Midlist galleries face business model crisis amid calls for venture capital approach

According to economist Clare McAndrew and collector Alain Servais, midlist galleries featuring 15–20 artists are increasingly threatened by the financial dynamics that favor megagalleries. The high costs associated with art fairs, coupled with rising income inequality and expensive real estate, compound these difficulties. To mitigate expenses, initiatives like Vanessa Carlos's Condo for shared spaces and David Zwirner's suggested 'tax' on art fairs aim to support smaller galleries. However, viable revenue-generating ideas are limited. Servais proposes a transfer-fee system akin to FIFA for artists transitioning to megagalleries. The reliance on consignment models leaves galleries at risk, prompting figures like Jeffrey Deitch and Stefan Simchowitz to explore art funds. A venture capital approach is also suggested, but it faces pushback from an art establishment resistant to investment terminology, as highlighted in the November 2018 ArtReview.