Do you bring the actual work to the first meeting or just photos? I brought one pastel and it got handled with bare fingers

So I had a first meeting with a small gallery last month, and I could not decide what to bring, so I brought one framed pastel plus a folder of prints. The gallerist picked up the framed one, no gloves, thumb right on the surface. Pastel does not forgive that. I said nothing, obviously, I just stood there smiling like an idiot.

Still not sure if bringing the real thing was a mistake or if it was the only reason she took me seriously.

What do you do? Bring one piece in person, or photos only until they commit to something? And if you do bring it, how do you protect it without looking paranoid? I am starting to think I should just say out loud, please do not touch the surface, but that feels rude to say to someone who might show my work. Maybe it is not rude. Please tell me it is not rude.

If anyone has a line they actually use, I will take it. Mine is currently a very anxious silence. 🙂

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6 comments

Inês Costa·2h

Bringing the real piece was not the mistake. A print on a screen loses the thing that makes work worth showing, the surface, the weight, the way the paper catches light as you move past it. If she had only seen the folder, I don't think she would have taken you seriously, so I understand why you brought it.

But pastel is almost the worst case for this. It is a surface that holds every touch, and a gallery is full of people who handle things without thinking. I work mostly in cyanotype on paper, so I have a bit more forgiveness, but I still bring one piece matted and behind glass, and I keep a sheet of glassine in the folder for anything loose. It does not read as paranoid, it reads as someone who knows their material. Gallerists understand that.

The part I would sit with is you standing there smiling. I have done the same, and I still regret the silence more than the object. It is her room and her hands, but it is your work, and quietly saying "the surface is fragile, may I show you the print instead" is not rudeness. It is information she needs anyway.

So keep bringing the work. Just bring the version that can survive a stranger.

Mateo Serrano·1h

The matted behind glass thing is fine but glass in a first meeting is a trap of its own, they tilt it to catch the light and suddenly you are watching your own reflection instead of your work. I have started bringing unfired-looking bisque pieces in a box with a cloth and just holding them myself, like here, look, and not letting go. Nobody has tried to wrestle one off me yet. Pastel though, that is rough, I do not think I would bring one at all, a photo really does lie less about pastel than the real thing does in a room full of fingers.

Kasia NowakOP·26m

The bisque in a box, holding it yourself the whole time, that is genius and also terrifying, I love it. And you are right about the glass, I did not even think of the tilt. My reflection has ruined more pastels than the fingers ever did.

But here is my problem with "a photo lies less about pastel." A photo flattens it into something that looks like a nice smooth drawing. Pastel is dust sitting on paper. It has a tooth, a texture you can almost feel with your eyes. The whole thing I am proud of is exactly the part a screen throws away. So yes, the real one got a thumbprint on it, and yes I am still annoyed. But if I send a photo, she sees a drawing. Not the thing.

Maybe the answer is photographs only, but I do not fully believe it. What do you photograph bisque with, if it comes to that? I cannot seem to get pastel to look like pastel through a lens.

Kasia NowakOP·1h

The cyanotype detail is what gets me, because you actually thought about it and I didn't. I brought the pastel because it's the one I'm proud of, which is exactly the wrong reason to choose what goes in the car. Matted and behind glass makes sense. Though someone above points out the glass is its own trap, they tilt it to the light and you spend the meeting looking at your own face through it.

And yes, thumb right on the cheek. I could see the smudge. I still said nothing, so I don't know what that says about me. Next time I'll say something, I think. Small. "Could you hold the edge?" Not a whole speech about it.

Camille Laurent·2h

Bring the work. Always. A screen flattens everything, and a gallerist who never sees the surface has no idea what you can do. So that part was not the mistake.

The mistake was pastel. You brought the one medium that punishes handling, to a meeting where touching is basically the job. I would have brought an oil or something that has been varnished and can survive a thumb. Save the pastel for the wall, under glass, once she has already said yes.

And say something next time. Not aggressively, just "it's unfixed, better not to touch" as you move the folder over it. That is not paranoia, it is information. A real gallerist hears it and respects it. If she bristles at that, you have learned something useful about how she would treat your work in the storage room.

For transport, glassine over the surface, a backing board, a rigid portfolio case. That is standard practice, not fussiness. Nobody who handles art thinks you are precious for it.

Kasia NowakOP·1h

Oh no, oil or varnished, that is so obvious and I did not think of it once. I have maybe two things in oil and of course I brought the pastel because it is the one I am proud of. Which is exactly the problem, I bring the piece I love instead of the piece that survives a room.

The "it's unfixed, better not to touch" line while sliding the folder over, that is good. Calm, no drama, just moves the thing. I can probably say that without my voice going strange.

Year of the thumb, I'm going to be thinking about that all week. And yes, she did take me seriously after, which is why I keep going back and forth on the whole thing. Thank you for not being gentle about the pastel part, I needed that more than the reassurance.