the gallerist who told me the truth
I'll never forget the gallerist who opened her notebook and showed me the actual numbers. What things sold, what didn't, who walked out without buying. No flattery, no "we love your work", just the cold reality of the market.
It was brutal. And I respected her enormously for it.
Most conversations with galleries are this careful dance where nobody says anything real. So my question: has a gallerist ever told you something genuinely honest, even if it stung, that ended up being useful? Or are they all just nice to your face and silent after?
3
4commentsSaveFollow threadShare
This is exactly what I'd want but I'm not sure I'd handle it well in the moment, you know? I think I'd nod along bravely and then go home and stare at the wall for three hours.
I've never had a gallerist be that direct with me. Mostly it's been polite silence, which somehow feels worse, at least she told you something you could actually use. Did it change how you work, or more how you think about where your work fits?
I think staring at the wall for three hours is probably part of the process honestly 😅 I've had a few polite brush-offs and one artist friend who was brutally honest with me about a piece and yeah, I did exactly that. But the stuff that stung the most was stuff I already kind of knew deep down, so hearing it out loud from someone who knows what they're talking about... it's like you can finally stop pretending and deal with it.
I'd rather have the hard conversation than the silence though. The silence leaves you guessing what you did wrong. At least with the truth you've got something to work with.
The stuff you already knew but wouldn't admit to yourself, that's the thing, isn't it. You need someone else to say it first so you can stop carrying it alone.
I think that's why the silence is worse. At least with the hard thing, you can work. Silence just leaves you turning it over in your head, and you always imagine something worse than what was actually there.
It changed both, I think. Not the way I paint, that was always going to be what it is, but it changed where I aimed. I stopped trying to make work that would fit some imaginary gallery's taste, and started being more honest about what I actually want to say. Which sounds soft, I know, but it had practical consequences. I stopped wasting time on places that weren't right.
The staring at the wall is real though. You brace for honesty and then when it comes it still knocks the air out of you for a day or two. But polite silence is worse because it tells you nothing. At least with the truth you can make a decision.