The client has found a piece she loves. It sits inside the artwork allowance. Then the quote arrives with a custom frame, insured freight, and installation, while the studio has already spent hours finding it.
The artwork price answered the aesthetic question. The installed cost decides whether the piece belongs in this project.
Gallerist and art adviser Liz Lidgett recently discussed the business of sourcing art on A Well-Designed Business. Her account identifies the costs designers should ask about early: framing, installation, shipping, commission, and the designer’s own sourcing time.
Start with the amount available for the whole decision
An “art budget” often gets treated as money available to buy the piece. Before sourcing, decide which costs the allowance must absorb.
For a project with several artworks, reserve amounts for:
- acquisition price
- tax, where applicable
- framing or mounting
- packing, crating, insurance, and freight
- receiving, storage, and site delivery
- installation hardware and labor
- art adviser, gallery, or designer fees
- studio time for research, presentations, approvals, and coordination
The categories will vary. The discipline is to name them before the client falls for a piece at the top of the allowance.
If the project has US$20,000 available and the acquisition consumes all of it, every later cost becomes a surprise or a cut somewhere else. A working allocation gives the designer room to make a complete recommendation.
Ask the gallery how its trade program works
Trade programs use different structures. Lidgett’s account describes a commission of 15% to 20% as one model and argues that the designer should understand where the fee comes from. Treat that range as her bounded example.
Ask the gallery:
- Which price does the client pay?
- Does the gallery fund the trade commission or discount?
- Which services are included?
- Who invoices the client?
- When is payment due?
- What happens if the client cancels?
- Who carries loss or damage risk during freight and installation?
The answer changes the studio’s work. A gallery that sources, presents, coordinates framing, and arranges delivery can reduce the designer’s hours. A commission for a transaction alone leaves more advisory and logistics work with the studio.
Quote the route from gallery to wall
Freight changes quickly with size, weight, origin, packing method, insurance, and delivery access. Installation changes with wall construction, height, hardware, specialist handling, and site readiness.
Get the route-specific costs before final approval where possible. If a cost is still unknown, use a clearly labeled allowance and say what could change it.
The worksheet can be simple:
| Cost | Confirmed | Allowance | Source or next check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artwork | Gallery quote | ||
| Frame or mount | Framer quote | ||
| Freight and insurance | Shipper quote | ||
| Receiving and storage | Receiver terms | ||
| Installation | Installer quote | ||
| Advisory or commission | Agreement or trade-program terms | ||
| Studio coordination | Project fee method |
Add the confirmed figures and allowances. Compare the total with the amount available. Show the client the categories that matter to her approval.
Recommend the piece with the cost of getting it safely onto the wall.
Count the studio’s judgment and coordination
Art sourcing can become an open-ended search. The designer reviews artists, requests details, checks scale, places the work into the room scheme, prepares a presentation, manages feedback, and coordinates the purchase.
Decide how the studio gets paid for that work. It may sit inside a fixed design fee, an hourly service, a stated advisory fee, or a commission model. The method should match the actual service and the client agreement.
A percentage can be commercially sensible when it pays for real sourcing and execution. It can also become disconnected from effort as artwork prices vary. Review the fee model across a low-priced local work, a large commissioned piece, and an established artist’s work. Check whether the same percentage fairly covers the studio’s contribution in each case.
Keep the aesthetic decision visible
Commercial accounting should protect the recommendation rather than flatten it into a spreadsheet. Record why the piece is right for the room: its scale, material, color, subject, provenance, or relationship to the client.
Then give the client real choices if the full cost exceeds the allowance. The same piece may work with a different frame. Another work by the artist may preserve the idea at a different scale. A local piece may reduce freight. The client may decide the artwork matters enough to move budget from another category.
The installed-cost worksheet makes those tradeoffs explicit. It keeps the studio’s margin intact and lets the client approve the artwork as a complete project decision.
