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What a painting commission agreement should cover

A painting commission agreement should say, in writing, what will be made, how it is approved, what is paid and when, who keeps the copyright, and who carries the risk until delivery. No authoritative source sets a standard deposit size or number of revisions, so both are negotiated. This guide is informational, not legal advice.

Schematic of six agreement items arranged around a central canvas: a ruler for scope, a checkmark for approval, stacked coins for payment, a copyright symbol, a box for delivery and a shield for risk and insurance. — Schematic illustration — Perfeito Studio. Perfeito Studio.

The work: scope, approval and revisions

The first clause is the description of what will be made, because every other clause refers back to it. For an abstract painting that usually means the dimensions, the orientation, the medium and support, the colour direction and any hard limits (a palette to avoid, a wall it has to suit). An abstract work has no subject to check the result against, so the document has to carry the reference points: a sketch, a colour study, or the title of an existing work that shows the intended register. If a finished painting is the closer fit, commissioning versus buying one that already exists sets out the trade-off.

Next comes approval. Arts Law Centre of Australia publishes a commissioning template for public works whose listed topics include design approval, project timeframes and how changes to the design or finished work are handled. A private commission needs fewer of those, but the same questions apply: is there a design stage before painting starts, who signs it off, and what counts as a change to something already approved. Write down how many rounds of revision are included, what a revision may touch (a colour adjustment is not the same as a new composition), and what happens to price and date if the brief changes midway. There is no standard number of rounds; the figure that matters is the one both sides wrote down.

Money: deposit, balance and an early end

A commission is paid for work that does not exist yet, so the payment clause is where both sides manage uncertainty. Settle the total price and its currency, the amount of the deposit and what it counts toward, when the balance falls due, and who bears bank charges and conversion. No authoritative source sets a standard deposit percentage for paintings, so none is given here: it is an agreed figure, not a rule. The sibling guide on reserving a painting and paying a deposit covers the payment-safety side, including paying only to the party named in the agreement.

Then write the exit. The Arts Law public-art template lists termination among its topics, and any commission should answer it too: what each side keeps or returns if the buyer cancels before work starts, after approval, or when the painting is nearly finished; what happens if the artist cannot complete it; and who owns a half-made canvas. The answers differ by contract and by country. The clause protects both people precisely because it is decided while nothing is in dispute.

Copyright, image use and credit

Buying a painting and owning its copyright are separate things. In United States law, ownership of the copyright is distinct from ownership of the material object, and transferring the object does not of itself convey rights in the work (17 U.S.C. 202). Arts Law Centre of Australia says that, with some exceptions, commissioning an artist does not automatically transfer copyright to the commissioner, and that a transfer needs a signed written agreement. Laws differ by country, so the agreement should state the position instead of leaving it to default rules.

The U.S. Copyright Office explains that a commissioned work counts as made for hire only when it falls into one of nine listed categories and the parties sign a written agreement saying so; a stand-alone painting does not appear among those categories. In practice the usual question is narrower than ownership: may the buyer photograph the work, publish it, or reproduce it? Arts Law notes that a commissioner usually receives an implied licence for the purpose the work was commissioned for, and that the details depend on what the parties understood. Write the permitted uses, the territory and the duration instead of relying on an implied licence. The same page says moral rights should be clearly dealt with in any agreement; credit and signature placement belong here.

Delivery: packing, freight, insurance and risk

A delivery clause names the date or the window, the address, and who arranges and pays for packing, freight, transit insurance and any import duties or taxes. It also fixes the moment risk passes: when the painting leaves the studio, when the carrier delivers it, or when the buyer inspects it. If damage in transit is possible, the insured party and the claims process should be written down. The guide to art insurance for collectors explains what that cover is for.

For comparison, Perfeito Studio states for its finished works that shipping is quoted per destination and paid by the buyer, together with any import duties or taxes in the destination country, that professional packaging is included, and that transit insurance is available. Those are the studio's terms for finished paintings, not a template for a commission. Add an acceptance step: the buyer confirms receipt and condition within a stated period, in writing. If the buyer is signing from abroad, a power of attorney is usually not needed for an ordinary remote art purchase, but check that against the specific contract.

Before you sign

Read the document against the checklist above: description and reference, approval and revisions, price and deposit, cancellation, copyright and image use, credit, delivery, risk and insurance, and the law that governs it. Anything verbal should be moved into the text. Arts Law, which sells commission agreement templates for artists, advises artists to consider legal advice before signing any agreement; for a high-value commission, a lawyer in the artist's or buyer's country can confirm how deposits, copyright assignments and cancellation are treated locally. Nothing on this page is legal advice.

From the studio

This page describes what such an agreement tends to contain; it is not an offer of a commission service by the studio. What the studio can describe from its own practice is how a finished work is documented. A painting such as Vibrant Awakening is identified by title, series (Luminous Rebirth), year (2025), medium (acrylic on canvas), dimensions (100 x 150 cm) and an Archive ID (AP-LMR-2025-003), and every acquisition includes a signed certificate of authenticity and an Artwork Acquisition Agreement covering transfer of ownership, copyright and image use. Reading those lines is a useful exercise for anyone drafting a commission: if the agreement cannot describe the future painting with the same precision, the scope clause is not finished. Alyne trained as an architect, and the studio describes the work as reading at architectural scale, so dimensions and orientation are the first things to write down, before colour.

Frequently asked

What should a commission contract include?

At minimum: a description of the work (dimensions, medium, colour direction, reference), the approval process and the number of revisions, the total price, deposit and balance schedule, what happens if either side cancels, who holds the copyright and what image use is allowed, how credit is given, the delivery window, who pays for packing, freight, insurance and duties, the moment risk passes, and which law applies. Arts Law Centre of Australia lists several of these as standard topics in its commissioning template.

Who owns the copyright?

It depends on the country and on what the agreement says. In United States law, owning the physical painting does not by itself give rights in the work, and a commissioned painting does not fall into the listed work-made-for-hire categories. Arts Law Centre of Australia states that copyright is not automatically transferred to a commissioner, and that a transfer requires a signed written agreement. The safest approach is to write down who keeps copyright and what uses are permitted.

Are revisions normal?

Some form of feedback is common, but no authoritative source sets a standard number of rounds, so the agreement should state one. Also state what a revision may change: a colour adjustment is a smaller request than a new composition. If the brief changes after approval, say how price and delivery date change. Without these limits, 'one small change' can reopen the whole painting, which is unfair to both the artist and the buyer.

What happens if I don't like it?

Only what the agreement says. The relevant clauses are the approval step, the revision limit and the cancellation terms: whether the deposit is kept or returned, whether the unfinished or finished canvas stays with the artist, and whether the buyer can decline a painting that matches the approved brief. Agreeing these answers before any money moves is the purpose of the document. This is general information, not legal advice; a lawyer can confirm local treatment.

Who pays for shipping?

Whoever the agreement names. For its finished works, Perfeito Studio states that shipping is quoted per destination and paid by the buyer, together with any import duties or taxes in the destination country, with professional packaging included and transit insurance available. A commission agreement should state the same points separately: packing, freight, insurance, duties, and the moment risk passes from artist to buyer.

Ships worldwide from Brasília, Brazil. Professional packaging included, insured transit available; shipping is quoted per destination. How it works →

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