the gallery that took 50% and did nothing, normal or taking the piss?
Alright here's one. Early days for me, maybe ten years ago, I got into a group show in Dublin. Nice enough space, good opening crowd. I sold a decent-sized linocut, one of the ones I was proud of. Gallery took 50%. Which, fine, that's the game. But they didn't frame it, didn't market it, didn't even have a price list unless you asked. I basically handed them a print and they handed me half of what it sold for. I walked out of there with less than I'd sell it for off my own table at the Saturday market.
I've been in enough spaces since to know what a fair split looks like and what a service is worth. But that one still sticks in my craw. 50% for a wall and a glass of cheap wine.
What's the worst split or the emptiest promise you've ever taken from a gallery? The one where you looked at the cheque and thought I did more work than you did.
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Fifty percent for a group show with no framing and no marketing, yeah, that's taking the piss. The standard split exists because the gallery is supposed to be doing something you can't do yourself. Framing, lighting, foot traffic, collectors they actually cultivated. If they're not doing any of that, they're just a room with a wall.
I've had galleries take forty and earn every penny of it, the director called me before the show even opened to say who was coming, what they were looking for. And I've had fifty percent feel like theft. The difference is what happened after the sale, not before.
The split isn't the number. It's what the number buys you.
That's the whole thing, isn't it. The split's never the real story, it's what they do with their end. I had a fella in Limerick years ago, took 35% and worked like a demon for it, sent people to my studio, followed up with buyers weeks after. Another place took the standard and I'd say my prints sat in a drawer till the show came down. You feel the difference in your bones.
The one that gets me is when they act like the 50% is some sacred tradition you're lucky to be part of. No lads, you hung it on a nail and took a photo for Instagram. I could do that myself.