ARTICLE BY KATHY OSTMAN-MAGNUSEN

A new gallery’s quest for a team of artists and vice versa must be done artfully. Artists and galleries need to think things through before making requests or shipping out art.

If you’re a gallery, you have to put yourself in an artist’s place. Here I am, the artist, and I do not know you or perhaps anything about the location. You contact me, say you like my art and want it. Cool, I appreciate the contact and compliment. Yet, if you are asking me to consign my work over to you, realize that you’re just a voice over the phone or an Internet email without credentials.

I had my work in a gallery in San Francisco on Union Square years ago. There was no contract, and being a fledgling artist, I did not ask for one. I was simply thrilled to be in a gallery in Union Square. There was a wonderful opening that I attended with all the other artists who had become part of the gallery. Wonderful food and wine were served and important people came, everything an artist desires from a gallery.

Living somewhat close to that gallery made it convenient to pop in on occasion. I went a few times to make contact with the gallery owner and see about future shows. Time went by and my face-to-face contacts decreased, and instead started using the phone. I later learned that the gallery owner had been “renting out” the paintings to banks and corporate offices. That is not an unusual thing to do, but it is unusual that the artist not be informed of it and receive a cut. I had no idea where my paintings were from one week to the next.

I moved to Hawaii, leaving my paintings, all nicely framed, which was an expense and further investment on my part. I was new to the gallery scene, though, and still enamored that my work was in San Francisco in the famed Union Square. My investment was around 10 paintings as I recall.

Time passed and the gallery folded. The owner long gone. I lost all of my paintings and contact with the gallery owner completely.

I learned my lesson. Since then, I’ve been very careful with galleries.

Consignment should provoke many questions. I live in Hawaii, so obviously the cost of shipping my large paintings to the mainland is not cheap. Because of that, I make sure that I do not pay for all of the shipping costs and require the gallery to pay at least one way. I also require a very specific contract, with the owner’s name and home phone and address.

There are a zillion galleries that come and go. Selling art is an art in itself and not everyone is, in fact, an artist. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to hang your work in a gallery, especially in high traffic areas of the country, but it must be thought about as a commitment and business deal. If a gallery is going to “make it,” they will put the attention to detail that it needs to be successful. The contract must be well thought out, first and foremost. Artists need to feel confident that their work will be hung with care and know when and if it goes into storage.

Galleries need to create a close relationship with their artists. They need to nurture the fledglings, and hype established artists. They need to create a family, in a sense. Artists need to know that if the gallery fails, their work will be returned safely. Without those assurances, I would personally not be comfortable to work with a gallery, no matter where it is.

Artists should not undervalue themselves and ship out their work automatically, just because they’re flattered about being asked. Likewise, galleries need to respect the talent and energy that goes into a piece of art by attending to the details that make the relationship work, and therefore successful.

That was a real leaning experience for me, as you can imagine. Nightmares didn’t end there; I’ve had more through the course of my career to date, so I have had to really put on a business hat on top of being an artist. Bad experiences are the reason I am extra cautious about who and where I ship my work to. Normally, I have a pretty strong bond with a gallery owner before I ship.

A few questions to ask a gallery:

• Who pays the shipping costs? To and from.
• Is there insurance, if so with whom? And for how much?
• Is there a trial period?
• Who, what, where is the gallery owner?
• Will the artist be notified if his or her work is temporarily put in storage?
• Do they rent the work out? If so, what is the artist’s cut?
• What percentage of a sale goes to the artist?

This list goes on, of course. Think it through before you leave your work in any gallery. Gallery owners, you know how things should work… get your contracts complete and well thought out before you approach an artist.

A good book to get is the latest Artist’s and Graphic Designer’s Market. It is full of info both for gallery owners and artists.

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen paints and sculpts female fantasy art and maps fairy tale adventures. She illustrated Hay House, Inc.’s Words of Wisdom for Women Who Do Too Much Cards by Anne Wilson Schaef, and several other publications. Her paintings are collected worldwide. Giclee canvas art work, greeting cards and posters are available for sale on her website, kathysart.com.

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