[Art Market] Looking for advice - Just received some ugly paintings
Hello everyone,
I’d really value some perspective on a situation I’m dealing with.
I run a gallery with a fairly clear curatorial line. We focus on work that meets a certain technical and conceptual standard, and that also performs well commercially.
Recently, because of an important relationship with a collector, I agreed to take in three acrylic paintings depicting marine animals from an artist whose work doesn’t really align with the gallery. The pieces aren’t objectively bad, but when placed alongside the rest of the program, they feel noticeably out of place in terms of both execution and concept.
In fact, within the context of the gallery, I feel like the contrast makes the works read as more naive than they might otherwise, which ends up affecting not only how this artist is perceived, but also the overall coherence of the other artists I represent.
To add context, the current owner doesn’t have any real attachment to these works. They were acquired as part of a home purchase, so neither the previous nor the current owner is particularly invested in them. They simply want to sell them.
Now I’m in a position where I need to sell them, mainly to maintain that relationship, but I don’t feel comfortable fully standing behind the work as part of the gallery’s identity.
I’m considering a few options:
– Placing the works in a different context or partner space where they might fit better
– Having an honest conversation with the artist about potential adjustments or reformatting (I consider some parts of the paintings would look better in a smaller format)
– Trying to sell them more discreetly, outside of the main gallery narrative, although most of our sales come from walk-ins, so this isn’t as straightforward
Any advice on how to handle this? Thanks in advance