The studio visit: how to evaluate an artist by watching them work

01What the studio reveals that the exhibition hides

A work exhibited in a gallery or museum is the final result of a process that may extend over months or years. It is lit, framed, contextualised by a label and a wall text. It has been selected from among other works, sometimes by the artist themselves, sometimes by a curator. The exhibited work is, by definition, the completed and validated version. The studio shows the other side of this picture. It reveals hesitations, parallel research, abandoned directions and materials awaiting transformation.

In the studio, the dealer sees works in progress, abandoned attempts, research that has not yet concluded, piled materials awaiting transformation. They also see how the artist organises their working space, which reveals much about their method of thinking. A meticulously tidy studio suggests a methodical and reflective approach. A chaotic studio may indicate overflowing creative energy or, sometimes, a lack of discipline that will affect production regularity. The organisation of the workspace is not a judgment criterion in itself, but it constitutes a clue that the experienced dealer knows how to interpret in the context of their overall visit.

Galerie Templon, which has represented artists as diverse as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kehinde Wiley, has always placed decisive importance on the studio visit in its selection process. Daniel Templon has often recounted that it was in studios, not in exhibitions, that he made his most important representation decisions. The studio does not lie: it shows the work in its daily reality, without the mediation of professional hanging and lighting.

02Observing process before result

The dealer visiting a studio should not merely look at finished works hung on walls or placed on plinths. The essence lies in the process. How does the artist move from idea to realisation? Do they use preparatory sketches, maquettes, reference photographs? Does their work proceed by gradual accumulation or by decisive gesture? The answers to these questions illuminate the nature of the work far more than examination of the completed piece. The process reveals the intelligence of the work, its intellectual depth and the rigour of the research underpinning it.

Galerie Perrotin has incorporated into its selection methodology a particular attention to artists' working processes. When the gallery evaluates a potential artist, it is as interested in how the work is made as in the visible result. An artist whose process is rich, documented, nourished by diverse research and references generally produces work that renews itself over time, which is essential for a gallery considering long-term representation. Conversely, an artist whose process is mechanical or repetitive risks producing work that exhausts itself quickly, which creates difficulties for representation over several years.

The dealer should be attentive to the artist's relationship with their materials. A sculptor who intimately knows the properties of bronze, marble or wood, who chooses materials with intention and who masters transformation techniques, inspires confidence in the future quality of production. A painter who prepares their own pigments, builds their own stretchers or develops personal layering techniques demonstrates an engagement with the materiality of the work that translates into a perceptible quality in the final result. This technical mastery is not an end in itself, but it constitutes the foundation upon which artistic quality can unfold sustainably.

03Evaluating production coherence

The studio allows the eye to encompass an artist's entire recent production, which no exhibition permits. The dealer can thus assess the work's coherence: do recent works sit in continuity with earlier ones? Is there a connecting thread linking different series or different mediums? Is the work's evolution organic and reasoned, or does it jump from one direction to another without apparent logic?

Coherence is not synonymous with repetition. An artist who always produces the same works is not coherent but static. The coherence the dealer seeks is a developmental logic where each new series deepens, questions or expands upon those preceding it. Galerie Almine Rech, when evaluating artists it wishes to represent, pays particular attention to this developmental trajectory. An artist whose work shows a reasoned evolution over several years inspires more confidence than one whose output seems erratic. This evolution should be legible in the studio, where works from different periods coexist and allow the dealer to mentally reconstruct the work's trajectory.

The dealer should also assess production volume. A gallery committing to represent an artist needs a sufficient flow of works to supply exhibitions, fairs and collector requests. An artist with extremely slow production — one or two works per year — poses a logistical and commercial challenge the dealer must anticipate. Conversely, an artist with very abundant output may raise questions about selection rigour and the risk of market saturation. The dealer must assess whether the artist's production rhythm is compatible with the gallery's economic model and collector expectations.

04Listening to the artist speak about their work

The conversation accompanying the studio visit is at least as informative as visual observation. How an artist speaks about their work reveals their capacity to contextualise, defend and make it understood. An artist who can articulate the stakes of their practice, who situates their work within an artistic genealogy without excessive pretension and who describes their intentions clearly facilitates the work of the dealer who must in turn present and sell this work to collectors and institutions.

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, present in Paris, London and Salzburg, places considerable importance on the communication capacity of the artists it represents. Not that the artist must be a brilliant orator — many great artists express themselves with reserve — but they must be able to formulate their work's intentions in a way that allows the dealer to build a solid mediation discourse. An artist who cannot speak about their work leaves the dealer in the difficult position of having to interpret and defend a practice whose deeper mechanisms they do not always understand.

The dealer should be attentive to how the artist receives questions and observations about their work. An artist who welcomes remarks with openness, who accepts dialogue and who is capable of considering different perspectives on their work demonstrates a relational maturity that bodes well for future collaboration. An artist who reacts with hostility to any critical observation, who refuses all dialogue about aspects of their work that may be questioned, risks creating difficulties in the day-to-day management of the dealer-artist relationship. This capacity for dialogue is a valuable indicator of the quality of collaboration to come.

05What the visit cannot reveal

The experienced dealer knows that the studio visit, however informative, has blind spots. The studio is a space the artist controls and stages, consciously or not, for the dealer's visit. The most accomplished works are typically placed in evidence, while failures and dead ends are stored away or concealed. The studio visit is a performance in the theatrical sense, and the dealer must be aware of this. This awareness should not breed mistrust but rather a lucidity that allows the dealer to supplement the information gathered during the visit with other sources.

This is why experienced dealers never settle for a single visit. Galerie Marian Goodman is known for the patience with which it multiplies studio visits before making a representation decision. Each visit reveals different aspects of the work and the artist's personality. The first visit gives an overall impression. The second allows deeper exploration of questions raised during the first. The third, often conducted several months later, allows the dealer to observe the work's evolution and to confirm or revise initial impressions. This methodology of repeated visits is a time investment fully justified by the quality of the decisions it enables.

The studio visit also does not reveal the artist's reliability regarding deadlines, their ability to handle the pressure of an exhibition or their relationship with money. These aspects of the professional relationship are discovered only through the course of collaboration, and the dealer must accept that a degree of risk persists even after the most thorough studio visits.

06Transforming the visit into an informed decision

The studio visit is not an end in itself: it is a decision-making instrument. The dealer leaving a studio should be able to answer a series of concrete questions. Is the work sufficiently resolved for presentation at the gallery? Does the working process suggest regular and evolving production? Is the artist a counterpart with whom long-term collaboration is feasible? Does the work enter into dialogue with the gallery's existing programme? Is the potential market for this work compatible with the gallery's economic expectations?

Galerie Kamel Mennour has formalised this post-visit decision process by establishing team meetings where the impressions of each staff member who participated in the visit are shared and discussed. This collegial approach to decision-making reduces the risk of individually miscalibrated enthusiasm and allows perspectives to be compared before committing. A dealer who takes a representation decision alone after a studio visit exposes themselves to the risk of confirmation bias that a colleague's perspective might correct.

The dealer who masters the art of the studio visit holds a decisive advantage over one who selects artists solely on the basis of exhibitions and photographic dossiers. The studio is where work reveals itself in its truth, and knowing how to read what the studio shows is a competence every dealer must develop with patience and humility. Artedusa offers partner galleries an international distribution space where artists discovered through this attention to the creative process find an audience of collectors attuned to the depth of the work and the sincerity of the dealer's commitment.