… especially if you’re changing your modus operandi.
Let us know if you’re prepared to take frames back if a customer wants to do their own framing. This way we can offer them a small discount to give them room to reframe it themselves and you can recoup that discount by having the frame back to reuse.
Pricing
I’m often asked by customers why one painting is worth more than another of the same size by a different artist. I don’t know why people think the art world is any different to any business.
Why does one company CEO earn £50,000 per year and another £5,000,000? Experience!
You pay for years of experience, quality, knowledge and investment in their craft when you hire a CEO and a more renowned artist is no different. Market forces determine any work and an artist must define their speed of painting, sales and investment in their craft when assessing what to charge.
If you’re just starting out, of course you can’t expect to command the same prices as someone who has invested years in their name. If an artist is more prolific, they may decide to price themselves lower to speed up sales. A less prolific one may charge more: whatever they feel is a fair balance whilst protecting their name, and having enough sales to fit their desired lifestyle.
There are no secret calculations for this. It’s a suck-it-and-see scenario. A gallery may help you with this and suggest you charge more for your work (I wouldn’t suggest reducing the prices you’ve worked hard for) but if they do, they’ll probably want you to do it across the board (with other galleries) too. Otherwise other galleries selling your work for lower prices may seem to be ‘trashing your market’ and will make their gallery look like they’re overcharging their customers.
One thing is absolutely important: work sold by you as an artist direct to your customers must never be sold for less than a gallery’s prices. In doing this, you’ll be price-trashing your own work, neglecting the value of the marketing you’ve done yourself and making your gallery customers feel they’ve been overcharged. So prices must reflect across the board if you’re to act professionally.
Discounts
There are some things in life I don’t understand. For example (in the UK at least), why we tip a taxi driver, but not a barman? Another is why we wouldn’t consider asking for a discount when buying a washing machine, but think it’s fine to ask a craftsman/woman for a discount!
Annoying as this reality is, it’s a fact of life. Yes, we could turn them down flatly and lose a sale, but I’ve always been a great believer in the overall picture. The odd sweetener is just the way life is so it’s one of the many things we just have to accept in this trade to keep the wheels in motion.
So, when signing with a gallery, they may ask for a little discretion with your prices. I usually ask for 10%. I would never expect an artist to do any more than this without first talking to them about it. I think that’s fair and it works for us all. This little wriggle room is used in several situations:
- A customer may buy two or more pieces of an artist’s work, so being able to offer them a little ‘sweetener’ helps customer, artist and gallery relations.
- A customer may buy two or three pieces of several artist’s works. For the sake of the overall deal, it may be necessary to offer a discount on all works.
- As mentioned above, if a customer doesn’t want the frame so allowing them something towards reframing (especially when the artist can reuse the frame) makes complete sense.
A gallery should let you know in advance of their usual discount allowance and you should question it if it exceeds this agreement without first being informed of the reasons. But be understanding if it’s reasonable and they may have tried to contact you.
Negotiations on the spot are easy to second guess and rarely easy to predict, so going off-piste on occasions can happen. Personally, in such a case I’d take the brunt of the loss if I can, but there can be extenuating circumstances, so listen to the reasons first before judging.
All in all, you need to do things your way but the more you respect yourself, the more others will respect you… and the more we respect our partnerships, the more we’ll support this wonderful industry of ours.