Why Is Selling Art So Hard?

Banner Image: Minneapolis College of Art and Design annual art sale, 2015. Image courtesy of MCAD. 

Hi, I’m William Gustavo Franklin, contributing writer for MPLSART.COM, and today we’ll be talking about ways people sell art today (not all, but some). This article is a bit of opinion, past experiences, and resources I’ve gathered along the way. I hope it catches your attention and becomes somehow useful.

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Before I start, I want to disclose that my relationship with art has never been about money. Music, way before the visual arts, had changed my life at an early age and none of it had to do with monetary value. For many years, I denied the notion of art as a commodity until I understood that all art in the market is an asset. In the summer of 2012, I enrolled in a summer study on the fundamentals of art business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York to explore the business structures of the art world: the artist’s studio, the gallery, the museum, the auction house. 

It was there I amplified my understanding of the artist as entrepreneur and of business as a creative tool. I had the opportunity to attend the Summer Contemporary Art Auction of June 8 2012 2pm at 1334 York Avenue where I saw an 11 by 11 in Sol LeWitt gouache on paper reach $17,000 (having started at $8,000). Also, I took a deep dive into live online bidding as the auction house pushed live digital bidding to the forefront.

Then came my encounter with Don Thompson’s book The $12 Million Stuffed Shark which made me see how art prices were determined by the meeting of real economics forces and pure desire, most of the time irrational. In the words of Australian art critic Robert Hughes (1938-2012), “a fair price is the highest one a collector can be induced to pay.”

Image: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark by Don Thompson.

 

For the record, I’ve never priced or sold art myself other than the times I have offered humble advice to artists or worked on budget proposals when applying for exhibition grants. I continue to learn and unlearn about the dynamic practice and concept of art pricing. 

 

Cardinal rule: be fair to yourself first

Whether you are dealing your art yourself or have a good dealer that handles production costs and pricing for you, learn to balance your needs from the beginning. Think of a sustainable pricing model (in other words, revenue covering costs and leaving you a little profit) to sustain your growth. Never underestimate yourself or underprice yourself out of fear or any guilt. That for a start. (for the emerging artist, I recommend this book).

 

Image: Navigating the Art World: Professional Practice for the Early Career Artist by Delphian Gallery

Build and defend your reputation from the get-go

Even as a new artist with just a little or no gallery or exhibition history at all, put your most promising work out there with the belief it will sell. If your art sells, even at low prices, you have made your first investment in your artistic future. Now do it all again. As you become better known, your prices should escalate (some helpful information here).

 

Pricing 

The traditional and simplest way to price art has been to calculate base costs (materials, overhead, time and labor) and choose a pricing model (e.g., cost of materials × 2 + hourly rate × time). The approach ensures that materials are paid and time is rewarded (makes sense, you should compensate yourself fairly for all). Another traditional approach has been based on the size of the work (aka square inch method), larger pieces generally cost more because they require more materials, time, and studio space. Here is a great resource for pricing by square inch by artist Lindsey Cherek Waller.

However, art prices today are less driven by production costs and size, instead they are driven by supply, demand, and cultural validation. I would say none of the aforementioned factors should be considered in isolation or as more important than another. 

If you are looking for local guidance on professional pricing and business practices, consider connecting with these St Paul/Minneapolis resources: Springboard for the Arts and Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA).

 

Image: Springboard For The Arts, located at 262 University Avenue West, Saint Paul.

Keep in mind: buyers often purchase art regardless of pricing models, they purchase art because it evokes a specific strong feeling, memory, mood, or connection to identity. Art collector Peggy Guggenheim purchased Jean Arp’s sculpture Head and Shell (circa 1933) because it evoked a profound physical and emotional feeling: "I fell so in love with it that I asked to have it in my hands. The instant I felt it I wanted to own it."

 

Art to galleries

Art dealers and galleries are incredibly important in the art market. While the internet has allowed and democratized how artists can sell directly to buyers, dealers and galleries provide the crucial market positioning, validation, and curation required to build long-term value and prestige as an artist. They are also important actors in creating community and networks of support. Being picked up by a credible dealer that works hard to put you in a group show, biannual, solo show, and move your art through a tiers of galleries can be a blessing. I equally admire and support artists who have taken business into their own hands by running their own online storefronts and direct sales. Fair game. 

Galleries are good places to connect artists with collectors, the general public, and provide the much needed sales support to artists. Not only that, these connections and resources are what allows artists to command higher price points (I have witnessed how galleries advocate behind closed doors for the benefit of artists for years). Should artists keep accepting the 50/50 split with art galleries? Well, that’s a different issue altogether and one worth rethinking. Knowing how to protect yourself before you hit the market is very important. One step could be reviewing Minnesota state law regarding consignment sales to protect your ownership rights. Remember galleries work for you, not the other way around.

Art galleries in Minneapolis typically take a commission between 30% and 50% of the artwork's retail sale price for consigned pieces. Galleries run by artist collectives such as Rosalux Gallery often take lower commissions. I am a strong believer in galleries, artists need them, they are the art world’s engine, the foundation of the entire market.

 

Art to fairs

I have never been to Switzerland, nor plan to for the moment, but that’s where the world’s premier international art fair has happened since the 1970s, Art Basel. Art fairs, rural or urban, national or international, are the ultimate marketplaces and networking hubs for galleries wanting to make connections. 

 

Top image: Loring Park Art Festival 2025. Bottom image: St. Paul Art Crawl, Schmidt Artist Lofts. Photo courtesy of Visit Saint Paul.

 

There are hundreds of art fairs, craft shows, and open studio tours in Minnesota. Art-A-Whirl (considered the nation’s largest open studio tour) was incredibly successful this year, featuring more than 1,400 artists across more than 100 locations. On its part, the Saint Paul Art Crawl continues to be celebrated as the longest-running art crawl in the United States. The book The Art Fair Story: A Rollercoaster Ride is a great resource to learn how the art fair industry has transformed the art market.

 

Art to auction (going under the hammer)

Kudos to anyone who makes it to an art auction, they typically represent the pinnacle of the art world. However, people who sell their art to auction houses are not necessarily artists, these are typically private collectors, estates, art dealers, galleries, and museums who leave the art to sell for a commission (in 2022, Sotheby’s Artist’s Choice broke the paradigm by allowing artists and mid-sized galleries consign new, primary-market works directly to auction. Although very successful during its launching, the direct-to-auction venture quickly lost momentum and failed). 

The process of consigning a work to an auction house starts by submitting the artwork for specialist valuation and providing all documentation and the provenance. When a contract is finally signed, art is shipped to a warehouse and prepared for auction. At this point, they assess its condition, verify estimates, and generate a catalog, sometimes there’s even an exhibition prior to the in-person auction. 

Here in Minnesota, Revere Auctions is one example of a full-service boutique auction house specializing in high-end items, estates, and corporate collections. Revere Auctions also offers free auction estimates [If you think you fit any of these categories rush up, they are inviting consignments for their upcoming auctions]. For corporate offices, hotels, healthcare facilities, and commercial spaces looking to buy art, the Minneapolis based firm Nolo Art Consulting works with its networks of artists and designers to find art that fits their brands. 

 

Image: Nolo Art Consulting, photo courtesy of Nolo Art.

To delve into the minds of art collectors and investors, I recommend Melanie Gerlis’s Art As An Investment? A Survey of Comparative Assets. For anyone who wants to learn how the art market works, it is never too late to read the Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in Global Financial Market by Noah Horowitz.◼︎ 

Throwback: In August 2007, British artist Damien Hirst (whether you like him or not), supposedly sold his sculpture For The Love of God for £50 million ($100 million) by bypassing his dealer. White Cube gallery in London supposedly received a £25 million cut (“Turns Out the Diamond Skull That Damien Hirst and White Cube Said They Sold for $100 Million in 2007 Still Belongs to Them”).

See you in two weeks with a new topic. In the meantime, send comments or feedback on this article to: info@mplsart.com.

 

William Gustavo Franklin is an educator and an independent art curator who teaches art history, criticism, and theory. He has curated more than a dozen exhibits and served as a panelist reviewing applications for grants and artist-in-residence programs. He is also a native Spanish speaker who loves his language and culture. Website