Sell More Art Without A Gallery

Selling art isn’t just about making great work, it’s about choosing sales channels that don’t quietly erase your profit. We’ve gotten a steady stream of questions about galleries, especially from artists who want more exposure but also want to keep their prices within reach. So we lay out our actual process for selling paintings and wall art, including what’s worked year after year and what we’ve learned the hard way.

We start with the backbone of our art business: in-person art shows. From major art events to festivals and multi-day shows, we talk about why face-to-face selling still wins for many artists. It creates immediate feedback, real conversations, and momentum that’s hard to replicate online. If you’re trying to grow art sales, build a collector base, and make your work feel “real” to buyers, these events can be a repeatable system rather than a gamble.

From there, we dig into commission work as a second channel, and why limits matter. Commissions can be dependable, but only if you protect your time and avoid overbooking. Finally, we address the gallery question directly. Great galleries exist everywhere, but the typical 50–60% commission can force uncomfortable pricing decisions. We talk through how pricing artwork can stay fair to your labor while still landing at a number that makes buyers say, “I want that piece.”

If you’re an emerging artist, a mid-career painter, or anyone building an art business, this conversation will help you think clearly about art fairs, commissions, galleries, and pricing strategy. Subscribe for more practical guidance, share this with an artist friend, and leave a review with your biggest question about selling art.

Transcript

Selling Art Without Galleries

SPEAKER_00 0:00

A number of people have asked me what are my thoughts about selling their art or artwork at uh wonderful uh galleries. And I have my own opinions on that and my own process and my own way of selling art. Uh my number one way of selling art paintings and artwork and wall art is uh through all my shows that I do every year. So I do um major art events, I do shows, I do some festivals, and then uh larger shows that are two, three days. Uh so that's my number one way to sell art. My second way is through commission work. Now, unfortunately, I can only do so many commission pieces per year. So uh I've been fortunate that every year I have a number of commission pieces that I'm working on. So that's the second way I sell art. But um a lot of people have asked me, you know, what is my opinion on galleries? Well, first of all, there are incredible, wonderful art galleries. And um you can find them in every city, you can find them in every location, you can find them in every state. Um, we have some fine galleries in Little Italy here in Cleveland, and we have some uh galleries in Rocky River, Ohio, and so forth. And Columbus has some wonderful galleries. Um so, but the problem is I've always believed that you can price out your pieces carefully. Um, not hurt yourself as an artist of all the hours you put into it and so forth, but price it out reasonably for people that can look at your pieces and say, that's a wonderful piece. I'd like to purchase that item. And uh with galleries, everyone that I've ever, every uh manager, every owner that I've ever met uh has said, sure, we'll be happy to showcase your artwork, but uh we want 50 or 60 percent. And um while others may be charging you know 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 for their pieces, um, in my world, um, I like to keep my art uh within reason. So my art starts at roughly$100 and then goes up to you know$5,000, and maybe the biggest piece I've ever created is$8,000 to$10,000.