Commissioning Art By Lisa Roche
COVA's Collectors Round Table - Full Version
posted October 3, 2004

On Thursday night, September 16, 2004, I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful and lively discussion at The Gallerie D'Art in Solana Beach about art collectors and their commissioning experiences, both good and bad, or as the moderator, Joan Seifried commented at the beginning of the evening, "the glories and the tragedies of commissioning art." She then facetiously added, "…the tragedies…that's the good part."

The event was very well attended by a diverse audience of collectors, artists, and people strolling down the street, as they enjoyed Cedros Avenue's Third Thursday Night of the Month, during which many of the art galleries are open late. In fact, it was standing room only, and the crowd did not dissipate as the discussion was both educational and controversial, and audience participation was encouraged.

Adding spice and a different perspective, the panel of experts included not only the commissioners of art, but some who were also the "commissionees" at times, and much of the two hour roundtable also dealt with their own glories and tragedies. The distinguished panel, or, as they referred to themselves, the "performers", included:

Joan Seifried ( The Moderator) - An appraisal business owner of both fine art and antique furniture with offices in both San Diego and Atlanta, amongst a myriad of other artistic affiliations, education, and professions,… to great in number to count!
Joshua Krause - A local commercial artist, avid collector, and enthusiast of emerging artists.
Larry Poteet - A lawyer, and connoisseur and collector of fine arts with a very large collection of Southern California and British emerging artists.
Jeff Williams - The Curator for Sushi Performance and Visual Art and a professional visual artist, himself.
Jacqueline Anne Siegel - A professional arts producer and arts management consultant, and an accomplished bassoonist.

Joan began the evening by reciting a poem that she had written for the occasion called "The Artist's Lament", which was very humorous in its illustration of how a commissioned artist sometimes has to put obvious truth and fact aside to please the whims and visions of a commissioner in order to make a living. She also reminded us that commissioning art is a very old practice and that until the 1820's, 80% of all artwork originated as a commission. Think Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Lorenzo de Medici, the commissioner of some of the greatest Masters of the Renaissance.

The rest of the evening had been structured much around 9 pre-prepared questions that Joan posed to the panel and occasionally to the audience. There was so much discussion and so many good stories to hear that she actually was only able to ask 5 of those questions before we ran out of time, however the tangents were abundant!

Some of the evening's highlights included:

• Joshua's response to the strangest commission that he ever tackled was that of a 50 foot mural that he had to finish in a week. He was successful, I might add.
• When talking about the most important commission that a commissioner inspired, Larry related the story of a kinetic piece that now sits in his front lawn. He had commissioned the artist Jeffrey Laudenslager (the sculptor for the piece in front of Ruth Cris in La Jolla) to construct a very small sculpture. The two had already developed a friendship over the past few years, so this project became a wonderful process for them. By going directly to the artist, Larry became part of the creation experience, enjoyed a greater sense of ownership with the end product, and got a better price. As an artist in the audience added, "Working together is much more fun!" Larry ended up with a kinetic piece that is 12 feet high!
• When the question was posed to the audience about what would inspire one to commission a work instead of buying an existing piece, one member of the audience sited an example of when he and his wife had seen a beautiful sculpture created by an artist in France, but it was just too big to fit in their home. They asked the artist if he would create a smaller version of the sculpture to accommodate them, and were delighted with the outcome.
• My personal favorite response to the same question regarding what would inspire someone to commission a piece: "A higher level of intimacy is created. It's a great experience!"
• Who sets the price for a commissioned piece? I think it was the general consensus of the panel that it really depended on the situation. In the case of a corporate or editorial situation, many times the client sets the price, and the artist chooses to accept or not. For the individual art collector or gallery, the artist is generally the one that sets the cost; however, it's a joint effort. The art collector should look at the artist's history and past market values to help them negotiate. Jacqueline also highly recommended that a budget be established up front, and that the art collector periodically check to make sure that the artist was still working within that budget. Depending on the relationship and the policies of the two parties, that budget can become part of a written contract.
  
  This same question was followed by a fairly heated discussion when one of the panelists commented that there are times when he'll take the customer's financial situation into account when setting a price for a commissioned piece. If the customer has a low paying job or is strapped in terms of income, he usually takes that into consideration, as his belief is that everyone should have access to art. On the flip side, if his commissionee is fairly well off and paying the price for a piece, based on the artist's standard formula for valuing his artwork is not an issue, then he doesn't worry about discounting.
  
  One of the artists in the crowd immediately voiced her contrary opinion, claiming that she disagreed with the panelist and believed that setting different prices for the same piece of art compromises the integrity of the artist. Tempers and spirits in the room were raised quite a bit as a rather impassioned debate ensued, involving members of the panel and the audience. This controversial subject regarding pricing provoked some great energy in the crowd, but in the end, I believe, deviated from the subject at hand, commissioning art. Most of the argument dealt with charging different prices for the same piece of work. In the case of a commission, the piece is unique and the agreement is made up front between artist and commissioner. This is what I believe that panelist's initial statements were meant to impart, and although he took quite a beating when those same comments were taken a bit out of context, kudos for sparking such passion and participation within the room!
• Jeff talked about his most "memorable" commission, as also being one of the "worst", harkening back to the tragedies of commissions. He took on a commercial commission for a bar and grill to create a 3 panel wall piece. The client's objective was to make the establishment more "family-friendly" and two of the owners related their visions of pictures of happy families eating and talking together to Jeff. Quite a way into the commission, the third owner, who had not imparted his ideas to Jeff, entered the restaurant and was furious. This owner demanded that this was a sports bar, and that the art work needed to be all about sports. To make a long story short, the bar refused to pay Jeff for his work, but Jeff was able to leave them with his own "flair" on the panels, shortly before his departure. Yeah, Jeff!
• One of the panel's most memorable commission accounts included a funny story about a commission for a family portrait that Larry requested in October of 1992 from a renowned Southern California artist. The artist, who will remain unnamed in this article, has continued to communicate with Larry through letters since that date, but as of September of 2004, 12 years later, has yet to complete this commission due to various interruptions, including relocation of his studio due to quake damage, other commissions for the Olympics, Michael Jackson, etc., and the need to get new glasses! Since the assignment's onset, Larry and his wife have had another baby, and the kids have all changed quite a bit, yet he's still engaged. It was really quite entertaining to listen to him recount the saga, and as an artist, let me just say that Larry has got to be one of the most trusting and patient art collectors that I've ever met!
• The panel advised the crowd that the artist must not hesitate to tell others that they do commissions. Their experience was that most art collectors won't ask, not because they wouldn't love a piece created especially for them, but because they don't know how to go about it. Artists that would like to entertain commission work must let people know!
• On the other side of the coin (and the room), an artist in the audience commented that he truly admired collectors who commission art. It was an honor to be trusted as an artist to take a collector's vision and accompanying information and to do their best with their own style and talent to create the desired result.
  
  So, why should an art collector engage in commissions? Joan ended the roundtable session with a fabulous quote from Tina Rathbone, the wife of the author of Windows for Dummies: "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely on an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body worn out, used up and screaming Woo Hoo - What a ride!"

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