How should I price my artwork for gallery representation?

Pricing artwork for gallery representation requires accounting for the gallery's commission rate (40–60%), ensuring consistency across all sales channels to maintain collector confidence, and establishing a pricing logic that scales credibly as the practice develops. Price inconsistency : different prices for the same work depending on the buyer : is one of the most common structural errors artists make when entering gallery representation. The Strategic Workbook covers pricing architecture in Part IV, including a structural formula, career-stage coefficients, and a six-trigger revision gate.

What does a gallery representation contract typically include?

A gallery representation contract typically defines: the geographic territory covered by the exclusivity clause, the commission rate on all sales within that territory, the duration of the agreement and renewal terms, the promotional obligations of the gallery (exhibitions, fairs, publications), inventory rights and return conditions, and the payment timeline to the artist. Part VI of the Strategic Workbook covers representation contracts in full, including benchmarks and negotiation framework.

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The Workbook in the account: the ten parts and the reading state

2026 Edition

The Strategic Workbook

€ 150

The primary art market, from its macro-economic dynamics to the decisions that determine a career: pricing a work, approaching a gallery, weighing a representation agreement. Ten parts, forty-three chapters and the instruments that apply them, in one account.

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What it doesThe primary market judges a practice on rules it never states. The Workbook states them, so the decisions that shape a career stop being made on instinct.

StructureTen parts, forty-three chapters. Each opens with a guide, closes with a check, and keeps your notes.

InstrumentsThree diagnostics. A four-mode pricing calculator. Two worksheets. The 2026 calendars: 111 fairs, 74 prizes.

FormatAn account, open the moment you buy. Nothing to install. 2027 updates included.

Structure

Ten parts, forty-three chapters

Each part of the Workbook addresses a distinct layer of the primary art market, from its macro-structural dynamics to the granular decisions that shape a career.

Introduction

Foreword & How to Use This Book

Analytical framework, audience, scope, methodology, and a complete guide to using the workbook and its instruments.

Part I

The Market Landscape

Market scale, segment distribution, and key structural dynamics from Art Basel & UBS Arts Economics 2026. Six chapters covering the economic reality of being an artist today.

Part II

Understanding the Institutions

How galleries, collectors, advisors, and auction houses operate : their economic models, selection criteria, and relationship dynamics. Six chapters.

Part III

Positioning Yourself in the Market

↗ Diagnostic A-01

Career-stage mapping, market segment identification, and a 12-metric positioning diagnostic with tailored action plans.

Part IV

Pricing, the Architecture of Value

↗ Calculator A-02

Structural pricing formula, career-stage coefficients, peer benchmarking, and a six-trigger revision gate. Covers pricing artwork for gallery representation specifically: the structural formula that accounts for gallery commission rates (40–60%), production costs, and market-stage positioning : and the consistency logic that prevents price signalling errors across sales channels.

Part V

Professional Infrastructure

Infrastructure Audit

Photography standards, website architecture, artist CV, dossier, inventory, and a full annual audit protocol.

Part VI

Gallery Strategy

↗ Diagnostic A-03Pre-Submission ChecklistNegotiating Representation

Gallery targeting, submission protocol, contract negotiation, and representation management. Addresses gallery commission rate structures, the standard terms of a primary market gallery representation agreement, exclusivity clause logic, and the contractual benchmarks drawn from active market data.

Part VII

Visibility, Distribution and Presence

↗ Prizes Calendar 2026

Channel strategy, social media architecture, residencies, prizes, and institutional presence. Six chapters.

Part VIII

Art Fairs: Economics and Strategy

↗ Fairs Calendar 2026

Fair economics, tier classification, selection strategy, and cost-benefit framework.

Part IX

Outlook 2026–2030

Structural forces shaping the primary market over the next five years : and how to position a practice accordingly.

The Workbook is paired with operational instruments designed to produce a result, not just a reading.

A pricing calculator, three diagnostics, two worksheets, and two 2026 calendars covering every significant deadline in the primary market.

Diagnostics

Three diagnostics that establish where you stand

The first-level diagnostic, the twelve-metric self-positioning diagnostic, and the gallery strategy diagnostic. Each produces a classification and an action plan, and each run is saved, so you can compare one year to the next.

The Strategic Workbook, 2026 edition

Ten parts and forty-three chapters, three diagnostics, the pricing calculator and the two 2026 calendars, in an account that opens the moment you buy.

Buy the Workbook · €150