Welcome to the Art Angle, a podcast from Artnet News that delves into the places where the art world meets the real world, bringing each week’s biggest story down to earth. Join us every week for an in-depth look at what matters most in museums, the art market, and much more with input from our own writers and editors as well as artists, curators, and other top experts in the field.

The art market is a notoriously wooly place, where deals are done with hushed handshakes behind closed doors. This of course applies to auctions and art sales, but it’s also true when it comes to something even more fundamental to the art business: artist representation.

How does a gallery nab a hot new artist? And how does an artist ultimately decide to join them, to stay on during moments of skyrocketing success, or leave at any given time? There are no rules to this game, but there are definitely some trends—and some are almost too strange to believe. On this week’s episode, European market editor Naomi Rea—who recently wrote about the tangled relationship between dealers and their artists—joins European editor Kate Brown to discuss the wild world of galleries wooing artists and winning representation.

Listen to Other Episodes:

The Art Angle Podcast: A Gossip Columnist Walks Into a Bar at Art Basel Miami Beach

The Art Angle Podcast: Where Do NFTs Go From Here? An Interview With Christie’s Noah Davis

The Art Angle Podcast Re-Air: How High-Tech Van Gogh Became the Biggest Art Phenomenon Ever

The Art Angle Podcast: How an Art Collective Brings Artworks From the Past Back to Life

The Art Angle Podcast: How the CryptoPunk OGs Lit the Fuse for the NFT Boom

The Art Angle Podcast: How a Fiery Breakup Sparked the Biggest Art Auction in Decades

The Art Angle Podcast: Why Horror Movies Keep Haunting the Art World

The Art Angle Podcast: Judy Chicago on How to Build a Lasting Art Career