Bruce Freund on mon 18 nov 02
The problem with this is that first, any gallery that does not return the
work and goes bankrupt I can assure you sold the work at some ridiculous
price to stay in business another day and second, almost all of the time the
work is sent a long distance and the gallery very well knows that no one
will spend money coming after them especially in a bankruptcy.
Be advised that a gallery does not have to go bankrupt for you not to get
paid. All they have to do is sell "your" work and not pay you..they know
very well that there is nothing you can do as $200 per hour for an attorney
gets old real quick.
Bottom line "which this line is" is KNOW the gallery you are dealing with as
there are lots of wonderful folks out there that are just as honest and
proud as we are.
Bruce Freund
Charlie Cummings on mon 18 nov 02
Be they friend or complete stranger I use the Standard Art Consignment
Agreement for all work that comes into my gallery and also for all work I
send elsewhere. I expect from other artists, and always include in
shipment of my work, 2 copies of an inventory sheet which includes a
description of the work and the retail price. One copy is for the gallery,
the other for the artist. When I don't get an inventory list with
delivered work, I insist that one is made before the work can be displayed.
The following are some provisions from the Standard Art Consignment
Agreement that I find useful in this situation.
2. Consignment. The Artist hereby consigns to the Gallery, and the Gallery
accepts on consignment, those Artworks listed on the attached Inventory
Sheet which is a part of this Agreement. Additional Inventory Sheets may be
incorporated into this Agreement at such time as both parties agree to the
consignment of other works of art. All Inventory Sheets shall be signed by
Artist and Gallery.
7. Fiduciary Responsibilities. Title to each of the Artworks remains in the
Artist until the Artist has been paid the full amount owing him or her for
the Artworks; title then passes directly to the purchaser. All proceeds
from the sale of the Artworks shall be held in trust for the Artist. The
Gallery shall pay all amounts due the Artist before any proceeds of sales
can be made available to creditors of the Gallery.
13. Accounting. A statement of accounts for all sales of the Artworks shall
be furnished by the Gallery to the Artist on a regular basis, in a form
agreed to by both parties, as follows:
______________________________________________________________________
(specify frequency and manner of accounting). The Artist shall have the
right to inventory his or her Artworks in the Gallery and to inspect any
books and records pertaining to sales of the Artworks.
18. Choice of Law. This Agreement shall be governed by the law of the State
of _____________ .
First, always insist that the gallery not only pay you, but also tell you
which items on the inventory list sold. Keep score on your own copy of the
inventory sheet. If the deal goes sour you need to know exactly what the
gallery has paid for and what is supposed to be in their possession.
The artwork is yours until you get money for it.
Demand monthly accounting, with a list of works that have sold.
If the gallery is in another state choose to have the agreement governed by
the state with the laws that protect you the fullest.
The standard art consignment agreement can be found at:
http://www.allworth.com/Pages/standa.htm
The agreement is included in The Artist-Gallery Partnership: A Practical
Guide to Consigning Art
By Tad Crawford and Susan Mellon $13.55
http://www.allworth.com/Catalog/AC104.htm This book examines each state's
laws concerning art consignment.
Due to the extreme amount of paper required for 70 artists I did not use
the above consignment agreement for the Cup: The Intimate Object
exhibition. By signing the prospectus the artist agrees to the premises of
the exhibition. For my part, I run the whole show using the above contract
as my guide.
Protect yourself. Hold any gallery you have work in up to high business
standards. If you don't get the expected monthly sales statement, call and
kindly demand that your agreement be honored. If they resist, maybe it's
time to move your work elsewhere.
Charlie
Charlie Cummings Clay Studio
4130 South Clinton Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46806
Charlie@claylink.com
260-458-9160
www.claylink.com
Kathy on mon 18 nov 02
Hi Bruce,
Great post. Your solution is not only effective, but
practically free. Check with the other artists at the
gallery. Check references. Notice when an artist pulls
his or her work, find out why. Don't bring a lot of
inventory to an unfamiliar gallery. Start small, build
a relationship.
> Bottom line "which this line is" is KNOW the gallery
> you are dealing with as
> there are lots of wonderful folks out there that are
> just as honest and
> proud as we are.
>
> Bruce Freund
thanks,
Kathy Maves
Bobbruch1@AOL.COM on tue 19 nov 02
<<<<not return the work and goes bankrupt I can assure you sold the work at some
ridiculous
price to stay in business another day and second, almost all of the time the
work is sent a long distance and the gallery very well knows that no one will
spend money coming after them especially in a bankruptcy. Be advised that a
gallery does not have to go bankrupt for you not to get paid. All they have
to do is sell "your" work and not pay you..they know very well that there is
nothing you can do as $200 per hour for an attorney gets old real quick.
That's what small claims court is for - and a consignment contract makes it
easier.
<<<<with as
there are lots of wonderful folks out there that are just as honest and proud
as we are.
Is that ever great advice!!!!
I sell work at one local gallery which is an excellent venue for pieces in
the $75 to $275. I don't have to invoice, I can just stop by the gallery
every so often and the owner gives me a check without my asking. I put my
more expensive work in another local gallery that did well for a while, but
the current economic downturn is forcing him to close his business. Luckily,
the owner is an honest and good person, so there have been no problems
getting unsold work returned.
However, now I need to start looking out of town for galleries, which seems
to be a very daunting task. I am wondering if given the resources of this
list, we could develop a method where fellow clayarters could list gallery
affiliations and others could contact them off list get private comments. It
would be helpful to know that XYZ gallery has been responsible and current in
making payments and dealing with other artists. I know that we can always
send a post to the list, but that seems to be too public a venue.
Bob Bruch
Bob Pulley on tue 19 nov 02
Your idea sounds like a good one. Car Talk has a place where people can
extoll the virtues of good honest mechanics in their area. The reverse
sounds like it could open one up to legal problems. Too easy for
someone to wreck the reputation of a gallery owner that they have a
personal grudge against. On principal though internet seems to be a
place to help protect people from disreputable individuals in a similar
way to how video cameras have been used to uncover abusive situations.
Bob
>>> Bobbruch1@AOL.COM 11/19/02 08:33AM >>>
<<<<that does
not return the work and goes bankrupt I can assure you sold the work at
some
ridiculous
price to stay in business another day and second, almost all of the
time the
work is sent a long distance and the gallery very well knows that no
one will
spend money coming after them especially in a bankruptcy. Be advised
that a
gallery does not have to go bankrupt for you not to get paid. All they
have
to do is sell "your" work and not pay you..they know very well that
there is
nothing you can do as $200 per hour for an attorney gets old real
quick.
That's what small claims court is for - and a consignment contract
makes it
easier.
<<<<dealing
with as
there are lots of wonderful folks out there that are just as honest and
proud
as we are.
Is that ever great advice!!!!
I sell work at one local gallery which is an excellent venue for pieces
in
the $75 to $275. I don't have to invoice, I can just stop by the
gallery
every so often and the owner gives me a check without my asking. I put
my
more expensive work in another local gallery that did well for a while,
but
the current economic downturn is forcing him to close his business.
Luckily,
the owner is an honest and good person, so there have been no problems
getting unsold work returned.
However, now I need to start looking out of town for galleries, which
seems
to be a very daunting task. I am wondering if given the resources of
this
list, we could develop a method where fellow clayarters could list
gallery
affiliations and others could contact them off list get private
comments. It
would be helpful to know that XYZ gallery has been responsible and
current in
making payments and dealing with other artists. I know that we can
always
send a post to the list, but that seems to be too public a venue.
Bob Bruch
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L. P. Skeen on tue 19 nov 02
> However, now I need to start looking out of town for galleries, which
seems
> to be a very daunting task. I am wondering if given the resources of this
> list, we could develop a method where fellow clayarters could list gallery
> affiliations and others could contact them off list get private comments.
Hey Bob,
If you are putting your work on consignment in galleries, you are giving up
40 - 50% of the cost of the work to the gallery anyway, so why not try
wholesaling your work? Get some professional quality slides done, then
check out www.wholesalecrafts.com . I know there are several here who are
members there, (Chris Campbell most notably), and do well. I picked up 4
new accounts last year through that service.
Thanks
L
KLeSueur@AOL.COM on tue 19 nov 02
<>
Exchanging information on galleries is a great idea. But a word of caution. If you are saying nice things the gallery will be thrilled. If you are trashing them, they will not. Negative comments sent by e-mail can be evidence for lawsuits. You may think no one else sees it but they do. And long after the sender and receiver have deleted it, it's out in space just waiting to be retrieved. So, if you have something bad to say you might want to use telephone landlines.
Kathi
Bobbruch1@AOL.COM on wed 20 nov 02
<<<<<<<From: Bob Pulley
Subject: Re: Consignment: whose work anyway
<<<<<<<can extoll the virtues of good honest mechanics in their area. The reverse
sounds like it could open one up to legal problems. Too easy for someone to
wreck the reputation of a gallery owner that they have a personal grudge
against.
1) I think that you can avoid lawsuits as long as it is made it clear that
what one is saying is solely "in my opinion" .........
2) You could just list categories .... promptness of payment, invoicing, etc.
Bob Bruch
Bobbruch1@AOL.COM on wed 20 nov 02
<<<<<<From: KLeSueur@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Consignment: whose work anyway
<<<<<caution. If you are saying nice things the gallery will be thrilled. If you
are trashing them, they will not. Negative comments sent by e-mail can be
evidence for lawsuits. You may think no one else sees it but they do. And
long after the sender and receiver have deleted it, it's out in space just
waiting to be retrieved. So, if you have something bad to say you might want
to use telephone landlines.
How would one know who to contact via telephone? That's why I thought of a
listing.
KLeSueur@AOL.COM on wed 20 nov 02
<>
Just post to Clayart that you are seeking info on gallery A. If someone would rather give you information over the phone they can send a private e-mail asking for your number.
Kathi
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