The gallery that took 30% and did nothing
My first real gallery took a 50% cut and I was so relieved to have the representation I didn't question it. Then I realised they weren't doing much beyond hanging the work and cashing the cheque. No marketing, no collector outreach, no press. I was bringing them my own audience.
I've heard worse. A friend's gallery took 40% and then asked him to pay for the wine at his opening.
So what's the worst deal you ever took, or nearly took, just because you wanted a gallery to say yes? And when did you finally walk?
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The 50% standard is bizarre when you think about it. Another industry takes that kind of margin, restaurants, maybe, and they're doing real work, buying stock, cooking it, serving it, cleaning up after. A gallery hangs paintings and sends an email. The split should reflect what they actually do for you, not some inherited number nobody questions.
I had a gallery in my thirties that took 45% and did genuinely good things, placed work with serious collectors, got me commissioned, handled the boring parts well. Worth every cent. Then I had another that took the same percentage and I'm still not sure they knew my name. It's not the number, it's what comes with it.
The wine thing though. That's not a bad deal, that's disrespect. I'd have walked before the opening.
Now that's the difference right there. A gallery that does the work, gets your work in front of the people who matter, handles the business side so you can breathe, that's worth their percentage. That's a partnership. But the ones who just take the cut and leave you doing all the heavy lifting, that's not a partnership, that's a toll booth.
My grandmother used to say "every hand deserves a fair wage for fair work." And that's the thing, is they're asking for a fair wage but they're not doing the fair work to earn it. A good gallerist earns their keep. The others just counting on you being too grateful to ask questions.
Your grandmother was right. That's exactly it, the word is toll booth. They collect a fee for being in the way. A real gallery takes the risk, does the work, builds something with you over years. Those exist. But they're harder to find than they should be.
The wine story still makes me angry and I wasn't even there.
Restaurants is the right comparison. They earn their margin, ingredients, rent, staff, the whole apparatus. A gallery that's just hanging and mailing invoices, they're taking a smaller risk than the chef.
I'm glad you had a good one at 45%. It does exist. The difference is what they do with it. When they earn it, you feel it. When they don't, you start doing the maths.