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Went to a gallery years back, they loved the steel pieces, wanted to take three on consignment. Then wouldn't commit to a dollar amount. Said they'd "see what the market said." I told them my market said fifteen hundred and walked. Never regretted it. I know galleries need room to negotiate but if they won't even put a number down, that's not a partnership, that's them hedging with your work as the collateral. What's the strangest ask you've gotten from a gallery? The one that made you thank them and leave?

A small gallery in the 6th approached me in April about six paintings for a summer show. Consignment, 50/50, and they wanted me to cover the framing on all six. I did the arithmetic on the back of an envelope, which is where most of my bad news comes from. Six canvases, roughly 120 hours of work between them, frames at about 180 each because they wanted them uniform. If everything sold at my price, I would clear a bit less than what I make teaching two terms. If four sold, I would be paying them for the privilege of hanging my work. So I said no, politely, and I have been second-guessing it for three weeks. The gallery is good. People I respect show there. My wife thinks I was right. My daughter asked why I would turn down a gallery and I did not have a clean answer for a fifteen year old. The part I keep coming back to is the frames. 1080 euros out of my pocket before anyone walks through the door, and if the show goes badly I own six framed paintings in a size I did not choose. That is not a partnership, c'est un pari, and I am the only one with money on the table. I am not anti-gallery. I would like to be in one. I just want the risk to be shared, or at least acknowledged.

I brought a folder of twenty pieces to mine. The gallerist looked at maybe four, then asked what I was reading. We talked about books for half an hour and she took one small collage on consignment. I've never once needed the other sixteen. So what did you actually bring, and did it matter? A big portfolio, one piece, a laptop, nothing at all? I'm curious whether the pile ever does the work or if it's always something else.

Had a gallery absolutely love my work, took a piece on consignment, said they'd "find the right home for it." Eight months later I went in to check on it and it was sitting in their storage closet. They'd forgotten it existed. I took it back and never heard from them again. Anyone else have the gallery that talks big and then just... goes silent? What's the longest you've let one hold your work before you pulled it?

First gallery I ever dealt with took two pieces on consignment. Sold one within a month. Called about it, they said the collector hadn't paid yet. Called again two months later, same thing. Eventually I just went in and stood at the counter until the owner wrote me a check on the spot. Never worked with them again. Anyone else ever have a gallery that said yes and then made you feel like you were doing them a favor by asking for your own money? How'd you handle that one?

I got lucky. A fabricator I was working for told a dealer about me. She came to the studio, looked at what I was doing with stone, said "bring me six pieces." No pitch, no portfolio review, no drama. Just a nod and a handshake. That was twenty-something years ago. I don't think that route exists much anymore. How did you land your first real gallery? Not the one that took your work on consignment and forgot about it. The one that actually sold your stuff and called you back.

Early in my career a gallery took my work on consignment, then called two weeks later asking if I could "soften" a piece. Wanted me to grind down the welds on a steel figure I'd spent three weeks on. I said no. They dropped me. Ever had a gallery ask you to change something that would've ruined it? Did you do it or walk?

Okay so everyone talks about getting the yes and nobody talks about the part where they hand you the terms and you have to keep a straight face. I'll go first. Small place, second gallery that ever showed me, and I was so excited I would have signed anything. Then she says 40% and also "we'd like first look at everything you make for the next twelve months." I genuinely didn't know if that was normal. I said yes, went home, called my mom, cried a little, then emailed a friend who'd been showing for years and she was like "no. that's not normal. the first look thing especially." I went back and we renegotiated down and it was fine but oof, I felt so green. Now I want to know what yours looked like, because I think this is the thing that actually separates people who survive their first gallery from people who get chewed up: Was it a percentage? A deposit for the show? Framing costs? Exclusivity, a consignment split, a "we handle the pricing" line, a contract that was just a handshake, a contract that was fourteen pages? And the real question underneath it: did you push back, or did you sign? Because I signed first and negotiated second, and I'm still not sure if that was the mistake or just the cost of learning. Tell me I'm not the only one who had no idea what was normal.

Sold a 190 x 150 canvas in June. Nine thousand six hundred euro, which is a good price for me, and I was pleased for about four days. Then the invoice came. Fifty percent to the gallery, which I knew, that is not the surprise, that is just how it is. But there was also a line for framing, 340, and a line for transport to the fair in Basel, 480, and a line for the catalogue photograph, 120. Nobody mentioned those on the phone. So the maths: 9,600 becomes 4,800, becomes roughly 3,860. Then the pigments and the wax and the linen for a canvas that size, call it 900. Eleven weeks of work, but not eleven weeks of only that work, so I cannot honestly divide it. Somewhere between 14 and 20 euro an hour, depending on how generous I am to myself about the hours. What actually keeps me up is not the number. It is that I signed the contract in March in about ninety seconds, standing up, because I was flattered to be asked. There is a clause about storage: if the work does not sell within eighteen months the gallery may store it and charge me 25 euro a month. I found this out last week. From a friend, not from them. I am not going to name the gallery. They sell work, they are serious, I would sign again. But I am reading the paper now with a pencil, and I have started writing my own exclusions into the consignment sheet, which so far has made one gallerist in Düsseldorf sigh audibly at me. Curious whether anyone here has actually won one of those clauses back, or whether we all just sign and find out later.

First gallery that ever took my work, small place down the country, fella ran it out of a converted shed near the sea. Took six linocuts on consignment, sold two in eight months, paid me eventually. Nothing glamorous. But I was buzzing for weeks after he said yes, d'you know that feeling? Like someone finally saw the thing you'd been doing in a room on your own and said that'll do. What was yours? The first gallery that gave you a shot, how'd it happen, what were the terms, was it as grand as you'd hoped or a bit of a let-down? Love to hear the stories.

So a gallery I was talking to, small, not huge, but seemed legit, wanted me to ship them a bunch of pieces on consignment, cover the shipping myself, no guarantee anything would sell. I asked about the split and they sent me their "artist agreement." 70/30 their way. For a solo show. And I'd be paying for the opening night drinks out of my 30%. I laughed and said no obviously. But I'm still thinking about it, what IS normal these days? Like what's an actual fair split for a small gallery that's actually doing the work? I've heard 50/50, I've heard 60/40 artist-favoring, I've heard some places do 70/30 the artist's way if the artist is bringing the collectors. What are y'all actually seeing out there? What's walking-around real vs what's them trying it?

Okay I need to know if this is a universal experience or if I just got unlucky. I signed with a small gallery last year, they were lovely, took my pieces on consignment, paid on time when things sold... and then just. never put anything of mine in an actual show. My work sat in their back room for months. I'd ask about upcoming exhibitions and get "we're working on it!" until I finally just pulled everything out. Turns out they were basically running a storage unit with a storefront and living off artists who were too nervous to ask where their paintings were. Anyone else had a gallery that took the work but never hung it? Is that a red flag I should've caught earlier or is it just... how some places operate? What's the longest your stuff ever sat unseen somewhere?

So I had this conversation with a gallery owner last week. Small place, mostly sells to people who want "art that goes with the sofa" kind of thing. She was genuinely interested in my work, wanted to take a few pieces on consignment. But she kept pushing me to price them higher than I wanted, not in a greedy way, more like she thought I was undervaluing myself. And I couldn't explain it properly to her. It's not that I think my work is worthless. It's that I paint these old Bangalore houses that are being torn down, and I know the people who used to live in them. Some of them still come and watch me draw. So when I put a price on it, it feels like I'm putting a price on someone's childhood, you know? She said "then don't sell them, just show them." But I do need to sell. I just don't want to pretend it's the same as selling a print of a nice landscape. Anyway, I priced them lower than she wanted and she took three. Two sold in a week. Which I don't know if that proves anything or nothing.

I'll go first, so nobody has to be the brave one. A gallery in a town I won't name took six of my paintings on consignment. The contract was one page. One page is already a flag, I know, but I wanted it. Then came the emails asking me to reduce my prices "for the local market," then the suggestion that I might paint a few smaller, more "giftable" pieces. I said yes to all of it. Two years, one sale, and I got the work back with a scratch across the face of the best one. Mine was a one-page contract and a gallery that wanted to negotiate my prices. What was yours? The thing that made your stomach drop but you signed anyway because they said yes, and yes is rare.

First gallery I was ever in took a piece on consignment and paid me four months late. Small check, no apology, no explanation. I never called them on it because I was scared of burning the bridge. Thirty years later I still wonder if that was the right call. How late is too late before you say something? And did anyone actually get paid by the deadline without having to chase it?

I sent work to a small gallery in Gothenburg years ago with no idea what "consignment" even meant. I signed the paperwork without reading it properly and spent the whole opening night hovering near my pieces like a nervous parent. Nobody told me I'd spend most of the night talking about process instead of looking at the work. What do you wish someone had told you before your first showing? The practical stuff especially, the stuff nobody puts in the contract.

my first gallery show, I was so desperate to be taken seriously I signed a contract that locked me into giving them 60% on everything for a year and let them hold my work for 90 days after the show ended. didn't even read it properly, just wanted them to like me. should've walked out the door. 60%!! I was making like $200 a painting then. what's the thing you signed or agreed to that you look back on and can't believe you did? a commission with no deposit? letting someone keep your work "on consignment" for way too long? tell me I'm not the only one who said yes when I should've said absolutely not.