Commissions

A painting made for your wall, at the size the wall needs. Half down to start, half when it's done. Four to eight weeks.

How it works

  1. Tell me the wall. A photo of the room, the width and height you have in mind, and two or three pieces from the catalogue you keep coming back to. That's enough. If you're not sure of the size, send the photo and I'll suggest one — here's how I think about it.
  2. I send a sketch and a price. Within a few days. A palette, a direction, and the number. Commissions are priced by size, the same as the catalogue — a 4ft x 4ft is $2,300, a 4ft x 5ft is $2,600, a 5ft x 6ft is $3,200, a two-panel piece of 8 to 10ft runs $3,500 to $4,400. Odd sizes get a quote.
  3. Half down. Pay the deposit here: Commission a painting. Pick the size closest to yours. I start the week it clears.
  4. Progress photos from the floor. Two or three along the way. You'll see it before it's dry.
  5. The balance, then delivery. I invoice the second half when it's finished and signed. In New York I deliver and hang it myself; outside the city it ships crated, stretched or rolled — your call.

What I need to know going in

It's abstract and I work on the floor with poured and thrown paint, so I can promise a size, a palette and a feel. I can't promise a particular mark — that's the point of the work. If what you want is a copy of a piece that's already sold, I'll say so and point you to the closest thing I have.

No. 040 was a commission, more or less

A 10ft x 4ft black-and-white diptych made to fit one wall in the Mezcalum office. It's now in Erin Lichy's apartment in Tribeca. Most of the biggest work I've made was made for a wall that already existed — see them hung.

Deposits

The deposit is refundable in full until I've sent the sketch and you've approved it. After that it's committed — the canvas is bought and the floor is cleared. The finished painting comes with a signed certificate and a catalogue number like everything else I make.

Start here: charles.s.black@gmail.com, with the photo of the wall. Or pay the deposit straight away and send the photo after — Commission a painting.