Overregulation in the U.K., as well as macroeconomic factors like inflation and the country’s cost-of-living crisis, have also put smaller galleries under pressure, leading to issues of “asymmetry” in the art world. Rakeb Sile, the co-founder of Addis Fine Art, said that “80 percent of business is done by 10 percent of the galleries,” referencing larger mega galleries, which leaves “90 percent of galleries fighting for 20 percent of the market.” She added that small galleries are the “investment engine” of the art trade, but once an artist’s career starts to take off and the gallery starts to see a return on that investment, they are poached by a larger outfit.
How can smaller galleries be fairly rewarded for what they contribute to the art ecosystem? Sile, whose firm focuses on art from the Horn of Africa, argued that mega-galleries should collaborate with smaller, specialized dealers who are subject-matter experts when they take on an artist who is “ready to go blue chip.”
That was a sentiment echoed by Crispian Riley-Smith, who is a market veteran of 30 years specializing in Old Master drawings. He is now managing director and CEO of Art Advisory Group Ltd, which is a new venture that advises on succession planning. He also noted that when a gallery decides to exit the market—which happens frequently these days, often due to economic pressure—dealers think all their value is in their stock, which they bring to auction or sell somewhere else. But there is “plenty of value in their expertise,” he said, adding that dealers should not be shy about monetizing their knowledge or their client base.