The Art Gallery: Everything You Need To Know

The Ultimate FAQ
Table of contents

Art galleries play a significant role in the art industry. They are the link between artists and collectors, scouting for new talent and continuing to showcase the best artists with their exhibition program. However, although art galleries are crucial in the art world, many misconceptions exist. In fact, art galleries are not always that well known, what they are or what they do. Therefore, CAI has listed—and answered—the most common questions on art galleries asked by the public.

What is an art gallery? What are the different types of art galleries? What does an art gallery do? How do you get to work with an art gallery as an artist? How do art galleries work with artists? What is the difference between an art gallery and a museum? What are the best art galleries, and where to find them? How do art galleries earn money? How to visit an art gallery? By answering these questions in this article, we are happy to present you with the ultimate list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) on art galleries, explaining absolutely everything you need to know.

Whereas most of us know what an art museum is and what they do – more or less – when it comes to art galleries, it seems the public opinion is less familiar with them. 

An art gallery is an exhibition space to display and sell artworks. As a result, the art gallery is a commercial enterprise working with a portfolio of artists. The gallery acts as the dealer representing, supporting, and distributing the artworks by the artists in question.

However, we must also note that not all galleries are the same. Although most art galleries work according to a similar method and organization, there are different types of art galleries implementing another procedure. In this case, we will have to discuss each type individually, presenting a thorough overview of what an art gallery is and in what shape or form it can present itself.

What are the Different Types of Art Galleries?

The most common type of art gallery is the commercial art gallery. Although the word ‘commercial’ may have a negative connotation as if they only care about the money, this is, in fact, the ‘best’ type of art gallery for artists or collectors, playing a crucial role in the art world. 

With commercial art galleries, the gallery collaborates with several artists, agreeing to represent and support them. This means the gallery commits to showcasing, promoting, selling, and distributing the artworks of the artist in question. By doing so, the artist can make a living and build his career, collectors base, and artist resume.

In return, the gallery earns a commission with the sales of the artworks. By doing so, the gallery is motivated to do the best work possible for the artist, pushing their career and sales. A win-win! The gallery makes money, and so does the artist. The better the artists are promoted and grow their careers, the better the gallery’s reputation. In a nutshell, what is good for the artists is good for the gallery.

2. Mega-Galleries

Mega-galleries are commercial art galleries that continued to grow, becoming an industry-leading actor in the gallery industry and the entire art world. In our article on the Top 10 of the Biggest Art Galleries in the World, we have defined the ‘mega-gallery’ as a highly influential art gallery with multiple locations and a number of employees, and square meters of exhibition space similar to major museum institutions.

The mega-galleries are the top layer of the gallery industry. They represent only the very best artists in the world and do not only sell their artworks. They also advise institutions, events, and corporations in the art world.

3. Vanity Art Galleries

Up next, we have Vanity art galleries. Vanity art galleries charge the artists to exhibit and promote their work with the gallery. I would not call them art galleries as they do not have a curated gallery program.

Although this may seem appealing for artists trying to kickstart their career as an artist, I would advise them not to work with vanity galleries (make sure to read our article on How To Succeed as a Painter/Artist). Vanity Galleries rarely have an excellent reputation in the art world, nor do they have a good clientele or a solid collectors base. Hence they do not select artists based on the quality of the artworks but the size of their wallets. Most often, they would exhibit anyone and anything willing to pay for the exhibition. As a result, it is improbable to find genuinely exciting or emerging artists at Vanity galleries. At the same time, they are not motivated to promote and sell the artworks of the artists who decide to collaborate as they have already cashed in on the collaboration.

The gallery invites artists to exhibit with them, which may seem very appealing. But in reality, they squeeze the money from the artist by charging them tremendous amounts for the location and promotion services without actually being motivated to deliver a good service for the artists. So if one day you receive an invitation to work with an art gallery, think twice when they propose terms in which you need to pay to exhibit, as this might be the wrong way to go.

4. Exhibition Spaces

The fourth type of gallery is not a gallery but rather an exhibition space. In this case, the artist rents an exhibition space in which they can organize their exhibition. The artist pays rent per day or week and needs to take care of all the other aspects of the show, such as supervision, promotion, print work, invitations, et cetera.

These exhibition spaces are often referred to as art galleries, sometimes called ‘Gallery X’ or ‘Y Gallery’. However, as there is no curated gallery program and not even a gallery owner, they are simply spaces available for rent suited for organizing art exhibitions.

Doing so, they allow amateur or beginning artists to showcase their works and gather some experience when it comes to exhibiting. However, one can not expect the prestige of a self-organized exhibition in those spaces to be equal to an exhibition at a ‘real’ art gallery, such as a commercial art gallery.

5. Artist-Run Galleries

We conclude our list of types of art galleries with the artist-run art gallery. In the past few decades, we have seen multiple success stories of artist-run galleries. Think of Galeria Plan B initiated by Mihai Pop and Adrien Ghenie. In this case, artists or artist collectives start a gallery or exhibition space independently. The most common reason to do this is due to a lack of opportunities to exhibit, as they decide to create a platform of their own.

These initiatives take courage to realize; sometimes, it is a bit frowned upon. However, as the aforementioned case study illustrates, an artist-run art gallery can be highly successful and have as excellent a reputation as a commercial art gallery. Eventually, if the artist-run gallery gets on well, it will transform slowly but surely more into a commercial art gallery to continue to grow its activities.

Galeria Plan B, Cluj. / Photo: Fabrica De Pensula.

Art galleries have diverse activities, each with a slightly different approach to its business. However, in general, almost all art galleries do certain things that could be considered the core of their business.

An art gallery creates a curated exhibition program of their represented artists – or artist estates – with whom they have a (long-term) collaboration, supporting and monitoring their careers, selling their artworks, and promoting them to grow their careers.

In a nutshell, this would summarize what art galleries do, including everything that comes with it. To be a bit more in-depth, let us dive into certain specific elements:

1. Curate the exhibition program

The art gallery sets up an exhibition program which will be the core of the gallery’s identity. In doing so, the art gallery needs to provide gallery space. Galleries often rent commercial properties with large windows in big cities – often near other galleries – to have great visibility to many potential clients.

Further, the gallery carefully curates its program, scouting for the most exciting emerging or established artists and inviting them to collaborate with the gallery in the form of an exhibition. The gallery takes care of the transportation, insurance, supervision, installation, print work, press interest, invitations, and opening and promotion of the exhibition.

When the exhibition consists of only one artist, we call it a solo exhibition which can be a significant highlight in an artist’s career. When the exhibition consists of two artists, then the exhibition becomes a duo exhibition. Three or more artists are referred to as a group exhibition.

Most galleries have a new exhibition every six to eight weeks depending on the pace of the gallery.

2. Building a portfolio of artists and artist estates

It is clear to say a gallery would be nothing without the artists. As a result, the gallery needs to build a portfolio of artists and/or artist estates. This portfolio is a carefully curated selection of artists the gallery commits to represent, consisting of a long-term collaboration between the artist and the gallery. We call these long-term collaborations represented artists, whereas artists from a one-time collaboration for one specific exhibition are referred to as exhibited artists.

The portfolio is crucial for any art gallery. The better the artists from your portfolio, the higher the gallery’s reputation. As a result, it is beneficial for the artist and the gallery to see specific artist careers grow. When the artist’s reputation rises, so does the gallery’s reputation.

Most of these collaborations are with living artists, as the gallery is the link between the artist’s studio and the art market. We call this phenomenon the primary market. However, there are also a lot of collaborations with artist estates. Or, galleries can buy artworks from other dealers, collectors, or at an auction – not directly from the artist who produced the artwork in question – to then sell it again in their gallery at a (slightly) higher price to make a profit. This phenomenon is called the secondary market.

3. Sell and distribute artworks

Besides curating exhibitions and building an impressive portfolio of artists, one of the most important things galleries do is sell and distribute the artworks from the artists the gallery represents. The gallery acts as the artist’s dealer, doing everything needed to get the artwork from the artist to a specific collection, public or private.

Therefore, the gallery needs to take care of transportation, invoicing, keeping track of sold artworks, monitoring the value of the artworks (on the secondary market), and much more. The gallery becomes the direct point of contact for inquiries for a specific artist.

4. Represent and support the artists

Besides the actual visible work when it comes to organizing exhibitions and selling artworks, the gallery has many different roles behind the scenes of the art gallery to represent and support its artists. Besides giving valuable advice to their artists, they do everything within their power to grow and sustain their careers, enabling the artist to focus entirely on producing the artworks.

Some examples of these supporting activities include participating in art fairs to promote their gallery and artists internationally. Furthermore, galleries take care of or follow up on book publishing when the time comes for the artist to have a monograph published. Then there are the artists’ archives that need to be worked on. Or art historical research for upcoming exhibitions. The gallery also looks for other attractive exhibition opportunities for its artists beyond its gallery, such as at other galleries or institutional shows. We must also mention the press relations, looking for collaborations with newspapers, art magazines, or online platforms to showcase their artists in print and online, reaching out to a larger audience of art enthusiasts beyond the walls of the gallery.

It is clear to say galleries do many things. Depending on the quality of the gallery, the services they offer become more varied as the artist is fully supported by their gallery in all possible aspects of the art industry.

Luc Tuymans and Frank Demaegd (Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp) in Tuymans’ Antwerp studio, who have been working together for over 25 years. Photo: Siska Vandecasteele

A significant goal for almost any artist is to work with an art gallery. Sadly, more artists are looking for gallery representation than galleries are looking for new artists to represent. As we have discussed in our in-depth article on How To Succeed as an Artist, do not contact galleries by the dozen, sending out artist statements and portfolios introducing yourself out of the blue. The truth is that galleries receive unsolicited submissions by artists daily. So if you send out portfolios to multiple galleries, your request will most likely be ignored or thrown on a high pile of other submissions. Even more, most galleries don’t like to be contacted all the time, being asked to invest in people they don’t know. As a result, due to this strategy, there is a genuine threat you will have a bad name among galleries.

The reason is that the ‘better’ artists get invited by galleries. So, if you ask around looking a bit desperate for gallery representation, gallerists will think you are not a very good artist, as it seems no one is willing to represent you. But this does not mean there is nothing you can do to increase your chances of being represented or being invited by a gallery to work together. In the end, there are three key ingredients to land gallery representation; a compelling, intriguing, and cohesive oeuvre, a professional artist profile (with a professional website, resume, and bio), and a strong network.

The key is to invest in personal relationships with other artists, gallerists, collectors, and critics by attending openings, lectures, and other art-related events. However, don’t impose yourself as an artist. It is okay to let people know you’re an artist when they ask you, but don’t talk about your art or show pictures of your works when not being invited to do so. By being around, you are way more likely to get invited by any art gallery, as your name will inevitably circulate in the right circles of people.

The working relationship between artists and gallerists can vary from gallery to gallery and artist to artist. However, there are some general unwritten rules and agreements. If you are an artist who is about to work with a gallery for the first time, or you are a brand new gallery that is uncertain about how to go about collaborating with artists, we have listed to most common agreements below:

  • The gallery does not charge the artist any commission or fee for its representation or promotion activities. The only way a gallery (or artist) earns money is by the manner of selling artworks produced by the artist.
  • Profits by sale are shared regularly of a 50-50% agreement of the turnover. This means the materials are not deducted from the turnover or other constructions in which certain costs would be deducted from the total turnover.
  • The artist defines the retail price in agreement with the gallery with a written price list listing the consigned works for sale. The artworks remain the property of the artist during this process. In agreement, the gallery may offer a 10% discount for specific clients but only with the artist’s prior permission. In the case of a museum institution willing to acquire an artwork, it is possible to offer up to 50% discount due to the destination and positive consequences for the artist’s resume. In all cases of discount agreements, the 50-50% rule remains when splitting the turnover.
  • It is not done for the artist to sell an artwork alone, which is consigned for the gallery to sell during a specific exhibition. For instance, if a collector contacts the artist instead of the gallery to buy a particular artwork from the show, it is the responsibility of the artist to refer the collector back to the gallery. Selling the artwork by himself and leaving the gallery out of it to have his fair share is an absolute ‘no-go’ as collaboration is based upon mutual trust and respect. In some cases, the artist will be the one who makes the gallery more money and sometimes vice versa.
  • When it comes to the costs, there is a very clear rule: the production costs of the artworks are (most often) covered by the artist (think of paint, canvases, et cetera), whereas the production costs of the exhibition are at the expense of the gallery (think of painting the walls in a specific color, the print work for the show, drinks during the opening of the exhibition, pedestals, display cases, and arguably frames to name a few).
  • Regarding transportation costs, the more established galleries will pay all freight charges. However, this is most likely the case with established artists. With emerging artists, a widespread agreement is the artist pays for the transport from the art studio to the gallery. In contrast, the gallery covers the transportation costs from the gallery to the collector or back to the artist’s studio.
  • As soon as the artworks arrive at the gallery, they become fully liable in case of loss, theft, or damage. As a result, it is the gallery’s responsibility to ensure they are well insured and handle the artwork professionally and securely.
  • The gallery does all invoicing and communication with the collectors. The only thing the artist must do is to send an invoice by the end of the show to receive his half of the turnover.
  • All images remain the artist’s exclusive property and are protected by international copyright law. All use beyond web publishing, catalog publishing, or promotional use needs a prior agreement with the gallery.

We have discussed everything you need to know about the artist-gallery working agreement in our extensive article Artist Contracts & Agreements with Galleries; feel free to read that article next. In this article, we talk about the business ethics of the art world, on what terms you should collaborate with galleries, some common issues, how to approach working with a contract, alternatives for working with a contract, and providing two contract templates—the consignment agreement and the representation agreement—to make sure you are prepared, professional, and successful in your gallery collaboration.

Installation view of ‘Gerhard Richter: Cage Paintings’ at Gagosian Gallery in New York (2021). Gerhard Richter (c) / Photo: Rob Mc Keever / Gagosian (c)

Very often, there can be some confusion regarding the difference between art galleries and museums. Both curate art exhibitions open to the public, so they may look very similar. However, they are, in fact, enormously different, as we have discussed in our extensive article concerning this topic What is the Difference between an Art Gallery and a Museum?

In a nutshell, an art gallery is a commercial and private enterprise. They curate exhibitions with the exhibited works available for sale. On the other hand, the museum is a public and non-commercial institution. Their exhibition program has an educational and cultural objective, canonizing and preserving the most relevant artworks. As a result, the exhibited artworks are not for sale.

There are much more differences between the art gallery and the museum besides this main difference. For an in-depth, step-by-step overview, please read our in-depth article on this topic here.

What are the Best Art Galleries, and Where to Find Them?

Our recent in-depth study on the Biggest Art Galleries in the World shows Gagosian Gallery is currently the biggest art gallery in the world, closely followed by Hauser & Wirth and Pace Gallery. Other ‘mega-galleries’ are David Zwirner, White Cube, Lisson Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac, Lehman Maupin, and Perrotin, to name a few.

Regarding their location and the location of other major art galleries, we can conclude they are most often located in some regions of the world’s largest cities. Doing so, the art capitals of the world – and therefore the places where to find the best art galleries – are New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Geneva, to name a few.

For more details on the best art galleries in the world and where to find them, feel free to read our more extensive article on the Top 10 of the Biggest Art Galleries in the World here.

How Do Art galleries Earn Money?

In the art industry, people often wonder how people make a living. The same case is valid with art galleries. How can they afford those beautiful high-end exhibition spaces at costly locations in city centers?

Art galleries earn money on a commission basis by qualifying sales of artworks. In some cases, there is an additional income from selling merchandise, art books, patrons, sponsorships, lectures, or other art-related services such as advising or representing certain actors in the art field.

As a result, there are various ways art galleries earn money. But without any doubt, the primary source of income is selling artworks on which they earn a 50% commission. In doing so, the artist and gallery work together, bundling their forces to be able to make the best sales possible, sharing the cake equally. Or, the art gallery buys artworks from artists, other art dealers, or at auction and tries to sell them at his art gallery to make a profit.

But as stated above, this is not the only manner to earn money as an art gallery.

As we have noticed multiple times by having an art gallery ourselves, not everyone knows how to visit an art gallery. Do you need to buy tickets? Do you need to make an appointment? Or do you need to say something upon your arrival? Are you allowed to visit the exhibition or gallery opening when you don’t know the artist or gallery and don’t intend to buy anything?

Due to these questions, stepping into an art gallery can feel a bit intimidating. However, it shouldn’t be! We have listed everything you would need to know to visit an art gallery below:

1. Plan your exhibition visit(s)

Most gallery visitors plan their visits by selecting the exhibition they are interested in from home. Usually, you can find all the necessary information on their website, such as what artist they are exhibiting and for how long. Most galleries aren’t as large as museums. As a result, it could be a good idea to combine several gallery exhibitions on the same day. For instance, when there is a show I want to see in Antwerp, I browse on the internet to see if there are any other exhibitions I would be interested in so I can hop from one gallery to the other, making sure my trip to the city of Rubens is worth it. By doing so, you can plan your visits or see at what time different exhibitions you would like to see are open at the same time.

Next, make sure the gallery is open when you are planning to visit. Most galleries are open during the weekend in the afternoon, but this isn’t the case for all galleries. As a result, I would advise you to check their opening hours on their website before making your way to the gallery.

Also, make sure you know the exact location of the gallery. If you don’t find it upon your arrival, feel free to ask some of the locals, who will hopefully help you gladly.

The simple answer is ‘no’. Only in rare cases is it necessary to buy a ticket to visit an art gallery, or it may happen some galleries would only be available by appointment. But generally speaking, art galleries are free of charge to visit, and when they are open, you don’t need an appointment.

If you would wish to visit the art gallery but the opening hours of the gallery don’t fit your schedule, you can simply take up contact with the gallery to ask for an appointment. Again, your visit will be free of charge also when your private visit to the gallery is by appointment.

Yes! Most visitors don’t buy anything at an art gallery because the sales are not the only reason the artworks are on display. Art has the objective to be seen and discussed. So don’t feel bad visiting an art gallery if you do not intend to buy anything. The gallery owner will happily welcome you to the gallery!

Not necessarily. A simple ‘hello’ or ‘good afternoon’ is sufficient when entering the art gallery. But if you want to have a chat or would like to get to know more about the exhibition in question, do not hesitate to start a conversation with the gallery owner or supervisor. They are there mainly to welcome you and provide further assistance with any questions.

6. Where can I find the prices of the exhibited artworks?

Most often, the prices of the artworks will not be visible on the wall. However, many galleries have a price list available or a catalog including prices for the visitors to look into. If you don’t find this specific list, simply ask the gallery owner or supervisor, and they will gladly assist you. Looking at the price list is 100% without obligation to buy something. So if you’re curious, don’t hesitate!

Gallery openings or ‘vernissages’ are arguably one of the most fun gallery experiences. At the start of every exhibition, galleries like to inaugurate the exhibition festively. At this time, the regular visitors all come together to discover the show, chat about it with fellow art enthusiasts, and drink a nice glass of wine or champagne.

Some of these openings are only by appointment. However, when the gallery states on its website the date and time of the opening, it is most likely you do not need to be invited to attend this festive gathering. As a result, you can go to the gallery, walk inside, have a glass of wine, and start connecting with the exhibited artworks and the people who have gathered. Most often, the artist himself is present during these ‘vernissages’, which is a unique opportunity to speak in person with some of the best artists out there. And yet again, don’t feel guilty for visiting the show for free and having a drink for free; art is a feast, and so is the art gallery opening!

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