The gallery that loved my work but never sold a piece
The gallery that loved my work but never sold a piece
A gallery in my city took me on years ago, warm people, they hung my paintings properly, good light, private views with real collectors in the room. And nothing ever sold. Two years. Not one piece. They kept saying the work was beautiful, serious, exactly what their clients should want.
Eventually I asked, gently, who was buying what. It turned out everything that moved was small, abstract, or cheap. My big figurative interiors just sat there looking at everyone.
So my question is more of a confession with an ask: when did you figure out that a gallery's taste or enthusiasm has nothing to do with whether they can sell you? And what was the sign you ignored for too long? For me it was the phrase "we love it, give it time." They loved it for two years. My bank account did not.
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the "beautiful, serious" bit is such a trap. it means they like it, but liking it and being able to move it are two completely different jobs and they were never going to be honest about that because they also liked you as a person.
took me a while too, in a different way. a gallery strung me along for over a year, kept saying my pieces were getting close, people were "circling." finally asked what actually sold in their last three shows and it was all small stuff, all under a certain price point. my work runs big and none of it fit the room they actually had.
not saying you need to shrink or abstract yourself into something you're not. but the gap between what people compliment and what people put money down for is where all the real information lives. took me way too long to start asking the unflattering questions instead of just enjoying the compliments.
That's exactly it. They liked me, so they couldn't tell me the truth, and the truth was that my work was never going to move in that room no matter how beautifully they hung it. I don't think it was malice, just cowardice dressed as kindness.
The "circling" thing is brutal, I'm sorry. That's its own special torture, thinking something is about to happen that never will. Did you ever find out whether they showed the big pieces at all, or were they just being polite about those too?