Painter in 1648: Paris builds the academy-salon machine

How do painters actually make money? By stacking income streams: gallery sales, typically split 50/50 with the dealer; direct sales and commissions; prints and editions; teaching; grants and residencies; and, for many, unrelated day jobs. Surveys in the UK, Germany and Australia repeatedly find that income from artwork alone averages well under a living wage, which is why almost every working painter runs several streams at once.

What does a gallery do, and what cut does it take? The standard commercial-gallery split is 50 percent of each sale, worldwide. In exchange the gallery pays for exhibition space, openings, art-fair booths that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, promotion, and — most valuably — access to its collector list. Most galleries take work on consignment rather than buying it, so the painter is paid only when a piece actually sells.

How long does it take to learn to paint well? Classical ateliers budget three to four years of full-time drawing and painting to reach professional competence, roughly matching a BFA. A recognizable personal voice usually takes another decade of sustained studio work. Hokusai, at 75, wrote that nothing he made before 70 was worth counting — an exaggeration, but one working painters tend to quote with a straight face.