What's the worst thing a gallery ever said to your face about your work?
First studio visit I ever had, the woman ran her hand over a piece I'd spent four months on and asked if I could make it in a lighter color. I stood there like an idiot and said I'd think about it.
Took me years to learn that answer is just "no." Curious what the worst thing anyone's said to your face in a gallery, not the rejection email, the thing said standing right in front of you.
I'll take the prize if nobody beats it.
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A conservator once told me, kindly, that a piece I'd brought in would be "lovely once it was finished." It was finished. I'd spent three weeks deciding where the last torn edge went. I just said thank you and carried it back out, which I still think was the correct answer.
Yours is worse though. Asking about the color after touching it is a different species of thing.
Three weeks on where the last torn edge went, and "lovely once it was finished." That's the one that gets you, because they weren't trying to cut you down. Kindly is worse. You can walk off a bad review. You can't do anything with a compliment that's actually a question about whether you know when to stop.
Thank you and carry it out is right. Arguing with a conservator about finish is like arguing with a doctor about your own body.
I'll take the color thing though. She touched it first. That's the part I still think about.