?I?ve just been through small claims court with a well known Vancouver art dealer to get money owed to me for work I did on his gallery?s website. In the year that this case has been in the works I?ve heard from at least half a dozen artists represented by the gallery who are owed money for sold works, or who have had trouble getting their work returned to them. Also, in discussing my situation with another friend, a highly regarded Canadian sculptor from Quebec (now living in Ontario), he told me that he?s spent his whole life trying to collect from art dealers.

I am shocked by this situation; I had no idea it was so bad. There are dishonest types in every field but it seems particularly prevalent in the art world where the creative ones are least able to afford being ripped off and usually lack the disposition or the means to take legal action.?

I got this letter shortly after having lunch with three artist friends of mine. The big story at our lunch was that one of my friend?s had just begun legal action against her art dealer. She had become frustrated by the difficulties and the length of time she had invested in the unsuccessful recovery of her work. Her situation was too familiar to my other two friends at the table.

The letter arriving right after the lunch had me remember lessons learned from a business person I know and spoke to about this subject many years ago. He is a former gallery operator and someone with a lifelong career in the fine art field. I asked him why so many artists were experiencing difficulties with their dealers ? either not being paid when works sold or having trouble getting consigned works back. His response was to compare a furniture store and a commercial art gallery.

?If you want to open a furniture store, the key things that you have to do are rent a commercial space, hire staff, buy inventory, invest in sales merchandise (cash registers, forms, etc) and spend a lot of money on advertising ? a LOT of money ? to attract customers. If you want to open an art gallery, all you need is the space, sales merchandise and often only one permanent staff person.?

My friend also pointed out that an art dealer/gallery owner doesn?t have to spend a lot on advertising. My friend explained a new dealer makes customers out of his friends and their friends, but more importantly he said, the art dealer may take an artist on expecting the artist to provide the bulk of the names used for the opening night?s invitation list and sales. Over the years, a dealer can amass a considerable database of names from the lists of his or her roster of artists. His point here is that instead of the very expensive costs of advertising for the furniture dealer, an art dealer can get by with only a relatively inexpensive direct mail (or e-mail) campaign to support each show or sale.

?But the greatest advantage the art dealer has over his furniture selling counterpart is that his inventory is not only free, it comes from highly exploitable ?manufacturers? who are dying to have their work seen and desperate to earn sales revenue,? he went on. Art ?manufacturers? are often unsophisticated sellers. The furniture seller has to have a business plan to secure start-up capital, loans, licenses, inventory, etc. Artists don?t. They create because they feel they ?have to.? Artists have a strong desire to make their art regardless of its potential to sell. Their product comes from an emotional base and they often seek an emotional return through their exhibitions as well as an economic return. That is why I say they are vulnerable and exploitable to a disreputable dealer.

At this point it is very important to say that my friend and I know that there are professional, dedicated art dealers playing a significant role in the advancement of the careers of many artists. Most of them fit this description. For me, the ?patron saint? of art dealers is Theo van Gogh. His belief in his brother, his determination to support Vincent and his unending struggle to see his brother?s work seen and admired is one of my favourite stories in visual art history. Many dealers have the same love of art and desire to advance an artist as did Theo van Gogh. But for the reasons my friend explained to me, the field can attract people who are as inexperienced in business as the artists he or she takes on as clients. Art dealers can disappoint or fail their artists either through dishonesty or accident. To the artists affected by the poor business practices of their dealers, the reason, whatever it is, doesn?t change the fact that it is the artist who winds up out of pocket.

Another important point to remember is that artists sometimes place all the blame on their dealers when problems arise, and they do not take responsibility for their having not secured adequate information and/or an adequate contract. When you hear horror stories about dealers, remember to ask yourself, ?Is the dealer completely at fault here?? In some cases, perhaps too many cases, they are, but in many situations I hear discussed, the artist is in denial about his or her professional responsibilities.

When things do go wrong, it is too often the case that besides losing money and an artwork, the artists in dispute with their dealer do not accept that it may be their own lack of business acumen that caused the problem. In consultation with a lawyer, artists often discover their problem is not covered in the details of their contract and advancement of their case in the courts can be prohibitively expensive. Often there is no contract at all.

The best defense against exploitation for an artist is self-education, and for visual artists there is no better source of information about the ?business? of art than CARFAC (www.carfac.ca) and the CARFAC Copyright Collective (www.carcc.ca).

There are many publications available that contain sample contracts that an artist can adapt for their own purposes. Also, there?s nothing like asking your peers for their help to ensure that you cover all possible points of contention in an agreement with any art dealer with whom you do business. I wish I had the resources to support a website with model contracts and a place where artists could register their experiences in order to warn other artists of dealers breaching contracts or acting in bad faith. We could be helping each other.

Do you have a good contract you would be willing to share? If so, let me know and we can take steps to make it available through the Opus website. Stay tuned.