Monat Gallery — Attraction in Madrid

I surprised at the negative comments for Monat Gallery. I’m a US based artist and find galleries operate differently in the US. I have been with Monat Gallery and have found them to be very professional. I was in two art fairs, Brussels and Paris and received a discount for two, @ 2000 euros. This is what booth space costs at shows. I was an owner in the designer jewelry business, this was a small two person company. A 8x10 foot booths costs upwards from $10,000 when you included all trade shows costs. I compared Monat’s fee with 14C, a big, important art fair in Jersey City, NJ, across the Hudson River from NYC and they wanted $1400 for a 2 meter space in the booth. Also, once my artworks were at Monat I did not have to pay transportation of artworks to the art fairs, I didn’t have to set up the booth. All I had to do was show up! These efforts were a tremendous amount of work when I was in the jewelry business. One review complained that there were no “guaranteed” sales!! There are no guarantees with sales. In addition Monat put my artwork in two month long group shows, and additionally I was also in Top Artist group show. Three exhibitions in their gallery. Then to my surprise they put 5 of my paintings in another group show, and additionally did a live interview on Instagram. For all of these events they created very creative, professional promotions for each event which I used for my promotion. I recently, when back in the US showed a local gallery all of this activity and they put me in their gallery, at no charge. And also a gallery in Germany gave me a solo show based on my exhibitions with Monat. So i feel I received good value for the cost. Did I make a sale, no but I believe it’s the cost of doing business. One has to create opportunities for your artwork to be seen. As an artist one told me, no one is coming, no one is coming to your studio to “discover” your work. When I started the jewelry business i borrowed 50,000 for start up costs. At the end of 15 years I was producing, selling, a year in the high 6 figures. I also made it a point to attend the Monat art fairs, which i highly recommend. You need to be at the fairs. Also, these costs are in line with other professionals, my accountant, a lawyer for a service i required, a personal service contract with my doctor. These are the costs of doing business with galleries in the EU. Not very prevalent in the US galleries. But i don’t feel Monat was unprofessional, or do not feel I was taken advantage of. They did all they promised, quickly and...

An Upsetting and Disappointing Experience - Artist Review

I regret to say that my experience with Monat Gallery was extremely disappointing and upsetting. As an artist, I entrusted them with my work and paid a substantial fee for what I was led to believe would be meaningful representation and promotion. In reality, what I received was far from professional.

The quality of service was appalling. Their social media posts lacked any real substance or information about me as an artist, and worse still, they were shared not from their main profile, but from obscure accounts with very few followers. The promotional efforts were amateur at best, and provided no value in terms of visibility or engagement. When I questioned this, I was told they had promoted me through “internal and external channels” — yet there was zero evidence of this. And frankly, it’s baffling that they would claim artists should pay to be “publicised internally.”

Aside from placing one painting in a gallery exhibition and two in an art fair, they did nothing else to justify the high fee. When I asked for a refund due to the lack of promised services, they instead threatened to charge me for storing my own paintings — which I had essentially donated at that point to avoid further shipping costs, and after they threw away my original packaging (apparently due to “rodent safety hazards”).

At no point did they acknowledge any fault. My experience left me feeling scammed and deeply disillusioned. Monat Gallery operates as a vanity gallery that preys on the hopes of emerging or inexperienced artists, offering nothing in return but vague promises and marketing spin.

I had invested money my late father left me, thinking it would support a dream we shared. Instead, I was left with nothing but disappointment. During the entire ordeal, I received sales emails for art event tickets — further evidence that this gallery is more interested in making money off artists than supporting them.

Please, fellow artists — stay away from Monat Gallery. You will gain absolutely nothing. I felt scared and upset during...

They contacted me on Instagram and gave the impression they want to represent me. I checked the google review page and was stunned that they charge artists for wall space, and answered that I am not interested if I am being charged. No more replies from them! Dear artists: I have exhibited and sold a lot of my art over almost two decades now. I worked with plenty of galleries worldwide. I NEVER paid to be exhibited! I never will! Yes art fairs cost a lot of money. But so do studios, art supplies and everything else that you have to provide to be a succesfull artist. Do the math: if they really ask for 1500£ per painting to showcase, they make 30.000£ a month if they hang 20 paintings. This is ridiculous. On top it seems in the other comments, that they ask 30% on top of that. So you would have to ask huge prices to make a profit and if they had a clientel with pockets that big, they would not need this unusual business strategy. They make you take all the financial risk! So my advice would be: Don’t do it! And no, I have never set foot in the gallery and never spoke to the owners apart from the “flattering message” I got from them on Instagram. But all the info provided in the comments is enough for me (also the way they react to criticism but never addres the point about the fee that they...