Consigning work to a gallery: what to put in writing

Your work is still yours, if you can prove it

Consignment means you leave your work with a gallery so it can sell it for you. The work stays yours until a buyer pays. That sounds safe, but it only protects you when you can show what you handed over, at what price and on what terms. When the British galleries Stephen Friedman, Arusha and Simon Lee went insolvent, people who had consigned work without a written agreement found it hard to get their works back (The Art Newspaper).

I have seen the other side of this. Eight works I believed were stolen came back to us, and they came back because the paperwork showed whose they were and where they had been.

Eight things to put in writing

1. The list of works, each with its title, size, material, edition number and a photo of the front and back.
2. The price of each work, the same price you use everywhere.
3. The commission, written as a percentage of that price.
4. Who pays for a discount if the gallery gives one.
5. The date you get paid after a sale, for example within 30 days, and how.
6. A sales report at a set rhythm, such as every month.
7. Who insures the work, and for how much.
8. How and when you can take work back, and what happens if the gallery closes.

Watch the discount

Say a work is priced at €4,000 and the gallery takes half. A buyer asks for €400 off, so the work sells for €3,600. If the discount is shared, you get €1,800. If the gallery takes it out of its own half, you get €2,000. If the gallery keeps its full €2,000 and you take the cut, you get €1,600. That is a €400 difference on one sale, so write down who pays before anyone asks for a discount.

If your gallery closes

Act fast. In France, an owner has three months from the publication of the court's decision to claim goods held by a company in insolvency (Avocat.fr). In the Netherlands, a court can freeze claims on goods for up to two months, and extend that once by two more (Ondernemersplein). Both rules favour the artist who can hand over a clear list on day one.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a large consignment or one that crosses a border, pay a lawyer to read the agreement once.

Keep every consigned work in one record, free

Ownership does not move with the work

A consignment leaves title with the artist until a buyer has paid, and the gallery holds the work on the artist's behalf rather than as stock. In practice, the protection is only as strong as the evidence behind it. After the recent insolvencies of the British galleries Stephen Friedman, Arusha and Simon Lee, consignors without written agreements struggled to recover their works, because insolvency practitioners look for documentary proof of ownership; the lawyers interviewed advised agreements that identify the works, keep title with the consignor, treat the gallery as agent and hold sale proceeds on trust (The Art Newspaper).

France: three months to reclaim

Under article L.624-9 of the Code de commerce, an owner must claim movable goods within three months of the publication of the judgment opening the insolvency proceedings. Missing that deadline does not transfer the goods to the debtor, but the Cour de cassation has held that the owner's right then becomes unenforceable against the proceedings, so the work can be sold for the creditors (Cass. com., 3 April 2019, no. 18-11247, discussed on Avocat.fr). The courts also distinguish a claim of ownership from a claim for return under a deposit contract: in April 2024 the Paris Court of Appeal held that the heirs of two cartoonists could still reclaim drawings left with a gallery that had been liquidated in 1995 (Le Monde du Droit).

The French galleries' code of ethics asks members who receive works on deposit to list them and, as a general rule, to insure them, to set prices with the artist, and to account to the artist at reasonable intervals (Comité professionnel des galeries d'art). Those are good minimums to write into any agreement.

The Netherlands: plan for the freeze

When a Dutch company goes bankrupt, the court can order a cooling-off period of up to two months, extendable once by two months, during which goods held by the company cannot be reclaimed, even those delivered under retention of title (Ondernemersplein). An artist with works at a Dutch gallery should therefore assume that recovery takes time, and that a complete, dated inventory is what shortens it.

The United States, as a reference point

Some American states write the protection into law. In New York, art consigned by an artist to a merchant is trust property and the sale proceeds are trust funds for the artist, and a waiver is void except in narrow written cases (N.Y. Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, section 12.01). California provides that consigned fine art is held in trust and is not subject to claims by the dealer's creditors (California Civil Code, section 1738.6). Neither statute sets a payment deadline, so the deadline still has to be agreed in writing.

The clauses, and fair wording for each

• Works: a schedule listing each work by title, medium, dimensions, edition number and retail price, with photographs that serve as the condition report.
• Ownership: the works remain the artist's property, the gallery acquires no interest in them and may not pledge them, sub-consign them or use them as security.
• Commission: a stated percentage of the retail price, never an undefined "standard" rate, since there is no industry standard (Artquest).
• Discounts: none without the artist's written consent, and an agreed rule for who carries any discount.
• Payment: a fixed number of days after the buyer pays, by bank transfer, with a statement of the price and any discount; proceeds held for the artist rather than mixed with the gallery's revenue.
• Reporting: a monthly statement of works sold, reserved and still on the floor.
• Insurance: the gallery insures the works at the agreed retail value while they are in its care, and damaged work comes back to the artist rather than being discounted and sold.
• Term and return: a fixed term or notice period, a right to withdraw work at once if payment is late, and return at the gallery's cost within a set window.

Who carries the discount

Consider a work priced at €4,000 under a commission of one half, sold with a €400 discount for €3,600 (before VAT). Shared before the split, the artist receives €1,800. Carried by the gallery out of its commission, the artist receives €2,000 and the gallery €1,600. If the gallery takes its commission on the full list price, the artist absorbs the whole reduction and receives €1,600. The difference between the best and the worst wording is €400 on a single sale, which is why the rule belongs in the agreement rather than in a conversation at the stand.

Keeping both records the same

A consigned work lives in two places at once, the studio's records and the gallery's floor, and most disputes start when those two lists stop agreeing. In Artelier Business the agreement for each artist records the commission and who carries a discount, every sale starts from those terms, and the artist and the gallery read the same record of where each work is. The software does not replace the agreement, and it does not judge whether its terms are fair.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

How galleries run consignments on Artelier Business

Much of what galleries sell is on consignment, which means the artist still owns the work until you pay. That is normal, and a few questions keep your purchase clean.

1. Ask whether the work is consigned or owned by the gallery.
2. Ask for a numbered invoice that names the seller, the artist and the work.
3. Ask for a certificate of authenticity that names the edition number, if there is one.
4. Pay through the gallery's business account, and keep the proof of payment with the invoice.

Sources

• The Art Newspaper, When galleries go bust, 24 August 2026
• Avocat.fr, Revendication en procédure collective
• Le Monde du Droit, Dessins laissés en dépôt, 2024
• Comité professionnel des galeries d'art, Code de déontologie
• Ondernemersplein, Afkoelingsperiode
• N.Y. Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, section 12.01
• California Civil Code, section 1738.6
• Artquest, Gallery commission