Last year I purchased a gift for a young 12-year-old friend. It was a special occasion and she had always shown a tremendous interest in the art in my home. I thought, instead of another necklace or bracelet, it’s time to get this young woman her first piece of art. Fortunately, she loved it and planned to go to the artist’s next show. A collector was born.
Months later, when her mother took her to the show, I got a call saying that her mom had fallen in love with another piece of art by the same artist and asked if it would be appropriate for her to negotiate with the gallery.
Galleries rarely negotiate prices for artwork during a show, particularly not on opening night. And they shouldn’t. They have worked hard to set the prices at what they have determined to be the value of the work; they have entered into an agreement with the artist, and the hope is to sell out the show on opening night.
I told my friend if she really wanted the painting, she should buy it at the listed price. The gallery’s goal was to sell the exhibit pieces during the first week or two of the show. Once sold, that painting would never be available to her again. If she was uncertain about the painting, then she should wait. At the end of the day, negotiations rarely result in significant discounts and therefore, if she covets the piece of art, my suggestion was to simply buy it.
There is more flexibility in pricing at an auction or silent auction. At most charity events, minimum bids are set below the actual value of the work. The piece has often been donated and the charity wants to make money. While these opportunities are fantastic, they rarely result in you buying exactly the piece of art you want from an artist you have been eyeing for a long time.
However, auctions can offer surprises. We recently bought our third Wanda Koop piece at a fundraiser at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. We were absolutely thrilled with both the price and the purchase as I knew the actual value was much higher than we paid. That purchase was made just after the exhibit of Koop’s work at the National Gallery in Ottawa and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, confirming her status as one of Canada’s most distinguished artists. It has an honoured spot on the wall in our kitchen, where I look at it each day. Nailed that one!
A good time to negotiate is when you are buying art from a gallery that is in another city, province or even a different country. If you are in another city you can negotiate to have the gallery deliver and install the piece in your home. When I buy art online from a gallery in Montreal, Calgary or Vancouver, I ask for free delivery. Usually the gallery is happy to pick up the delivery cost, but occasionally not. Recently I bought a piece in the U.S. and was able to negotiate delivery to my door for only $200 (typically, delivery fees including packaging and courier for a large piece can cost several hundred dollars).
Another good opportunity is at an art fair, where competition between galleries is high. When galleries have works they have shipped from far away, they may not want to return pieces home.
But at an opening art show, there’s rarely much wiggle room. Grab it if you love it before somebody else does. There’s nothing worse than dying for a piece of art and having it sold out from under you because you were trying to negotiate a lower price that you were never going to get. But do remember: if you’re dying for it and you’re outbid, you’ll still wake up alive the next morning.
Susan Wortzman is an ardent art collector and lover of all things e-discovery. While she is not traipsing about galleries at home in Toronto and around the world, she runs her law firm Wortzman Nickle, surrounded by paintings, photographs and sculpture. Have questions or a column idea for Susan? Send them here.
Image of Wanda Koop painting courtesy of Susan Wortzman and Glenn Smith Private Collection