To consider trying to haggle with posh art dealer

[ProcrastinatorsAnonymous]

I've fallen in love with a beautiful painting by a respected artist. It's £4k for sale through a London art gallery. I've never bought via a gallery before and have no idea what I'm doing. Is it expected / acceptable to ask for a discount? Eg £500 off? I think creatives deserve to be paid for their work and am happy to pay the going rate, but I have no idea if galleries price in an expected haggling process, and if paying full asking price is therefore paying too much? Does anyone have any experience of this?

Happy to be told it would be cheeky - genuinely no idea if I'd be unreasonable to ask...?

I feel artwork is valued is what people are willing to pay for it. You can put forward your offer and if its declined you can reconsider what you are willing to pay.

If you're happy to pay the going rate, why do you want to haggle?

Remember the artist will have to pay commission to the gallery.

Contact the artist directly - they may have other pieces you like even more Re artists being paid for their work - yes absolutely agree but do be aware that the gallery will take a 40% (MINIMUM!) cut of whatever you actually pay.

Galleries usually take at least a 40% commission on the artworks they sell so if you want the artist to be paid a decent amount for an original piece don't haggle...

If you were buying several works they would provably give you a discount but for one painting it is more unlikely.

I politely ask for their ‘best’ price and would happily pay cash so no credit card fees etc
I also think it’s a good suggestion to go direct to artist and see if there is another piece you could buy direct from them

Good idea to contact the artist directly.
Sorry if this is a silly question folks, but couldn't any discount be knocked off the dealer's commission, as opposed to the painting's worth? I guess there would be no way of checking this for sure though.

The artist will have a contract with the gallery. So you can contact them directly and see what they will accept but the gallery will still win.
Or
You can pretend the piece of art is a house, negotiate on the basis of the total/gross cost incl vat and leave the agent to figure out how to sell it to you!

For those saying contact the artist direct - they should not and probably contractually can't undercut the gallery, who have put a lot of work and expense in to bringing the artist to the public (and your) your attention (like if you view a house, if you went to the owners direct they still have to pay the agent a commission).
As PP says, buy more than one and you may get a discount, but the gallery is going to get a commission on the sale price whatever it is, so the artist will get a reduced amount too.

I’ve never asked, but have always been given a discount on art 5-10% though.

Personally if I was in love with the painting and could afford £4000 I would pay it. It isn't easy to make a living as an artist!

Thank you for these responses - very helpful. The artist does have lots of fantastic work, but the particular piece I'd like to buy really resonates with me due to its specific setting and subject, so it's definitely the piece I'd like to buy (and I assume I will therefore have to go via the dealer). An internet deep dive indicates that it was painted several years ago and has not sold at a previous gallery or in at least one previous sale exhibition - so I might just politely ask the gallery for their best price.

What you could do is contact the artist directly.

They won't be able to sell you the piece directly as it is held by the gallery but they could then contact the gallery and tell them they are sending them a buyer who has expressed serious interest in the piece and that they would be happy for a discount to be applied.

I am a painter and people often contact me through instagram. I sometimes sell things to them directly if I still have them in my studio but if it is held by a gallery I refer them back to the gallery but might drop the owner a message to say I am sending someone their way and that I don't mind a small discount.

It is nice if collectors build a relationship with the artists they are interested in :).

You may be able to use the Own Art interest free scheme (https://www.ownart.org.uk/how-to-own-art) if the gallery is a member. I've used it twice for pieces I fell in love with but couldn't quite stretch to at the time.