The art world runs on information asymmetry and it suits almost everyone except the artist. I write about what a commission split covers, why your work is priced wrong in both directions, how a gallery decides who to show, and what a collector is actually buying. I sold other people's work for twenty-six years and took half, so I can tell you exactly what that half was for and when it was not earned.
I remember standing in my old gallery in the Cotswolds, staring at a beautiful, delicate charcoal sketch by a young man I’d championed for years. It looked like it was breathing—not in a poetic way, but in a literal, terrifying sense. The paper was undulating, developing these sickening, wavy cockles that made the entire composition […]
I spent twenty-six years watching young artists walk into my gallery with eyes full of wonder and pockets full of nothing, most of them convinced that if they didn’t have a degree from a prestigious academy, they were essentially invisible. They’ve been fed this expensive lie that the “Art World” is a walled garden accessible […]
I once watched a young landscape painter—a lovely girl with talent that practically hummed off the canvas—spend nearly three hundred pounds on a set of “professional grade” sable brushes that were, quite frankly, nothing more than clever marketing and expensive handles. She thought the tool would bridge the gap between her skill and her vision, […]
I remember standing in the back of a cavernous exhibition hall in Basel, nursing a lukewarm espresso and watching a young painter stare blankly at a crowd of collectors who were looking everywhere but at her canvas. Everyone tells you that art fairs are the ultimate shortcut to a career, but most of that advice […]
I remember sitting in my gallery during a rainy Tuesday in October, watching a young painter stare at a price tag she’d handwritten, looking as though she were deciding whether to sell her soul or her rent money. She had followed some online “expert” advice that suggested a complex formula involving square inches and emotional […]
I remember standing in a client’s sun-drenched drawing room in 2004, watching a beautifully saturated landscape by a local watercolorist turn a sickly, washed-out grey right before my eyes. The owner was convinced she needed a bespoke, museum-grade lighting installation that cost more than the painting itself, believing some high-tech gadget would solve everything. It’s […]
We need to stop pretending that an expensive degree is a golden ticket to a solo show at a Mayfair gallery. I spent twenty-six years watching bright-eyed graduates stumble into my gallery, clutching impressive portfolios but possessing absolutely no idea how to price a canvas or, more importantly, how to talk to a collector without […]
I remember a Tuesday in mid-October, years ago, when I walked into an artist’s studio for an open house that was supposed to be their “big break.” The room smelled of cheap lavender candles and desperation, and the artist spent forty minutes explaining the metaphysical significance of their color palette to a woman who clearly […]
I remember standing in a drafty convention center in Basel, nursing a lukewarm espresso and watching a colleague spend three thousand pounds on a booth that looked more like a high-end boutique than an art space. Everyone around me was whispering about “brand visibility” and “market penetration,” but all I saw was a frantic, expensive […]
I remember sitting in a drafty corner of my gallery in 2004, watching a collector stare at a landscape for twenty minutes, trying to sound profound about “the emotional resonance of the artist’s hand.” It was exhausting. People love to wrap themselves in the velvet curtains of art theory, but they often miss the point […]