Selling art is hard work. It is a challenge to find buyers, and it takes effort for every single sale to occur. Because it is difficult, it is very natural for artists—even established ones—to wonder if they are doing something wrong. We are constantly looking for clues, secrets, or feedback that will unlock the door to consistent sales.
So, when a gallery owner or an art professional finally offers a specific critique, we tend to listen intently.
Imagine this scenario: You submit your portfolio to a gallery. The owner responds, “I really like your painting style, but these works are too small. And your prices are too low for us to take on. Also, we prefer canvas over panels. The market for small works just isn’t there anymore.”
Your immediate reaction might be panic. You might look around your studio at your stacks of small panels and think, Has this format gone the way of the dinosaur? Do I need to buy huge canvases to be taken seriously? Is my pricing strategy a disaster?
Before you overhaul your entire studio practice, I want to offer a word of caution. We must be very careful about drawing broad conclusions from a sample size of one.
The Danger of the “Gospel” Opinion
When someone in a position of authority states an opinion, they often state it like it is Gospel. They don’t say, “In my personal experience, I struggle to sell small works.” They say, “Small works don’t sell.”
There is a massive difference between those two statements.
When you receive feedback like this, you need to engage your skepticism. Ask yourself: What data is this person using to back up that claim? Have they conducted a massive survey of hundreds of galleries across the broader art market? Have they analyzed revenue streams globally regarding the scale of artwork?
Almost certainly, the answer is no.
What that gallery owner is actually saying is much more limited: “In my specific gallery, with my specific lighting, wall space, and current client list, I find it easier to sell large canvases.”
That is a valuable piece of data about that specific venue, but it is not a diagnosis of the entire art market.
Context is King
To understand why rejection happens, we have to look at context.
If you walk through the gallery district in Chelsea, New York, or other major metropolitan arts hubs, you will often find massive industrial spaces with high ceilings and vast white walls. In that specific architectural context, a 12×12 inch painting might get lost. The overhead costs of running such a space might necessitate selling works priced at $15,000 and up, rather than $800.
If you try to push small, intimate works into that market, you will face resistance.
However, that does not mean the market for small works is dead. It means that specific neighborhood isn’t the right fit. There are countless collectors living in apartments, historic homes, or cottages who literally do not have the wall space for a 60-inch canvas. There are galleries in coastal towns, boutique districts, and online marketplaces that thrive precisely because they specialize in smaller, collectable treasures.
If you find yourself batting your head against a wall trying to find a home for your work, the problem might not be your work. The problem might be the wall.
The Filter Test
So, how do you know when to listen to feedback and when to ignore it? You need a filter. When you receive a strong opinion about your size, medium, subject, or pricing, run it through these three questions:
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Is this feedback supported by my own wider research? (e.g., Do I see other galleries selling work like mine?)
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Is this feedback specific to their business model? (e.g., Do they only sell monumental abstract expressionism?)
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Does acting on this feedback compromise my artistic motivation?
If a gallery tells you they only want 6-foot canvases, but you hate working that large and your studio can’t accommodate it, do not change your art to please them. The moment you start creating work solely to satisfy a single gatekeeper’s opinion, you lose the spark that makes the work compelling in the first place.
Pivot, Don’t Panic
My advice is always to keep doing the work that excites you—the work that gets you out of bed in the morning. Create that work, and then go out and find the marketplace that exists for that work.
If you are getting pushback on your small panels in one city, don’t switch to large canvas. Switch cities. Look for galleries in different regions. Look for venues that have an aesthetic that matches yours.
We are fortunate to live in a diverse market with a vast array of buyers. There is almost certainly a niche for what you do. Don’t let a “sample size of one” convince you otherwise.
Have you ever received a piece of critical feedback that you initially took to heart, only to realize later it was just one person’s preference? Let me know in the comments.
Totally agree with everything you have written, Jason, EXCEPT that there actually are market trends in sizes. Artsy, Merrill Lynch, SAI and BofA all publish trends regarding things like this. And a smart artist will keep track of these. The baby boom generation is aging out and dying and as they do, they are deaccessioning. Many of those large works they have collected so avidly have been passed on to the younger generation so they do not need as many large works – and who are also living in much smaller homes. Medium and smaller artworks truly are selling better now throughout the world marketplace. And artists need to keep track of these things. It’s still good to make some large works for impact and name recognition, but the others will likely be the bread and butter.
I think some, if not a lot of this falls on the selection of venues that fit your style and work. We have many little galleries here in the PNW with small footprints and wall space that really can only fit smaller works. Others with more space will tend to accept larger work. In fact some will admit that they just can’t afford to give up the wall space for a small work, with limited profit potential, which is really the whole point of a gallery devoting space to your work. Every gallery isn’t a fit for you, the artist.
Another thoughtful piece from you. It took 3 years for me to sell one painting from a series that I did during the pandemic, and then suddenly most of them sold. Getting into the right space made all the difference. Paint what you love, with the materials that you love. When you find the right audience, they will love the work, too.
great illustration for this concept! Could be a client or gallery owner full of opinions and judgements. utterly oblivious to the reality of the artist to whom they are speaking and who is basically invisible to them. Their reality is the only one that matters.
Why would an artist listen to such drivel and much worse guide your decisions thereby?
Incredulous as it may be i see artists taking that approach every day.
Excellent points, Jason. You can walk down a street filled with galleries and see different styles of art, layout concept, focus on large pieces, small pieces, etc. Just because one person says “it’s so” doesn’t mean it’s so for every gallery and every collector.
Wonderful explanation as always Jason, thank you. It depends on how the information is put across too. My little gallery in Bournville, that is a tiny terraced house, asked me to create work of their local area as that sells best there, and gave me a price point to sell at, and I could interpret what size I was willing to create and sell for that price. So I had to create work especially of that area, but the other parameters were up to me. What was reassuring, was that an artist friend who visited that gallery, saw the work I had there and knew it was mine, even though the subject matter was slightly different (town rather than countryside). I created a series of 4 and 2 smaller pieces, 2 have sold so far.
Another insightful article Jason. Just what I needed to read this morning. Thanks