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Answer: An art gallery is an exhibition space to display and sell artworks. As a result, the art gallery is a commercial enterprise working with a portfolio of artists. The gallery acts as the dealer, representing, supporting, and distributing the artworks by the artists in question.

Answer: 1. The Commercial Art Gallery
With commercial art galleries, the gallery collaborates with several artists, agreeing to represent and support them. This means the gallery commits to showcasing, promoting, selling, and distributing the artworks of the artist in question. In return, the gallery earns a commission with the sales of the artworks. By doing so, the gallery is motivated to do the best work possible for the artist, pushing their career and sales. The better the artists are promoted and grow their careers, the better the gallery’s reputation.

2. Mega-Galleries - the top layer of the gallery industry
A Mega-gallery is a highly influential art gallery with multiple locations, a number of employees, and square meters of exhibition space similar to major museum institutions. They also advise institutions, events, and corporations in the art world.

3. Vanity Art Galleries
Much less reputable and desirable sources for art, Vanity art galleries, do not have a curated gallery program and charge artists to exhibit and promote their work with the gallery. Caveat emptor.

4. Exhibition Spaces
In an exhibition space, the artist rents a space in which they can organize & display their work. The artist pays rent per day or week and needs to take care of all the other aspects of the show, such as supervision, promotion, print work, invitations, et cetera.

5. Artist-Run Galleries
In this instance, artists or artist collectives decide to create a platform of their own and start a gallery or exhibition space independently. The most common reason to do this is due to a lack of opportunities to exhibit. As an alternate venue, an artist-run art gallery can be highly successful, continue to grow its offerings and have as excellent a reputation as a commercial art gallery.

Answer: An art gallery creates a curated exhibition program of their represented artists – or artist estates – with whom they have a (long-term) collaboration, supporting and monitoring their careers, selling their artworks, and promoting them to grow their careers.

Art galleries:
1. Curate the exhibition program
2. Building a portfolio of artists and artist estates
A portfolio is a carefully curated selection of artists the gallery commits to represent, consisting of a long-term collaboration between the artist and the gallery.
3. Sell and distribute artworks
Art galleries sell and distribute the artworks from the artists the gallery represents. The gallery acts as the artist’s dealer, doing everything needed to get the artwork from the artist to a specific collection, public or private.
The gallery becomes the direct point of contact for inquiries for a specific artist.
4. Represent and support the artists
Besides giving valuable advice to their artists, they do everything within their power to grow and sustain their careers, enabling the artist to focus entirely on producing the artwork.

The gallery also looks for other attractive exhibition opportunities for its artists beyond its gallery, such as at other galleries or institutional shows.

Answer: A significant goal for almost any artist is to work with an art gallery. Galleries receive unsolicited submissions by artists daily, but ‘better’ artists get invited by galleries.
There are three key ingredients to land gallery representation: a compelling, intriguing, and cohesive oeuvre, a professional artist profile (with a professional website, resume, and bio), and a strong network.

The key is to invest in personal relationships with other artists, gallerists, collectors, and critics by attending openings, lectures, and other art-related events.

Answer: The gallery does not charge the artist any commission or fee for its representation or promotion activities. The only way a gallery (or artist) earns money is by the manner of selling artworks produced by the artist.
Profits by sale are shared regularly of a 50-50% agreement of the turnover. In agreement, the gallery may offer a 10% discount for specific clients, but only with the artist’s prior permission. In all cases of discount agreements, the 50-50% rule remains when splitting the turnover.
If a collector contacts the artist instead of the gallery to buy a particular artwork from the show, it is the responsibility of the artist to refer the collector back to the gallery. Selling the artwork by himself and leaving the gallery out of it to have his fair share is an absolute ‘no-go’ as collaboration is based upon mutual trust and respect. The production costs of the artworks are (most often) covered by the artist (think of paint, canvases, et cetera), whereas the production costs of the exhibition are at the expense of the gallery (think of painting the walls in a specific color, the print work for the show, drinks during the opening of the exhibition, pedestals, display cases, and arguably frames to name a few).
All images remain the artist’s exclusive property and are protected by international copyright law. All use beyond web publishing, catalog publishing, or promotional use needs a prior agreement with the gallery.

Answer: An art gallery is a commercial and private enterprise. They curate exhibitions, with the exhibited works available for sale. On the other hand, the museum is a public and non-commercial institution. Their exhibition program has an educational and cultural objective, canonizing and preserving the most relevant artworks. As a result, the exhibited artworks are not for sale.

Answer: We can conclude they are most often located in some regions of the world’s largest cities. Doing so, the art capitals of the world – and therefore the places where to find the best art galleries – are New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Geneva, to name a few.

Answer: Art galleries earn money on a commission basis by qualifying sales of artworks. In some cases, there is an additional income from selling merchandise, art books, patrons, sponsorships, lectures, or other art-related services such as advising or representing certain actors in the art field.

The primary source of income is selling artworks, on which they earn a 50% commission. In doing so, the artist and gallery work together, bundling their forces to be able to make the best sales possible, sharing the cake equally. Or, the art gallery buys artworks from artists, other art dealers, or at auction and tries to sell them at his art gallery to make a profit.

Answer: 1. Plan your exhibition visit(s)
Usually, you can find all the necessary information on their website, such as what artist they are exhibiting and for how long.

2. Check the location and opening hours of the gallery
Most galleries are open during the weekend in the afternoon, but this isn’t the case for all galleries.

3. Do I need to have an appointment or buy a ticket to visit an art gallery?
The simple answer is ‘no’. Only in rare cases is it necessary to buy a ticket to visit an art gallery, or it may happen some galleries would only be available by appointment.

4. Is it okay to visit an art gallery if you do not intend to buy anything?
Yes! Most visitors don’t buy anything at an art gallery because the sales are not the only reason the artworks are on display. Art has the objective to be seen and discussed. So don’t feel bad visiting an art gallery if you do not intend to buy anything.

5. Do you need to say anything when arriving at the art gallery?
Not necessarily. A simple ‘hello’ or ‘good afternoon’ is sufficient, when But do not hesitate to start a conversation with the gallery owner or supervisor.

6. Where can I find the prices of the exhibited artworks?
Most often, the prices of the artworks will not be visible on the wall. However, many galleries have a price list available or a catalog including prices for the visitors to look into. If you don’t find this specific list, simply ask the gallery owner or supervisor, and they will gladly assist you.

7. How to attend a gallery opening
Gallery openings or ‘vernissages’ are arguably one of the most fun gallery experiences. At this time, the regular visitors all come together to discover the show, chat about it with fellow art enthusiasts, and drink a nice glass of wine or champagne.

Some of these openings are only by appointment. Most often, the artist himself is present during these ‘vernissages’, which is a unique opportunity to speak in person with some of the best artists out there.