How an artist collective works, and what ours pays
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An artist collective is a group of artists who share the work of selling — a catalogue, a site, a sales channel, the paperwork — while each keeps ownership of their own work. Ours charges no fees to join, lets each artist set their own prices, pays the artist the majority of every sale under a split agreed in writing before the first sale, and leaves copyright with the artist permanently. Founded in 2024 in New York, it currently has one artist (me) and is bringing on its first members in 2026.
Why it exists
The hard part of being an artist isn't making the work; it's finding anyone to sell it to. Galleries take a small number of people, and the rest never get through the door — not on merit, on access. Meanwhile the places that hang art constantly — hotels, restaurants, offices, developers staging a building — have almost no way to buy originals, so they buy prints. The collective sells to collectors the traditional way and into those rooms as well. More routes to a buyer means more work sold, which is the only thing that actually helps an artist.
The terms
No dues, no hanging fees, no submission fees; the collective makes money when its artists make money and not before. The artist sets the price. The split is agreed and written down before anything is listed. The artist keeps copyright and can sell elsewhere. Every work is numbered, recorded, photographed to a standard and issued a certificate. Each artist gets a page on the site like mine, a collection of their work, and their work placed in venues and trade proposals alongside everyone else's.
How that compares with a gallery
A commercial gallery typically takes around half of the sale price and asks for exclusivity in return for representation, exhibitions and its collector list. A collective takes less, offers no exhibitions of its own, and doesn't ask for exclusivity. A print-on-demand marketplace takes a small cut but sells reproductions. The collective sits between: the artist's own work, a smaller split than a gallery, and channels — venues, trade — that most galleries don't serve.
What the market is doing
Two reports shape how I think about this. The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2026 (Clare McAndrew, Arts Economics) found that dealers' operating costs rose 5% on average in 2025, faster than their sales, and that 42% of dealers reported higher sales while 33% reported declines — a tough environment for the traditional model, but one where the smallest dealers, under $500,000 turnover, saw double-digit growth in average sales and where 49% of the buyers dealers sold to were new. Hiscox's 2025 report found sales of works under $50,000 up 20% to record levels; Robert Read, Hiscox's Head of Art and Private Client, put it as collectors "gravitating towards lower-value pieces." That's the price band this catalogue sits in. The buyers are there; they just aren't walking into galleries.
On copyright, since people ask
Under US law (17 U.S.C. § 202) copyright in a work is separate from ownership of the physical object, and selling a painting does not transfer the copyright. That's why an artist here can sell a painting through the collective and still own every right to reproduce it — nothing in our terms changes that, and nothing ever will.
What I look for
Painting, drawing, works on paper or digital — your own work, with enough of it finished to fill a page: eight to ten pieces to start. Consistency matters more than range. A studio in the New York area helps for venue installs but isn't required.
FAQ
Does it cost anything to join?
No. There are no fees of any kind.
Who sets the price?
The artist. I'll advise on the market, but the number is yours.
What share does the artist keep?
The majority. The exact split is agreed in writing before the first sale.
Do I give up any rights?
No. Copyright and the right to sell elsewhere stay with you.
How do I apply?
Send eight to ten images with sizes and years to charles.s.black@gmail.com, or use the form on the For artists page.
Sources
- The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2026 — Dr Clare McAndrew, Arts Economics, for Art Basel and UBS (March 2026)
- Affordable art prevails — Hiscox Artist Top 100, 2025 — Hiscox Group press release, 3 April 2025 (Robert Read, Head of Art and Private Client)
- 17 U.S.C. § 202 — Ownership of copyright as distinct from ownership of material object — United States Code, Office of the Law Revision Counsel
About the author. Charles Black is a self-taught painter working in acrylic on canvas from a two-room studio at the back of a warehouse in Queens, New York, and the founder of ABB Collective. He has been posting the work as @abstractbyblack since 2022 and has placed paintings in bars, offices and private homes around New York. Questions about anything here: charles.s.black@gmail.com.