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Art Dealer

Money & Outlook

Insider Info

One day, a client can be searching frantically for an Andy Warhol print. The next day, he is cold on the idea. The art market is volatile. In the U.S., many dealers and galleries fold after only a few years in business.

"It takes energy and capital to get started, but there are lots of job opportunities in the field," says Allan Frumkin, an art dealer. "You can start doing preparatory work or at the front desk."

Art dealers earn as much money as they can generate. In some cases, this means operating at a loss. In other instances, it means that art dealers can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"This isn't something where you name an exact figure of what an art dealer earns," says Gretchen Adkins, an art dealer in New York. "You can make much more or much less depending on your work."

"It goes up and down," says Janette Langmann, an art dealer. "You may go six months without a sale, and then make quite a few."

Earnings and employment information from the U.S. Department of Labor is not available for this field at this time.