It depends on the restaurant and their percentage. I have had some good experiences Water Gatherers
oil painting on canvas
18 x 24 inches with being in a restaurant and a winery... and recently a very bad experience being in a gallery. The restaurant and winery took no more than 10% commission. They gave an opening reception, web coverage and a lot of support. The gallery made me pay a lot of money for my opening. They did give me good press and web coverage, but they took 50% and then it took threats to get my money. I think Kirk just needs to check around and find a good spot. California is so full of artists that we need any venue we can get to show our work. I think he needs to just learn to call the price of his work and choose a place that does not take a large cut. Unless one is well known and collected our choices are limited.

If Kirk has made the commitment to the restaurant then he has to ask them how they Grove
white pine vase
16.75 inches tall are going to earn the mark up. How are they going to work for him? What kind of marketing are they going to do? Will there be an opening? Will they provide all the food, the invitation and do a mailing to their broad client base? If the answer is no to any or all of these questions then he should be out of there. Pricing is always difficult but many years ago I developed a formula to price my work. I built in the 40% commission that the galleries charge. (I am a craftsman specializing in semi- and non-functional woodturning.) I have come to realize the value of the galleries over studio tours and various other kinds of art shows. The galleries are usually in prime or ideal locations, they usually have a steady clientele and what they do best is sell artwork. What I do best is create. It is a good marriage. It is difficult to get my fellow artists to agree with the value of the galleries. They resent the 40% commission. What they don't understand is that if they sell the work themselves, they make the 40% but they also have the overheads of selling the work. In fact, their overheads are probably considerably higher than a gallery because they do not have the underlying assets of location, staff and new client base. You cannot overstate the necessity of bringing work to gallery quality. If artists are serious about their commitment to their work then they should heed your words. Take the time to do it right. You'll be happier for it.

In addition to poor lighting, etc., one of the biggest problems I see with "alternative Sunset Celebration
original painting on canvas
11 x 14 inches venues" like these is that there is generally no one there to sell the work. Wait staff, bankers, receptionists, etc. aren't trained to sell art, and even if they knew a thing about the art or artist, they are generally too busily engaged in their tasks at hand to expend the time and energy. However, there are always exceptions. I've worked with a 5 star hotel that displayed a number of my smaller original oils and watercolors outside of their gift shop, and everything has sold. The gift shop also purchased prints of a watercolor I did of the landmark hotel. While they won't advance an artist's career the way a good gallery can, sometimes these venues, if catering to the right clientele, can move some art.

The pricing business is one of striking a balance between the potential collector and me as the artist. Right now, as an emerging artist, my prices are relatively low for a framed piece. I am comfortable with that for the time being, but would like more information about how others determine this. Although I don't want to give my art away, I also don't want to have all of it on my walls either. I always tell people who comment on the reasonable price of my work right now, that I am emerging and if they are wise, they should buy now before my prices go up.

(RG note) Thanks, Sue. While often too debasing for artists to think about, the implication and then the proof that an artist's prices go up is highly endearing to buyers.

I would recommend rental galleries as opposed to restaurants. Rental galleries allow you to keep the piece and sell when the time and price is right. In the meantime it's a great indicator of market trends, what direction your artwork is going (or not) and to collect a little extra cash along the way. Rental galleries are often pursued by realtors eager to make a sale, homeowners, needing to impress, or people comfortable with frequent change. Often clients look to try pieces out to be sure if a piece will work... without a huge investment of money. From a retail point of view, most people will choose to keep something once it's already in their home.

I started in my hometown exhibiting on the places like City Library, in some beautiful Deep Rooted
oil painting on canvas
19.5 x 27.5 inches place in nature, but also some galleries. Some other artists from my art-community (in 5 years time it is grown in the group of about 100 "artists") started selling on the town-fairs, like vegetables. Then they went into art fairs and some of them are now selling through galleries representing them in big art-fairs. I found my art not appropriate to sell on the town-fair and now I feel punished because of that decision. At that point in my carrier I was offered advice to make 30% higher prices to be able to sell art on the right places (galleries with more rich or "serious" collectors). It is not good if you are cheap, I was told. They won't take your work seriously. Then I lost some potential buyers among people already collecting my art. And about those right places, I never came there either. Those I think being appropriate, very often ask a lot of money for renting the space, or you need to have someone to recommend you. Small galleries won't take the risk, big galleries wouldn't bother. My prices are now again rather normal. When I feel positive I think that it all happened to give me time to develop my art on the right level. When I am negative I think I have a bad luck and I made all wrong decisions. In both ways I never allowed that to have any influence on my art. I keep on painting because I love the smell of paint around me and I love my process of developing. My attic is full of paintings and I am quite afraid when I think of making my next step. Not in painting but in art selling. There are so many choices to make; and so many mistakes.

Gallery representation is not an option for many emerging artists. In my early years Melrose Bay
16 x 20 inches when I approached galleries I was brushed off. New York artist Dorothy Gillespie advised me to take every opportunity to show my work, no matter where. I showed my work in malls, restaurants, garden shows, even, once, a boy-scout jamboree! I found my patrons (or should I say they found me) and began to build a reputation based on the quality and popularity of my work. Then, the galleries approached me. Around the state of Florida, I've now got five galleries that represent me, and I have a wonderful working relationship with all of them.

Bistango is not "poorly lit exposure with random splashes of gravy." To group Bistango Strata
original painting in with "barber shops, and houses of ill repute, etc." is an insult to all they've contributed to emerging artists' careers. In any event, I hope your comments were made based on your personal experience--it's certainly your right to have an opinion based on your observations. But if you've known nothing of Bistango, if you've not been there or met the people, and these comments are just theoretical generalizations crafted to deliver a clever answer to one person's discontent, that approach serves no one. Bistango is a great venue for emerging artists. Owner John Ghoukassian, with the assistance of art consultant Antionette Sullivan of Studio Gallery, has been offering this Bistango "Dining as Art" venue, and at their Bayside restaurant in Newport Beach, for the past 20 years and, as such, have developed quite a following and reputation. They put on a Spring and Winter show each year in each restaurant; Bistango featuring 30 or more artists annually who are invited to display an average of 5 pieces each. There are many lovely exhibit spaces within their enormous restaurant; naturally, some are better than others as is true with any venue. Most artworks are spotted individually with lighting. Every time a new exhibit goes up, so does a new coat of paint get rolled onto every single hanging wall. Every year, two times per year! They are conveniently located across the street from The Irvine Museum, which goes a long way to patrons being in an "acquisition mode" as they enter the restaurant. (The Irvine Museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of California art of the Impressionist Period--1890 to 1930.) Bistango has more foot traffic than most art galleries, and most patrons dine there for the specific reason of enjoying and buying art. The exhibits are well advertised in professionally produced, high quality brochures mailed to a manicured list of over 7,000 national and international recipients. Each exhibitor can invite an unlimited number of guests to the opening reception (top quality food and drinks supplied at no extra cost), and each exhibitor is provided, at no extra cost, with as many brochures as they wish. That exposure alone is something most emerging artists can never hope to achieve in the early years, if ever.

I am from Irvine, California, and actually Bistango is a very high place to sell art - they are known for this even though they are a restaurant. Kirk should have discussed this before he ever goes in to any place. I normally would not respond however Bistango has helped launch a number of new artists and I feel he should have given you more info--maybe he did and you used this in a broad context.

I was invited to show at Bistango and was happy with the outcome. I was asked
original painting
by Michael Allen for
original painting
by Michael Allen a framed price that would be doubled. Both Bistango and Studio Gallery host an opening reception. The restaurant is on the border with Newport Beach, close to the Orange County Airport. It is a popular power lunch and dinner destination. The contemporary art displays and the nightly jazz separate Bistango from the typical Orange County dining room. So does the food. Your comments may be true, but I don't think they apply in this case. I think it may be a case of the artist not reading the contract. Your twice weekly letter makes e-mail worthwhile.

(RG note) Thanks, Michael, and the others who wrote defending Bistango. Michael sold the two paintings illustrated above at Bistango. You can find out about the two restaurants here and here .

The question that is not addressed nor spelled out clearly in your letter is whether The Fishermen
watercolour painting these prices mentioned are net or retail. If they are retail then what percentage does the gallery normally take? If they are wholesale then what mark up does the gallery add? The answers to these questions would be very helpful as the position is not clear. And finally, do you pay the shipping and handling (is it included in the price) or does the gallery take responsibility for this cost?


(RG note) Thanks, Roger. The prices mentioned are the final prices the buyer pays. This is the most important price—how much the work sells for at retail—because it needs to be consistent between venues. Very few galleries work for less than one third commission these days. Forty percent to the gallery and sixty to the artist is more common. While the percentage varies greatly in different locales, 50/50 is now considered acceptable in many areas. Anything over that and the gallery would have to have a miraculous track record and be a promotional phenomenon. Most ultra-high commission venues are scalpers and don't know what they're doing. Funnily, it's these high rate guys that most frequently go broke. There are some (they are called Wallbangers) who rent wall space and try to get a high commission as well. Framing, incidentally, is generally the investment of the dealer (he knows what frames people like in his area) and the retail frame price is added to the standard retail price of the art that the artist provides. Smart dealers see value in this—they invest in the frames, switch them from (standard size) piece to piece, and make the profit. There are often exceptions to this convention for work under glass or plexi. Regarding shipping, the general etiquette is that artists pay for the shipping to a dealer, and the dealer pays on the occasions when work is returned to the artist.