Artist Contracts & Agreements with Galleries

As often in the art world, business ethics and standard agreements are unwritten and can only be learned via in-field experience or via an insider. What is the standard artist-gallery working relationship? What are the most common issues? Do you have to use a contract? What terms should be in this contract? And what if the gallery prefers not to work with a contract? In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know when it comes to working with galleries and contracts and even provide two contract templates to professionalize your art business that can not only be used as legal documents but also as a guide for the terms of your collaboration with a gallery—with or without a contract. 

In the art world, the use of contracts has become increasingly important, and it is, without a single doubt, the best way to go about your business, both for the artist and for the art gallery. However, they are still not very common, as many art galleries hate administrative tasks as much as the artists do, and the artist-gallery relationship strongly relies on trust. It is to say that when working with a gallery, the relationship seems to go beyond business. It becomes an utmost personal collaboration based on trust and even friendship.

However, it is important to be aware of which terms you would accept such a friendship. Therefore, we will discuss the best practices and common agreements for artists when working with art galleries to professionalize your exhibiting practice or simply to know what you’re doing and what you can expect for your first real exhibition at a serious art gallery. Before we discuss the benefits of working with a contract, first and foremost, why are contracts not as common as they arguably should be?

Common Agreements & Business Ethics

There are numerous examples of multimillion-dollar artist-gallery collaborations that have never seen a contract between both parties. In the art world, we have some very clear best practices or common agreements that are part of the unwritten rules of how the art world works. Simply by following these conventions and business ethics rules, the collaboration can be clear, fruitful, and without conflict. So, what are these unwritten rules exactly?  

Commission: The artist and the gallery will split the sales following a 50-50 agreement. The gallery is allowed to offer up to a 10% discount to help sales in case a collector needs that extra nudge to proceed to purchase the artwork, and this discount is evenly borne by the artist and the gallery. 

Production costs and efforts: In return for this 50% commission, the gallery takes care of the invoicing, client contact, promotion, providing gallery space, staff, drinks at the opening, PR costs, and other production costs related to the exhibition. These costs cannot be charged to the artist in any way or form or be deducted from the artist’s share. In a similar vein, the artist provides the artwork for the art gallery and cannot charge the gallery the production costs for art supplies unless there is cost-intensive production specifically for the show in collaboration with the gallery. 

Shipping: Depending on how established you are, the gallery takes care of all shipping and insurance costs. If you’re not as established yet, it is acceptable and common that the artist takes care of the shipping to the gallery and the gallery back to the artist or to the collector. On the other hand, if you become more established, it is also common that the gallery takes care of additional expenses such as hotels, train or flight tickets, restaurants, and more. 

Sales: It is unacceptable for the artist to sell the works for the gallery directly to other clients. Most often, collectors try this to strike a bargain, even when it was the gallery who provided the lead or the exposure for the artist—sometimes even weeks or months after the show. Therefore, it is expected that the artist and gallery agree on a lending period in which the artworks are theirs to sell and, most often, keep them in the gallery’s storage.

Exclusivity: In case of an ongoing collaboration, it is common that the gallery becomes the exclusive dealer and distributor within a certain city, country, continent, and in some cases, even worldwide. All sales need to pass via the gallery, and even when they exhibit—with permission—at an external gallery, the main gallery receives a commission. In return, the gallery promises a certain amount of solo and group exhibitions, and with the more established art galleries also international art fair exposure, a minimum number of incomes, or sometimes even purchasing pieces instantly before they have clients to sell them. 

These are—in a nutshell—the most common agreements between the artist and gallery, so make sure that you are aware of these practices so you know what you are doing and also so you know when something is not correct. For instance, some red flags are participation fees, promotional fees, having to pay a part of the participation fee of an art fair, having to do the invoicing and client contact, or even when the gallery is happy with a lower commission than the standard 50%, and so on. If the gallery proposes to work with you following the agreements I mentioned above, then you’re all right, and the collaboration is fair, mutually beneficial, and in line with the unwritten business ethics of the art world.

Common Disagreements & Issues

However, even with these general guidelines, it is very common for a conflict to arise between both parties because they interpret some of these arrangements differently.

Some galleries—and artists—can be often very creative with taxes so they have a bigger share of the sale or have to share only a smaller part with the artist or gallery. For instance, by trying to deduct the tax first and splitting the net price in half instead of paying 50% of the listed retail price. On the other hand, artists sometimes charge additional VAT on the 50% share they want to receive. If those are the terms you want to work with, you have to specify them in writing—preferably in the form of a contract so it is enforceable by law. But generally speaking, the listed retail price is split simply split in half.

Other common points of disagreement are selling an artwork directly to a client after it has been on view at a gallery or within a specific region when the gallery has committed to becoming your main gallery. These conflicts are almost always the end of the collaboration because the artist breaks the trust of the gallery when doing so. If you have consigned or promised work to a gallery, they should be able to sell it. And if you find a collector yourself, it is expected for you to share the sale—otherwise, you are taking a sellable product, and thus income, from their hands. So make sure to be very careful here because these things are very delicate issues.

Production costs are also a recurring issue among artists and galleries. Who pays for the frames? Who pays for the exhibition-specific installation? If the artist requires an LED screen or a projector, who will pay for it? As mentioned above, generally speaking, the artist takes care of the production costs of the artworks and the gallery of the production costs of the exhibition. However, as with these examples I mentioned—frames and exhibition-specific materials—we enter a grey area where it becomes unclear if those costs are part of the production costs of the artwork or of the exhibition.

Shipping costs are also a common issue. Who pays them, and when? Some advise artists should always let the galleries pay all the shipping costs, and as soon as you are becoming more established and in demand, this is absolutely true. However, when starting out, or simply when you show a sign of goodwill and invest in the relationship with the gallery, it is very common to bear these costs together. Entry-level galleries are struggling to survive, and shipping costs are the third biggest expense after rent and art fairs. As a result, it is appreciated, and also very common, for the emerging or beginner artist to take of the shipping to the gallery, and they will take care of returning the artworks or shipping them the their new home after a sale. Even more, some mid-career artists continue to propose this to help their galleries show they are a team.

But what if the artist decides to terminate the collaboration and now demands their works back? Who pays for the shipping in this case? Abrupt termination is also a common issue, and in those cases, the galleries can become rather reluctant to pay the amount they are due or to pay those expensive shipping costs to return the artwork to an artist who is leaving them and has fallen out with them. A diplomatic approach and a termination based on mutual understanding is therefore advised, but also to be prepared to retrieve the works yourself as an artist if you would not end on good terms with the gallery.

Payment is also a recurring issue. Some galleries pay as soon as the work is sold, others at the end of the show, some settle payment at certain moments in the year—for instance, after every quarter—and others can sometimes wait months and months before completing payment. Sometimes, there can also arise a conflict about a discount that the artist did not approve, so make sure to cover this thoroughly as well.

To conclude, minor conflicts can arise as well on who pays for dinner, not being communicative enough, not sharing client records, not providing installation views from the side of the gallery, or updated information from the side of the artist. So to avoid all these common disagreements, let’s discuss the solid contracts and terms we provide with the CAI templates next.

Two Contract Types (Including Templates)

To avoid frustration and the abrupt ending of a promising collaboration with a gallery due to these common issues, we have designed two complete contract templates covering all these topics thoroughly and leaving nothing to chance or doubt. Even if your gallery prefers not to use a contract, you must know the best terms and when you can suggest using them. Therefore, these contracts are an essential resource for practical agreements despite their rather formal and legal form. In the art world, there are two main contracts when working with a gallery. There is the consignment agreement and the representation agreement.

The Consignment Agreement

When there is a specific show, a one-time collaboration, or a gallery or dealer wants to sell a specific set of artworks, we must use a consignment agreement. In this agreement, the artist and gallery agree that the artist provides artwork from their hand and in their property for sale on a consignment basis to the gallery, in which the artist remains the owner, and the gallery will try to sell these works directly to a client to earn a commission on the sale.

In this contract, the selection of works is specified—including the retail price—in a checklist, the terms of sale or discussed, as well as the duration of the collaboration, the possible termination, the production, shipping and storage costs, liability, insurance, copyright, and possibly some additional remarks or agreements.

Therefore, feel free to discover our CAI Template Consignment Agreement.

The Representation Agreement

When you become more established or after a first exhibition at a gallery that went well, the gallery might be willing to represent you on an ongoing basis—meaning throughout the year, they are your point of contact, and they become the distributor and promotor of your work, and ensure several exhibitions, sales, or even income.

At first glance, the representation agreement and the consignment agreement look very similar. In reality, they are different in numerous aspects—aside from the common and self-explanatory paragraphs on liability, validity, or copyright. The checklist of cosigned works disappears with a paragraph on the exclusivity of the representation, the terms of the representation, and multiple changes in the terms of sale, transportation, and storage. As a result, when the time comes you can get representation, you will need a different contract and or agreement.

Therefore, feel free to discover our CAI Template Representation Agreement.

How To Propose Using a Contract & Alternatives

In the introduction, I have mentioned how some—if not most—gallery directors hate administrative and bureaucratic tasks as much as artists. Therefore, it is important to play it cool and not impose the use of a contract too much. You need to realize that as an artist, you will work with approximately one up to five galleries simultaneously, which is very manageable in terms of different contracts. However, galleries work with ten up to fifty artists (or more!) simultaneously, or sometimes even ten different artists for a single group exhibition. This would result in a tremendous amount of paperwork, especially for galleries with little to no staff, so they prefer to be a bit more flexible and continue to rely on the trust and best practices of the art world—which is actually very efficient despite its flaws.

My advice is to follow the lead of the gallery. If they are not proposing a contract, you briefly suggest using one—stating you always use it—and in most cases, they will agree and fill out your agreement without discussing the content of it too much, especially when using the industry-approved terms from our templates. If they do not want to work with the contract, but you do want to have some agreement in writing, you should have a short chat about it with the gallery director, asking about how they—not you—take care of their business before paraphrasing these agreements in an email. State that you write this email simply because you would forget it otherwise—be somewhat quick with a joke here and keep things as light as possible.

It can also be beneficial—albeit a bit risky—for your relationship with the gallery to not ask for these things at all, although this might sound counterintuitive. In the end, the gallery is in charge, and you won’t back out of the show over a detail in the agreement when you’re starting out, so follow their lead. This shows that you trust them and are easy-going to work with, which are two ingredients that galleries love. However, in this case, it is best to ask these things indirectly via other artists to see if they are trustworthy and if they go about their business in a similar way as described in our templates and in this article. So be aware of the red flags I recited at the end of the chapter discussing the common agreements and business ethics.

As you become more in demand, you start to set terms more and more, but being flexible, trustworthy, and easy-going will always be appreciated by art galleries. In the end, you’re on the same team. Most likely, if the gallery is more serious and wants to represent you, they might suggest using a contract themselves. Make sure to check the terms with the terms we have discussed throughout the article and in our templates. Be professional and assertive, but do not fuss about minor issues. In the end, multiple exhibitions in a long-term relationship will earn you more money than when you are too assertive, perhaps saving some money in shipping or framing costs but not having any more shows at that gallery in the future. Play it smart. Always think longterm.

Final Thoughts

Make sure that you are aware of these best practices, as discussed throughout this article. To avoid any mistakes or to have all the information you possibly need, feel free to consider purchasing our contract templates—priced at a fraction of some other online alternatives. The terms are legally sound and are actually being used frequently in the high-end art world today. Be professional. Be prepared. Be successful.

If you are interested in more industry-approved career advice—including more documents, tools, and inside information to professionalize as an artist and to prepare yourself for the art world—feel free to consult our overview page with advice for artists here.

Last Updated on September 23, 2023