[Jewelry making - Article 00143] - Re: [Orchid] Approaching stores and consignment contracts?

[Andrew Werby]

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>>         If you give your work to this gallery, you might as well just
>>     have left it on the street. In this case, the gallery has no
>>     incentive to take any precautions to avoid it being lost, stolen,
>>     or damaged. 

>     Wrong!  In most cases, the galleries do all they can to protect
>     the work left by consigning artists. As an artist and a gallery
>     owner, I truly resent the statements you make!  Ok, I know  I'm not
>     supposed to "take it personally," but you're accusing galleries of
>     not taking precautions to protect the work of artists. 

    Whoa, there! I'm not accusing all galleries of this, and certainly
    not yours. But as someone who has been through the disillusioning
    experience of having a gallery default while in possession of a large
    amount of my work, alarm bells go off when I hear that the gallery's
    own insurance won't cover work held on consignment. To me this sounds
    like they don't want to take responsibility for it, in which case it
    would be extremely difficult to get reimbursement if something went
    wrong. 

>     I have 60 plus artists in my gallery and I do all I can to protect
>     their work. I have even paid up when the inventory doesn't match up
>     with what I have. If something broke, I paid. If something is
>     missing, I paid. 

    That's great, but you have to realize that not everyone is as upright
    as you. (I'm sure there are lots of honest people in Nigeria, too).
    Does your insurance not cover damage and loss for consigned
    merchandise? I've had work go missing while in a gallery that did
    have insurance, only to have the owner tell me that I'd only get a
    fraction of my wholesale price, because his insurance policy had a
    large deductable (as if this had anything to do with me).
    Consignment arrangements are inherently risky for artists, who have
    to pay up front for all the costs of production,  wait for something
    to sell, then hope they get timely payment, and that the gallery
    doesn't go belly-up in the meantime. It's a much better deal for a
    crafts store or gallery, which get all their stock for free, unlike
    stores carrying other types of merchandise. Without an iron-clad
    guarantee of the gallery's responsibility for work held in trust, it
    is very difficult for an artist to rationally justify getting
    involved with it on this basis, particularly if the work in question
    has a high intrinsic value. I'm glad to hear that you do take this
    responsibility seriously, and I'm willing to accept that  most other
    galleries do so as well, but you have to realize that there are bad
    apples in every barrel, and that there are some who will not hesitate
    to take advantage of naive artists. Unfortunately, it's the shakiest
    and least-established ones that tend to be the most receptive to new
    work, especially if they can get it for nothing, without even a
    guarantee of compensation for loss. I used to be more trusting, but
    after some bitter experiences, I've learned to be more careful. I'm
    sorry if I inadvertantly offended you, but I'm not backing off my
    original advice to be very cautious about getting into a consignment
    relationship with a venue that wants to disclaim all liability at
    the outset. 

Best Regards-

Andrew Werby
www.unitedartworks.com

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