The buyer should be looked up on as the villain in this tale of deceit. The buyer has either purposely or unwittingly undermined the foundation of the art community. The act of cutting out the third person in a sale is common practice in all areas of marketing, but when a buyer procures a work that was being sold in a gallery through this method they endanger the existence of that gallery. They risk the dissolution of a place for the artist to sell future works. I think that when buyers do this they are acting selfishly and certainly do not have any interest in the future of the artist or the gallery. They are in effect destroying the artistic, and cultural substance of their community.
The watering hole must be made accessible to all who need to drink from it! Galleries must find a way to maintain themselves without taking so much money from the buyers, or the artists. Many charge as high as 50, or 60% of the sale price. This is far too high. The answer is to lower this percentage and to increase sales. They can increase sales by being proactive and building a good client base. Artists need to realize that they are biting the hand that feeds them and stop this practice of selling behind the gallery walls their art. When this offer is made they should approach the gallery and discuss cutting the percentage take and have the gallery negotiate a fair price so all win. The buyers must be aware they are in the long run harming, the artists, the gallery and the arts community. If they are real patrons of the arts they will not skimp on the purchase and they will not lower themselves to subterfuge to purchase the luxury item of their desires.