Paying for what !

The art market is a 3 Billion Dollar a year business- Yeah it is a business - so there are unscrupulous businesses, especially in the art world.

Galleries are like any type of business - you buy the product (art) at wholesale prices and sell at retail. There are many unscrupulous art dealers that have found a source of income taking advantage of artists by charging then fees for looking at their work. A POX ON THEM!

I have been designing , making and selling art professionally since 1969 - I have seen a lot especially the unscrupulous. Ken Clark

[Galleries for contemporary art are different. They pay nothing for the art they display, and only pay the wholesale price to the artist after it has sold, assuming of course that they are honest, and haven't gone out of business in the meanwhile. Most artists would jump at the chance to sell their art at wholesale, but it doesn't work that way, except perhaps for a fortunate few.]

There are many unscrupulous art dealers

[Commercial galleries rarely do this, but then it's difficult to get them to look at ones art. The practice is much more common in the non-profit sector, in the form of entry fees to juried shows.] [To the unscrupulous, there seems to be something irresistable about the large numbers of artists out there desperate to exhibit their art, to the point of being willing to pay large amounts of money (at least in the aggregate) for the mere chance at a place to show it. All one has to do is place a small ad or two proclaiming a competition, a prospective book, or pie-in-the-sky marketing opportunity, and checks start pouring in from all over the world, along with bundles of slides. I've heard a lot of horror stories about fraudsters who either never deliver on their promise of a show, or hang a few pictures in a dingy space somewhere nobody ever goes- it's rare that they are ever prosecuted criminally, and the economics aren't favorable for civil actions. As artists, we must take responsibility for protecting ourselves, even at the cost of becoming skeptical of 'prestigious' opportunities that require up-front cash, because nobody else is going to do it for us.]

Andrew Werby

Well well , guess what , the rules of buy wholesale & sell retail apply only to the established manufacturers.Be it art or buttons guess what same rules. - try starting a clothing line or making furniture. When a gallery pays you 50 % that is the wholesale price. Sure you have to wait to get paid, well , so do a hell of a lot of people that are in the business of making things. The business world is a closed eschalon society and that is its rules.

Nice site Andrew Werby - looks like you sell . Ken Clark

The non-profits and the 'unscrupulous' galleries have one unexpected common benefit. They both let one know if they are good enough to even be an artist.

The main purpose of the non-profit is to bring art to the public. That's why they are publicly funded. (Or that's how it is in New York. There are other types of non-profits). But there many costs that are (legally) not covered by funding, which is why entry fees and membership fees are charged.

Galleries are in it for profit. With the number of people who think that they are artists, these galleries would have to hire people just to look at all the unsolicited artwork pouring in. And if they do take a chance on an unknown commodity (and don't fool yourselves, that's all we are), they are the one's risking their reputations and income.

And here's the bottom line. No one is forcing you to go to these places! If you're so scary-talented, the world will beat a path to your door and you'll become a millionaire. Right!? After all, artists like Warhol made it on artistic talent, not business acumen.

Right!

Bob

JAMES, Seattle, Washington, USA, Earth, Outer-Spiral-arm of the