2. You don’t want to sell your art
If you don’t actually want to sell “your babies”, don’t talk to a gallerist. Oftentimes gallerists will meet with very promising artists but will realize they either have no interest in selling their work or will price it so astronomically high (with no prior sales data to back up such prices) that it is virtually unsellable. If you want to sell your work, be ready to listen to a voice of reason.
3. You are not willing to share profit
You may wonder, “What percentage does an art gallery take?” Alas, galleries are a retail business, and they are selling art. The piece an artist provides is essentially the item at wholesale cost, marked up 100% to retail.
Artist takes home 50%, the gallery the other 50%.
The only difference is that the work is on consignment. If selling your work and only receiving 50% of the price rubs you the wrong way, perhaps a different sales model might suit you better!
4. You don’t know what kind of artist you are
Knowing what kind of artist you are can help you to focus your artistic efforts in a more targeted manner rather than having a scattershot approach that may be less successful.
5. You don’t know what you want from your artistic career…
… nor how to get there.
While art galleries and curators may have an idea of your potential as an artist, nothing beats knowing where you want your career to go.
Beyond your endpoint, what will it require to get there?
- Do you need a gallery in New York?
- What about a co-op?
- Would a community of like-minded artists where you’re guaranteed consistent shows be a good fit?
- Would a coastal vacation town suit you better?
If you don’t know where to find a gallery or what type of gallery you need, you’re not ready.
6. You haven’t researched gallery-artist relationships
Relationships with art galleries are all different and go far beyond simply having someone else sell your art.
- Will the gallery be representing you and all your art or just a few consigned pieces for a certain duration?
- Are you willing to work with someone else?
- Are you willing to write an artist statement?
- To do the work of logging all the information of your artwork?
No one can do that for you (unless you hire an intern or an artist’s assistant!).
7. You’re not comfortable talking about money
No one really enjoys talking about money, but there are two different aspects of money discussions that are primordial to working with a gallery:
8. You love running your own art business
One question to ask yourself (again) is why you want to work with a gallery? What is a gallery going to do for you as an artist? Remember that you will be giving away approximately 50% of your revenue to someone else in exchange for… what? What will you gain?
9. You have your own retail space or collectors
If you have a studio (or another space open to the public), or even a website or social media page where you have enough traffic that you’re able to sell your works without the assistance of a middleman, why bother getting a gallery involved?
10. You are not interested in art fairs
One of the toughest nuts to crack if you’re an individual artist is the mid to high-end art fair market, and yet this is often how artists either launch their career and where galleries (at least pre-Covid) would make their biggest sales of the year.
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