How to commission an artwork

Commissioning an artwork in Aotearoa New Zealand is not like ordering a product. It is an act of entering a relationship, with an artist, a gallery, and often a community. The market here is small, highly networked, and shaped by cultural protocols that newcomers overlook at their cost. The distinction between “gallery” and “dealer” is blurring, and the honest version is that buying art here is as much about respecting relationships as it is about acquiring an object. This guide gives you a usable method: set scope, milestones, rights, payment and change boundaries before you commit.

Start with the right question, not the right object

Before you contact an artist or gallery, define the problem you are solving. Are you commissioning a work for a specific wall, a public space, a gift, or a collection? The answer changes every subsequent decision.

Write a one-page brief with:

• Purpose, what the work will do, and for whom. “I want a painting for the living room” is not a brief; “I want a large work that anchors the dining wall and references the harbour” is.
• Context, the physical space (size, light, wall type), the audience, and how the work will be seen.
• Budget band, a range, not a fixed number, because galleries and artists price within a band.
• Timeline, the date you need it by, plus a buffer of at least 4-6 weeks for production, shipping, and framing.
• Dealbreakers, what you will not accept: e.g., a work that requires framing you cannot source, a medium you cannot maintain, or a subject that clashes with your space.
• Your own cultural position, be honest about whether you are buying within your own culture or as a guest. This matters most for Māori and Pacific works.

Now do the same for secondary question: Aotearoa

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How to Commission an Artwork: A Practical Guide

Commissioning art in Aotearoa New Zealand is not a transaction; it is an entry into a community. The market is small, relationship-driven, and deeply shaped by cultural protocol. This guide gives you a usable method: a step-by-step process with clear boundaries around scope, milestones, rights, payment, and change control. It is not a legal document, but it gives you the questions to ask before you sign anything.

This guide is independent. It is not the former TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, and it does not speak for the Wallace Arts Trust. If you need official information about the Trust’s current operations, contact them directly.

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What this page is for

You want to commission an artwork in Aotearoa New Zealand. This page gives you a practical method to do it well: how to set the scope, agree milestones, clarify rights, structure payment, and handle changes without damaging the relationship or the work. It also covers the cultural responsibilities that are part of commissioning Māori or Pacific art.

If you are at the very start of the process, the companion page /collecting-ethically/ covers the broader ethics of collecting. This page assumes you have already decided to commission and need the working method.

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Step 1: Decide what you are actually commissioning

Before you contact an artist or gallery, write down the job in one paragraph. A commission is not “I like your work, make me something.” It is a brief. The brief should name:

• The physical space: dimensions, light, wall type, floor area, and whether the work will be indoors or outdoors.
• The audience: who will see it (private home, office foyer, public corridor, marae, church, school).
• The function: is it purely aesthetic, or does it need to withstand heavy traffic, humidity, direct sun, or children?
• The cultural context: if the work draws on Māori or Pacific knowledge, state that you expect the artist to lead the cultural framing, and that you will follow any tikanga they specify.
• The timeline: when you need it, and when you can actually take delivery (they are rarely the same).
• The budget: a single number for the work itself, plus a separate number for framing, transport, insurance, and installation.

The most common mistake is to begin with price. Begin with the work, then the artist, then the relationship, then the money. If you start with money, you will likely be shown lesser work or miss the artist entirely.

Do not approach a gallery saying “I want to spend about $5,000 on art.” Instead, say: “I am interested in work that engages with [specific theme or material], and I have a budget of about about $5,000.” The first phrasing invites a sales pitch; the second invites a conversation about the artist’s practice.

Before you start

Write down the answer to three questions: 1. Where will the work live? (wall, shelf, outdoor, or a specific room) 2. How much do you want to spend in total, including framing, transport and insurance? 3. What do you want the work to do for you: start a conversation, mark a milestone, support a living artist, or simply bring you pleasure?

These three answers will shape every later decision. If you cannot answer them, you are not ready to commission; you are browsing, which is fine.

Understand the Aotearoa market before you ask for a price

Contemporary art in Aotearoa New Zealand is a small, highly networked ecosystem. Māori and Pasifika perspectives are not a niche within it; they are the central conversation. The dealer-gallery model is the primary route to buy new work from living artists. Commercial galleries such as Starkwhite, Michael Lett, and Bartley + Company represent artists and drive the primary market; they are not the same as auction houses, which sell secondary-market works on consignment.

In this market, the relationship between artist, gallery, and collector is close. Galleries often act as gatekeepers, and they are the ones who set the initial price for a work. Artists rarely set their own prices. The price of a work is a band, not a point, and it is determined by the gallery’s knowledge of the artist’s career stage, exhibition history, and the wider market. A first-time buyer should not negotiate as if at a market stall; the gallery sets the price, and discounts are rare except for trade buyers or when a work has been in inventory for a long time.

The single most important thing to understand before you approach a gallery is that provenance, the documented chain of ownership, is the foundation of value. A work with a clean line back to the artist or a major collection is worth more than an identical work with gaps in its history. This is not a minor detail; it is the difference between an artwork and a decorative object with a signature. Provenance is verified through gallery records, exhibition catalogues, and, for older works, auction house archives. For contemporary works, the gallery’s own records are the primary source.

Another critical distinction is between the primary market (buying directly from the artist’s dealer) and the secondary market (buying from a collector, auction, or reseller). In Aotearoa, the primary market is where most collectors enter; the secondary market is thin and often illiquid. The same work can be priced very differently at auction versus through a dealer, and the gap is not a sign of inefficiency but of the different services each provides: a dealer offers provenance, context, and after-sales support; an auction offers a transparent price but no guarantee of authenticity beyond the catalogue.

The relationship between the artist and the gallery is also different from what a newcomer might expect. In the dealer model, the gallery does not simply “sell” a work; it manages the artist’s career, decides who gets to buy what, and often sets the conditions of resale. The gallery is the gatekeeper, and buying from a gallery is not just a transaction but an entry into a network. This is why the first rule of commissioning is to build a relationship with the gallery or artist before you ask for a price.

Practical method:

1. Define your intention before you look. - Is this for a private home, an office, a public building, or a gift? - If for an office or public space, who is the audience and what cultural protocols apply? - Set a budget band, not a single number. Include framing, transport, insurance, and any hanging hardware.

2. Choose the artist and the work with provenance in mind. - Ask the gallery or artist for a written provenance statement: artist name, title, date, edition (if applicable), and chain of ownership. - For Māori and Pacific works, ask about the appropriate cultural context and whether any protocols (tikanga) apply to display or handling. - Check the artist’s exhibition history. A single institutional show at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki or Te Papa Tongarewa is a stronger signal than dozens of local craft fairs.

3. Set the scope in writing before you pay. - Define the work: medium, dimensions, edition size (if applicable), and whether it is unique or part of an edition. - Define the deliverables: the physical work, certificate of authenticity, provenance document, and any installation or transport costs. - Define the timeline: when the work is finished, when it is delivered, and what happens if the date slips. - Define the payment schedule: deposit, milestones, and final payment. Do not pay 100% upfront.

4. Agree on rights and reproduction. - In Aotearoa New Zealand, copyright remains with the artist unless you negotiate a transfer in writing. Buying the physical work does not give you the right to reproduce it, photograph it commercially, or use it in advertising. If you need those rights, put them in the contract. - Moral rights: the artist has the right to be identified as the creator and to object to derogatory treatment of the work. These rights generally cannot be waived. This is not a legal opinion; verify with a lawyer.

5. Set payment and delivery milestones. - Do not pay 100% upfront. A common structure is 50% on commission, 25% on approval of the maquette or sketch, and 25% on final delivery. - Agree on a written invoice that names the artist, the work, the edition (if any), the price, GST (if the artist is GST-registered), and the date of transfer of title. - For works on paper or digital media, ask for an edition certificate signed by the artist. - For large or fragile works, agree on delivery, installation, and insurance responsibilities in writing.