Chicago gallery owner
Rhona Hoffman
has three or four collectors she won’t sell to again.
“They broke the rule,” says the contemporary art dealer.
That commandment to collectors: If you later decide to sell your artwork, consign it back to the gallery—do not put it up at auction.
When buyers ignore this rule and auction off recently purchased pieces, it’s called flipping.
From the perspective of dealers, flipping is a problem because when auction-sale prices are publicized, it is often to the detriment of the artist. Dealers tend to create narratives for their artists, and they believe that in the long run, keeping control of that narrative and pricing is better for the artist. The idea is to build demand at a sustainable pace, rather than risk creating a bubble and then a bust.
“Flipping can harm an…
