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Originally Posted by Kimberly Dow
Leslie,
I have been in some wonderful galleries with high sales back when I lived in NH, but they closed down. Now I am a couple smaller ones so I do not expect much.
I am thinking specifically of one that has one of my portraits up. They have my cards displayed there and save brochures for those that appear truly interested. .... If they get me a commission I would not otherwise have, then they deserve it I feel. Now, I would not pay a fee under any condition for 'possible' commissions or to show my work in a gallery. But, if a commission actually results from my work being there then they deserve their cut.
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Kimberly,
I agree that a gallery has a right to fees if they've promoted you and gotten you a commission, but I've had the advantage of a lot of press over the years so my reputation as a portrait artist is out there already. For me, commissions tend to come from word of mouth, internet exposure, and through my showing people my miniportfolio. The one time I had some pictures up at this gallery I was approached by someone who was interested in a portrait, but he already knew about my work and didn't end up commissioning the piece for almost a year after our discussion. It seemed that this was a portrait I would have been asked to paint anyway, so it never occurred to me to offer the gallery a commission on it.
For the high end galleries in NH, what were their policies regarding cards? I'm still trying to get a feel for how typical or reasonable the no-cards rule is for portrait artists.