Behind the Scene
Chambers adds, “A lot of the day-to-day [work] for a gallerist is
making phone calls … Even if they have a physical gallery, the way
they sell prints is to make a thousand phone calls a day.” Without
a physical space and its distractions, there’s more time to sell work,
Chambers notes.
Bateman says it takes just as much energy and hustle to be a
private dealer as it does to be a gallery owner, but the energy is di-
rected toward different things. When you have a gallery, mounting
exhibitions, publicizing them, organizing talks and events, and do-
ing the other attendant work is very time consuming. “[Now] I am
really able to focus more on my clients and their needs,” Bateman
says. “You always wish that you had more time when you are run-
ning a gallery.”
“Some artists go to larger, established galleries and get lost,”
Guice notes. “There’s no attention paid to their career. I like to think I
can pay more attention to an artist.”
Working With Both galleries
and dealers
While some galleries may ask to represent an artist exclusively, private dealers have found most galleries are open to working with
them when they both represent the same artist.
Reed says that in the three years since she closed her physical gallery, she’s felt that other galleries are more willing to work with her
© MICHAEL MASSAIA
Above: A photo by Michael Massaia. Left: A photo by
Harvey Stein. June Bateman represents both artists.
because she functions more as a private
dealer. (Reed does note, however, that it could
also have something to do with the econ-
omy.) “We go to [galleries] and say, ‘We’ve
got somebody interested and we know you
handle that work, would you be interested in
working with us?’”
Guice believes artists should have several
galleries and representatives in the U.S. and
abroad. “What that does as an artist is get
you the right amount of exposure.” As Katz
puts it, “It’s like that expression: There’s no
such thing as bad publicity.” She adds, “I talk
about [my artists] a lot … and I just think
that’s a good thing.”
Some of Reed’s artists decided to work
with other brick-and-mortar galleries in the
region when she closed her doors, and she
“understands and supports them,” she says.
A couple of the artists who left have since
come back, though. “They really missed
working with us,” Reed says.
A good business relationship with a private dealer “has to do with how you click
and what your personal relationship is and
how reliable that is,” says Gielen, who chose
to continue working with Katz after she
closed her gallery. “Once you’ve established
a personal connection you stick with it and I
think it pays off.”
