Amsterdam Whitney

AN artist said upfront costs for this gallery were in the thousands, any first hand experience with this gallery? Here is one letter I received about this gallery “One gallery in New York, who tried that game on me, is the Whitney International Gallery in Chelsea (Amsterdam Whitney) , New York. I think you should add them to the list. They had a upfront fee and a contract for $2,500. and 60%

15 comments
  • Anonymous

    It was good to find this information from other artists. Having just finished a show at Spectrum Miami, where I was represented by Artblend Gallery, stay away from them, btw, I received an email from AWG. I’m done with throwing away my money at Art Fairs and pay to play galleries. What incentive do they have to sell your work? None. They’ve already made ther money from the artist. Time for us artists to have our own “Salon de Refuse”. We can call it “Salon de Artistes refusing to pay”

  • Anonymous

    I work at a nearby gallery in Chelsea. You will be nickel and dimed for every expense showing here without any guaranteed sales or art world connections. That being said, if you are not focused on sales or furthering your art career (mainly, you have extra money to spend and only want the prestige of saying you had an art show in NYC), then go right ahead. It serves the purpose of exhibiting your art and throwing an opening reception, although not on Thursday evenings like all the neighboring galleries do for maximum traffic.

  • Anonymous

    My name is John Peters. I have been a selling painter for 35 years. For the last ten years I have been represented by the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, among other venues in MI, NH, Fl and Ca. I too talk with other artists who are or have been represented by the AWG. Some artists sell nothing and drop out. Some might sell 1-2 paintings a year. Some of these continue with the gallery and some drop out. Each of my shows there have sold 30=45% of a show with 7-8 paintings per show. I paint oil on canvas or board, and because NY property owners tend to have smaller apartments and condos, I paint small –16×20–20-24 inches. My sale prices range from 850-1200. In my experience the gallery works hard to make sales, even involving me in all negations where full price is not immediately paid. After sales are made I have been paid promptly, not always true for some other dealers I’ve dealt with. 60% to the artist 40% to the AWG. Other galleries I have dealt with take 50-60%. As with any gallery, artists who are selling and are paid promptly, are generally happy. Artists who aren’t selling are unhappy. This is not a gallery that sells many works over 6000. Higher priced works tend to be larger, and in my experience, including studies of commercial and non-profit gallery sales, small paintings by all types of artists are an easier sell because they are more useful/practical to modern buyers. Early in my career I thought serious painters painted big, 40-60 in. or larger. Now I know better.Based on my experience with AWG, they are art smart, honest and very easy to work with, especially when you consider that the art world can be “a jungle out there”

      • Anonymous

        I contacted the gallery two days ago, I got a very pleasant and joyful response from Ruthie Tucker, director, and curator. She expressed highly of my work, very good words, and was very personal. I could tell, she knew my work and words were not just templates. She also asked me to pay the $2500. I wonder, does it worth it?. I can say “I exhibited in New York” for $200 a Month… is not that bad, but of course, I wish to know, do they promote the work? do they try to sell it? MB

  • Kirsten Held

    Thank you for this. We got an email from them a month or so ago saying they wanted us to submit a portfolio and in the midst of scrambling to get ready for ArtExpo NY in early April, I let it slip. Now I’m glad I did.

    • Anonymous

      How was the ArtExpo NY? We were thinking about applying for it next year but its a lot of money upfront (particularly as we would be coming over from France).

      Thanks!

  • Lefteris Papazoglou

    Hi there, my name is Left and I am one of the artists which Amsterdam Whitney Gallery approached !!
    They told me that I will have a year representation and an exhibition for one month !!
    But first I have to pay 2200$ and then the exhibition !!

  • Louise

    They requested my Portfolio so I sent it in. Because my work is unusual I find it does not fit with every space so I visited their website to see what the gallery looked like. I was not impress and didn’t see how my work would fit. I received rave reviews from the curators in a letter stating they wanted to represent me in their gallery with info. After reading though everything I realized it was a pay to play. I responded with “If I am being represented by your gallery I feel no need to pay for the wall space, What would be your incentive to sell. I do not pay for walls”. They have contracted me several times since asking for me to send in my portfolio for review.

  • Dale

    Total scam! Do the math & you will find their fees exceed any potential sales —sales they’re not required to make because ALL their expenses are covered by fees charged to artists. No real gallerists take this place seriously. Avoid!

  • Anonymous

    I thoroughly checked out this Gallery’s offering. I wouldn’t touch it! Part of my communications with them was to ask important business questions including total number of paintings sold in the last year from their Gallery, quantities of average / largest / smallest sized paintings sold in the last year, and quantities of average / highest / lowest priced paintings sold in the last year. They completely ignored my questions (which I was asking in order to determine if my current painting collection sizes and prices fell within their most popular actual sales records so I could determine if showing in their Gallery was a good fit for my inventory) and continued to attempt to “sell” me on their service!

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