On the occasion of another friend getting screwed over by their gallery at the tender age of We Should Know Better, here is a long overdue post on walking that thin, thin line between social niceties, handshake deals, and well, labor law.

First of all, and I have said it before, consider NOT having a permanent gallery, to begin with. An artist working on commission, with grants, on residencies, collaborating with curators and institutions, might not be best served by a gallery. Or chances are you will do more for them than they will do for you. If you do decide to go down the path most walked, here are a few rules of thumb that are generally accepted by gallerists who are not crooks. Some are self-explanatory but, you would be surprised. Speaking of self-explanatory. Do NOT PAY for participation in group shows. Just don’t.

Most artists, especially at the beginning of a gallery relationship, negotiate from a bottom line of my Work Sucks I Cannot Believe Someone Will Buy This Shit Please Take It Out of Here and Keep it Gone. Trust me; I have been there. But this is how you will lose works, money, and your labor rights. Of course, no one will hand you a manual the minute you land your first representation, but if they did, here is how it would start: Keep track of your work, stupid.

Let’s try a loose A-Z, shall we?

TRANSPORTATION
The gallery is generally obligated to transport the works safely FROM and BACK TO the studio. If a friend or a curator (individual) asks you to carry work in your VW, or even rent a U-haul and collect some pieces from other artists’ studios. Sure! Sounds like fun, sort of.
But if a gallery business refuses to pay for transport for a group show- say no thank you. If they refuse to pay the art handling for a SOLO show… RUN!
Seriously this has been a hard line for me and a sort of test to weed out the unserious dealers.
SIDENOTE: I did roll up three canvases and brought them to my first New York group show on the plane with me. The gallery paid for my plane trip and accommodation but asked, very nicely, to skip transatlantic transport. I made a huge stink about it to my (M)other gallerist at the time. She advised me to go for it just this once. If things go well, you will not have to do it again, she said, and well, she was right.
(Speaking of transatlantic, I know of a European gallery that will only ship ocean freight, I mean...)
Now, while most galleries do cover transportation costs from the studio before a show or at the beginning of a collaboration, not all of them remember to cover the costs when the time comes to return the works, which is often after months, years, or even decades. (Keep Track Of Your Work, Stupid). Hell, some don’t even “remember” to give the works back at all.
If, for whatever reason, you suspect foul play show up with a truck and a friend and start yelling really loud. You have heard the stories.

ART FAIRS
Galleries pay for all Art Fair-related expenses, work transport, their crew, etc. It is pretty standard that they will also pay for the artist’s travel expenses or hotel or both if it is a solo presentation or if they want you to attend for some other reason. (To sexually harass you, for example). If no one invites you and you just want to show up for da free drinks, you cover the bills, kid. 

CONSIGNMENT
Signing a consignment should be like a condom when exhibiting around. ALWAYS ON. A consignment agreement specifies the exact amount, sizes, titles, material of the work you give to the gallery on loan = on consignment. It also determines the sale price and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, the length of the loan period. The usual period between two galleries is six months, with an extension option. The standard consignment period between artist and their gallery is FOREVER. Diamonds are forever. But time your consignments. This is also an excellent place to mention that the gallery is responsible for transport both ways. You can easily find an agreement sample on the in-ter-net.

DISCOUNT
In one of the initial discussions with my first gallerist in Vienna, she asked about my prices. I mumbled something along the lines of cheap. She shook her head and said that anything below 2.000 just won’t do. She then proceeded to double all prices only to sell everything at about one-third of the (inflated) price—business as usual. I do not know why rich people are so keen on a bargain, but we all play along; this is a dog and pony show. The average discount any collector walking into a gallery expects is 10%. The standard deal any professional collector who respects themselves demands is 20%, and it can go downhill from there. If the market is hot and there is a waiting list, the gallery will probably choose not to discount; I had a gallerist who raised the price by 20% on the spot during Frieze NY, just because he could. The discount is split 50-50% between artist and gallery. If your work sells like hot croissants and you feel mighty good about yourself, you can ask your gallery to discount their percentage (not yours). I knew a girl once who tried it, and it worked pretty well.

FRAMES
If your work needs framing, the gallery will generally front the expense and deduct it from that work’s sale price once it is sold. It might be reasonable for them to group frame expenses of a show and remove them from the sum of the sales (regardless if the framed pieces are sold or not). However, it is NOT reasonable to charge you for framing expenses years down the line for unrelated works and exhibitions.

INVOICE
When in doubt, invoice. I did not need to invoice most galleries I worked with, as their accounting system handled this. Most galleries assume we are socially dysfunctional or will combust if we deal with anything business-like; I have been repeatedly advised to leave cash aside for taxes. Being an artist is a business, and you need to run it like one. How will I get paid is perhaps the first question you should ask; do it per email to the b person, don’t sweat it. Now, the most critical use of the invoice is as a tool to claim unpaid money. On the escalation scale, let’s say it is: send an email, send an invoice, follow up, lawyer up; leaving about two weeks between communication attempts. If you hear of a gallery that is not paying their artists, do not work with them. It will not be any different with you.

MOTHER GALLERY
If you have more than one gallery (and you absolutely should!) Mother gallery is the One to Rule Them All, the one to find them and in the Darkness bind them. It is usually your first gallery or the one who stuck it with you. Or the one who does the most for you. Or the one who showed up after all this but has a much bigger splash, and everyone sucks it up. Now the intricacies of the Mother Gallery relationship with other galleries and their percentage on future sales are even more delicate and fluid than everything else that is very fluid. It depends. To my knowledge, the MG gets 10-15% of work sales for every solo show you do with any first show you do with another gallery. And they get 20% for a work sold at a group show at another gallery. In other words, the MG  will collect some earnings on having “discovered” you first and having invested in your debut. They also cover communication, consignment agreements, and logistics, especially if the works leave their storage, not your studio. Whatever the percentage split between the galleries, the artist gets 50%. Lastly, if you are asked to sign an exclusivity contract with a gallery upon starting with them, it is, in my personal opinion, a Major red flag alert. If you are hell-bent on working with them, do not agree to anything longer than one year. If your career takes off, you will have 4-5 years of significant earnings when the prices skyrocket and everyone wants a show. I would not waste those years on a single gallery.

PERCENTAGE
Repeat after me. The ARTIST ALWAYS GETS 50%. Don’t ever, ever back down on that. Not when the gallery has paid for the art fair booth, not if they are in New York or the moon. Never. The gallery or galleries involved split 50, the artist gets the other 50. That piece of the pie is never cut. Art dealers selling from your studio, on the other hand, will get 10-20% tops. Selling from your studio when you have a gallery is iffy and a good reason for them to dump you, but… you know. If a gallery does not have a space, goes to art fairs, or pays for transport, they should not be claiming 50% of the sale price. But then again, you probably shouldn’t be working them, to begin with. I am not very familiar with the percentages in newest online schemes, please advise. 

PRICING
Much agony goes into pricing one’s works initially, primarily since prices are directly related to demand. No demand, no worries. Before entering a gallery relationship, I would say the price is whatever is right. A couple of hundred. A meal. A car ride to the airport. Ok, ok, double whatever it cost you to make it and read the room—something like that. Upon entering a gallery relationship, the prices will for sure double or triple (to be discounted on), but I would say pricing is no longer your concern. The important thing is that the prices remain universal across galleries, countries, and shows ( and even studio sales, ahem) and increase every year or so or every time you have a solo show with your main gallery, which is usually every two years. Different galleries have different approaches to price increases, and some are very haphazard, so maybe keep an eye on that.

ROASTER
I once was on the roaster with both Nicolai brothers, and all I got was a mild headache. A gallery roaster is the other artists of the gallery, the stable, the bench. Naturally, you do not want to be sitting on the bench, so I would probably consider the ages and career stages of the other artists before agreeing on working with a gallery. Where do you fit in? Does this gallery have a collector base for your work? Are they willing to grind for you, or does one single piece of one of the big shots pays the bills for years? Is this a group of peers you can get drunk with for years and grow wiser with? At my very first solo at my very first gallery, I was mistaken for the intern by a gallery artist, not once, but twice, a freaking intern. The other artists of the gallery, if they don’t suck balls, are an excellent place to ask if the gallery is a reputable business. If they pay on time ( or at all), abuse power, return works, create opportunities, work with museums, have a good rep, etc. If a gallery does not have a good rep, DO NOT work with them. It will not be any different with you. You are not unique, and they most probably belong in prison. 

PRINTING
I mean, you can ask for a catalog to accompany your solo show at the gallery; you can and totally should ask. That doesn’t mean you are going to get it. Some galleries do print a usually thin leaflet; some do posters, few do more substantial hardcovers. The gallery covers the costs of an exhibition invite (now almost extinct), poster, or an accompanying info leaflet. Do NOT print your own stuff. The printing costs of an exhibition catalog or artist book are usually split 50-50% and are extracted from the show’s sales.

INSURANCE
Now, yes, the gallery is obligated to transport the works from and back the studio SAFELY. Most art handlers have insurance, most galleries and institutions have insurance, but a lot slips through the cracks here, and artists are often expected to turn a blind eye, especially when customs are involved. I have always found it funny how art handlers wear gloves to touch something I have spent the last weeks, months kicking around my studio, but this is how it is I guess. This differs wildly, of course, but in the general pool of beginners-mid career artists I would not expect to get much more than the material costs back if an artwork is damaged. 

As I will be writing the second and third parts of these A-Z, I want to hear from you. Your questions, your answers. I will try to get some lawyers in Germany, USA and Greece to put things into perspective too. (Are you a lwayer who wants to help? Talk to me)

To be continued