I was recently approached by someone who is opening a new gallery in Key West about selling my paintings and the offer sounds really strange to me. I have never sold in a gallery or been represented by anyone, but I don't see how this could possibly be the norm. He wants me to meet his business partner and sign a contract sometime next week. The whole deal seems very one-sided to me. Here is what he is offering:

1. I get 40% of sales of the original pieces, 35% for what he calls "artist proofs" where I basically paint a little on a print and call it a painting (something I'm very against), and 30% for regular prints( he keeps calling giclées "glichés", both are just as phoney to me. They're prints).

2. He wants everything I have, including examples of trompe l'œil and even paintings I did for my children (Hell no). He wants exclusive rights and full control of my work but only sell the originals on consignment. Some of these he doesn't even want to sell, he just wants to control them.

3.Now it gets really weird. He wants me to use a vacant double-wide mobil home on a 1 acre plot as my studio (which he calls my "gallery") for $1000 a month taken out of my check. He also told me I have to keep it mowed. Who's mowing it now?

4.He wants to provide me a computer to use for research that will be deducted from my check.

5. For his grand opening in mid-February, he wants to put me up in some fancy over-priced hotel THAT WILL BE TAKEN OUT OF MY CHECK.

6. He wants me to repaint some of them so we can sell each one as an original-sounds like a legal con, calling each one "an" original instead of "the" original.

7. Then he tells me that he won't sell the originals for at least a year. So where's the 40%?

This all seems to be worded so I end up paying him to make money off me. He told me this is better than average, that he's basically giving an unknown artist the deal of a more established one.This guy is loaded and his house is full of expensive, albeit crappy and pretentious, paintings. And I know for sure that he really is opening a gallery, but this really how it's done? I never painted for the money anyway. I have no problem keeping my artwork and giving it to friends like I always have. Please let me know if this sounds as oily to you as it does to me. Thanks

I havn't asked my gallery friends yet...but isn't 50% a bit high as well?

I know you set your own price for your work...and then negotiate with the gallery what percentage they keep...but I thought 35 was more normal? Perhaps it depends on what exposure the gallery feels it offers you, ie. busyness and  what kind  of prices they get?

...I just wanted to add...that the world is rife with artistic genius' that signed bad contracts.  The beatles signed their songs aways for peanuts I understand...and Billy Joel lost his first 50 million by letting his brother in law do his books!! Never, never sign something that gives anyone CONTROL over all your work. It's your work forever...you can sell a piece...or a copy of a piece.

But the rest is yours...

I thought I would add to the Bizarre list:  This is an email I received recently. I looked at properties etc of the sender and it was from a spam/scam site.

I may frame it so I don't get a big head