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A friend from years ago asked me to paint her daughter's portrait for her 18th. I said yes at €600, already half what I'd charge a stranger for a 50x60cm oil on linen. She's a friend, fine. Then the emails started. "Could you do it from these five photos instead?" "Actually she's wearing a different dress now, can you change the colour?" "Her hair is shorter than that photo shows." "My mother thinks the background should be lighter." I repainted the face from new reference, adjusted the dress twice, scraped and repainted the background. All told I probably spent close to 25 hours on a painting that should have taken maybe 12. At my usual hourly rate for commissioned work that comes out to about €24 an hour. My assistant, who stretches canvases, makes €16. So I earned roughly the same as the person who stretches my canvases, for a job that required twenty years of training. The friend was happy. The daughter cried when she saw it. Beautiful moment. I don't regret it exactly. But I sat down afterwards and did the math and realised I'd basically given her a €1,200 painting plus a free workshop in how to manage an artist. Never again without a contract that says: one reference, one revision, anything beyond that is a new fee. Curious if anyone else has a number attached to the "learning experience" of a commission that ran away from you.

i'll go first. one place told me they "handle all the marketing" and then asked me to pay for the framing, the postcard run, AND a "co-op advertising fee" before a single piece sold. i asked what the gallery's cut was and got a paragraph about "shared investment in your career." so what's the red flag that made you back out? the 50/50 split that was actually 70/30 in the fine print? the "we only take artists who are serious" line? the contract with a 3 year exclusive and no out clause? one i know people argue about: asked for money upfront. some of you will say that's normal for juried shows and some of you will say run. would love to hear which side you land on and why.

first gallery show I ever did, lovely space, grand people, and then the contract lands and buried in it, "artist responsible for all framing." Not just the work, every single frame, to their spec. Cost me nearly a grand before I'd sold a thing. I was young and chuffed to be there so I just said grand and ate it. Wouldn't do that now. What's the one that got you? The hidden cost, the surprise expense, the thing they slid into the small print that you only spotted after you'd signed. I know someone's got a better one than mine.

what's the one thing in a gallery contract you read and immediately knew you weren't signing? for me it was exclusivity within the city. i get it, they don't want me selling out of my studio down the street, but i'm not locking myself to one space when rent is due and the other gallery two blocks over actually sells my stuff. ngl i asked them to strike it and they did, which told me more about them than the whole rest of the contract honestly. what's yours? the commission split that gave you pause, the "artist covers shipping" fine print, something weirder? tell me i'm the only one who's crossed stuff out like a toddler with a crayon.

Early on, before I knew any better, I almost signed one where the gallery kept all reproduction rights to the work for twenty years. Twenty years. And the percentage was on the low end to begin with. My old mentor caught it and told me to walk, and I did. Lately I see more of the reverse, artists so scared of getting burned they won't sign anything, and they miss out on decent rooms. What's the worst thing you've seen in a contract, or the clause that made you turn around and leave? I want specifics, not "they wanted too much commission." What actually got slipped in?

Okay here's a story. My second ever gallery show, the owner kept calling my watercolors "delicate" and "sweet" which should've been my first clue that this person did not see what I was actually doing at all. But I was so flattered to be asked I ignored it. Then she tried to reprice my biggest piece down by like 40% the week before opening "to move it faster" and I had to fight her on it. Should've walked then. The show was fine, nothing bad happened, but I never felt respected in that space and I won't work with her again. So what's the thing you saw early and talked yourself out of? The contract clause, the vibes, the weird comment, the thing they promised and you knew they wouldn't do. I feel like every artist has one.

Got approached by a small local gallery recently, really liked the space, seemed legit. Then they sent the contract and there was a line about me covering the cost of the opening reception, drinks, snacks, etc. I've heard of artist paying for their own prints or whatever but this one caught me off guard. I passed on it but now I'm wondering if that's more normal than I think? Has anyone else run into this? Did you pay it or walk?

Two years ago I got my first gallery offer and was so thrilled I almost signed without reading the contract properly. Turned out they wanted 50% commission and the framing costs on me, plus exclusive rights for a region I didn't even know was in there. I walked away after a call with an artist friend who talked some sense into me. Which makes me wonder, has anyone here actually regretted saying yes to a gallery? Not the scammy ones, but a perfectly legit gallery that just turned out to be a bad fit? What made you finally walk out or ride it out? Mine: the exclusivity thing. Felt like being kept on a leash for a gallery that barely promoted me.

okay this one's on me because I look back and cringe. my first group show invite came from a gallery that couldn't remember my name in the email, wanted me to pay for my own framing AND shipping AND the opening wine, and the contract was three pages of stuff I didn't understand. and I said yes anyway because I was so desperate to have "galleried artist" on my résumé. obviously nothing came of it, I never even got photos of my work from the night. wasted like $400. anyone else got a red flag they walked straight past because the opportunity felt too good to pass up? or did someone catch one in time and dodge a bullet? need to know I'm not the only one who learned this the expensive way 😭

Everyone talks about the yes that mattered. I want the no. The gallery that wanted you and you said no thank you, and years later you're still a bit proud of that. Mine: a place in the south of France, very chic, very white. They wanted to take thirty percent of everything, told me I'd get lots of collectors through the door, but the contract was loose enough you could drive a truck through it. I was younger and hungry and I still walked. They folded within two years, and I heard some artists never got paid out. Sometimes the best career move is the one you didn't make. What's yours, and did it cost you anything at the time?

I'll go first. The one that strung me along for months had a "we're really excited about your direction" email and then nothing. No contract, no dates, just vibes. I kept thinking it was about to happen. It wasn't. The one that actually worked out, I nearly didn't bother with. Small space, weird hours, the person running it was blunt to the point of rude. Turns out blunt just meant honest. So what's the thing you saw and talked yourself past? the assistant who "handles the artists" and never answers, the group show that turns out to be a pay-to-play, the owner who badmouths every artist currently on the walls. tell me I'm not the only one who's done this twice.