The relationship between the gallery owner and the artist is a delicate one. The artist has to trust that the gallery is not selling her work for more than she is saying. She has to trust that the gallery will not spend her cut of the sale before she gets it. She has to trust that the checks will always clear.
Some galleries have gone under and have absconded with both money due the artist and kept artwork. This happened in Portland recently. The Lawrence Gallery in Portland did that. An acqaintance of mine had many thousands of dollars owed him and they were unable to be reached.
If I owned a gallery I would treat my artists with great respect as they are the reason I have a sale in the first place. And artists are not a dime a dozen like everyone thinks. Each one is unique and nobody will ever be like them again. WE have a life that is not just learned but born into.
I don’t even know the future of galleries with the advent of the internet. I could sell off my website out of my house if I wanted to. It is not like it used to be- where the gallery had all power and you were lucky to be in their hallowed halls.