Page 23 - Studio International - April 1971

and 'purchase' only for the sake of simplicity form from his original (without the words their Agreement, NOT the actual amount of
(likewise, we use the term 'Collector' just `SPECIMEN'). He then fills them out, entering money the dealer is paying the artist, which
because it is the most all-inclusive word for this the value or price that he and the next owner would be less.
purpose). Strictly speaking, even if you are have agreed upon. Both the old and new owners Getting the contract signed is mostly a state
giving or trading your work you are 'selling' it for sign all three copies of the dated TRANSFER of mind. If your dealer does not think the
the promises in the Agreement and whatever AGREEMENT AND RECORD, each keeps benefits of the Agreement are important for
else you get. one copy and the third is sent with the 15 per cent you, he will have dozens of reasons why he can't
This Agreement form is not a bill of sale or payment (if any is required) to the artist or get those few reluctant buyers to sign it; on the
an invoice, nor is it a substitute. If the work is his/her agent. The old owner gives the new other hand, if he seriously wants you to have
sold for money, prepare a separate bill of sale owner a copy of the original Agreement, so he these benefits he will be able to overcome all
for your financial records. will know his responsibilities to the artist and those obstacles without losing a single sale.
In Article 1, you enter the price or value of have the TRANSFER AGREEMENT AND
the work; you, the artist, can put any value that RECORD form if he transfers the work. THE FACTS OF LIFE: YOU, THE ART WORLD AND
you and the new owner agree upon. If the work THE AGREEMENT
is resold for a figure higher than the one you THE DEALER The general response to the preliminary draft
have entered as 'value', the owner will have to If you want to use the Agreement, and you have of this Agreement form has been extremely
pay you 15 per cent of the difference over that a dealer, he is going to be very important in favourable; the vast majority of people in the
figure; obviously the higher the figure you put getting people to sign the contract when he sells art world feel it is fair, reasonable and practical.
in, the better the break the new owner is getting. your work. A few have expressed certain reservations about
If you are giving a friend a work or exchanging The dealer should make the use of the whether or not people will actually use it. These
with another artist (you need two separate Agreement a policy of the gallery, thereby reservations can be summed up in two basic
Agreements for the latter situation) you might giving the artists in the gallery collective statements :
want to enter a nominal value so that you would strength against those few collectors and `... the economics of buying and selling art is so
get some money, even if he/she later sells it for institutions who do not really have the artist's fragile that if you place one more burden on the
less than what your dealer would sell it for. interests at heart. collectors of art, they will simply stop buying
Be sure, if there are rights given the artist Remember, your dealer knows all the ins and art...', and
under the Agreement form that you as the outs that go down in the business of the art `... I will certainly use the Agreement—if
artist do not want, that you strike them out. world. He knows the ways to get the few everyone else uses it...'
reluctant art buyers to sign the Agreement—the The first statement is nonsense; clearly the
1MPORTANT: be sure to examine ARTICLE better the dealer the more ways and the more art will be just as desirable with as without the
7(b); if you don't feel you must have a veto buyers he/she knows and the easier it will be. Agreement and there is no reason why the value
over all details of the future exhibition of the He can do what he/she does now when he wants of any art should be affected at all, especially if
work, be sure you strike (b) out of ARTICLE 7. things for his artists—give the buyer favours, this contract is standard practice in the art
Few collectors will want to buy a work if their exchange privileges, preferential treatment, world—which brings us to the second statement.
right to lend it for exhibition is so restricted by discounts, hot tips, time, advice and all the If there is a problem here, this statement reflects
someone else. If you give a work away you can other things that collectors expect and it: it is the concern of the individual artist or
leave (b) in, but that will make it very difficult for appreciate. dealer that the insistence on the use of the
your friend to sell it. We have put (b) in because The Agreement only formalizes what dealers contract will jeopardize the sale of their work in
(a) is the least an artist should accept and (b) is do now anyway; dealers try to keep track of the a competitive market.
the most he/she can ask for. If (a) is not enough work they have sold, but now they can only If we examine this notion carefully, we see it
for you but you don't need (b), have an attorney rely on exhibition lists, catalogues, hit-or miss doesn't hold up.
draft a short rider to the Agreement setting forth intelligence and publicity to keep them up-to- ALL artists sell, trade and give their work
those specific controls over exhibition that you date. The Agreement creates a very simple only to two kinds of people:
feel you must have. system, which will automatically maintain a those who are their friends;
4. You and the Collector should each sign both biography of each work and a chronological those who are not their friends.
copies, yours and his, so they will both be legal record of ownership. It is private, uncluttered Obviously, your friends will not give you a
originals. and no dealer should ever have to hire another hard time; they will sign the Agreement with
5. Before the work is delivered, be sure that a secretary to administer it; if each work you. The only trouble will come when you are
copy of the NOTICE is affixed to the work. engenders a dozen pieces of paper over the selling to someone who is not a friend. Since
DO NOT cut it out of one of the originals. Put entire life of the Agreement, it will be a lot. The surely 75 per cent of all art that is sold is bought
it on a stretcher bar or under a sculpture base requirement of giving a provenance to the by people who are friends of the artist or dealer
or wherever else it will be aesthetically current owner is no more than what goes on —friends who dine together, see each other
invisible yet easily findable. It should get a coat today, but under this system it will be accurate socially, drink together, weekend together, etc. —
of clear polyurethane—or something like it—to and effortless. whatever resistancemay appear will come only
protect it. It won't hurt to put several copies of A dealer shouldn't be expected to do this for in respect to some portion of the 25 per cent of
the notice on a large work. nothing; it seems reasonable to compensate the your work that is being sold to strangers. Of
If your work simply has no place on it for the dealer with some part of the 15 per cent he/she these people, most will wish to be on good terms
NOTICE or your signature—in which case you is collecting for the artist, perhaps one-third of with you and will be happy to enter into the
should always use an ancillary document which it. Agreement with you. This leaves perhaps 5 per
describes the work and which bears your When, as is often the case, an artist moves cent of your sales which will encounter serious
signature and which must always be transferred from one dealer to a more prestigious one, the resistance over the contract. Even this real
as a (legal) part of the work—glue the NOTICE first dealer might continue to collect whatever resistance should decrease toward zero as the
on the document. payments are occasioned by the resale of the contract comes into widespread use.
earlier work. In a manner of speaking, this Agreement will
PROCEDURE FOR FUTURE TRANSFERS. For future When a dealer buys work directly from the help you discover who your friends are.
transfers, the owner makes three copies of the artist (for resale or otherwise), they should If a collector wants to buy but doesn't want
TRANSFER AGREEMENT AND RECORD write the intended retail value of the work in to sign the Agreement, you should tell him that
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