Terms and conditions

Our General Terms and Conditions for Galleries

1 . Coverage
These General Terms and Conditions are binding for all business transactions of the gallery. Contradictory purchasing conditions do not apply. The buyer confirms by his signature that he has taken note of the conditions.

2 Purchase Prices
Purchase prices are expressed in euros. They contain the applicable sales tax. For works of art of the 20th century, the gallery pays a tax for the statutory resale right (§ 26 UrhG) and the artist social insurance, which is also included in the purchase price.

3. VAT refund
(3.1) Third countries outside the EU: According to legal regulations, export deliveries in third countries outside the EU internal market are exempt from VAT. If a buyer takes the object of purchase abroad, he has to provide security in the amount of sales tax, which will be refunded to him as soon as he presents the export / customer proof of the gallery.

(3.2) EU internal market: If the buyer is an entrepreneur in the sense of VAT law who legitimately uses his VAT ID number issued by the country of residence in the EU, the delivery remains VAT-free, as far as the buyer in his country the delivery falls under the acquisition taxation. However, the buyer has to provide security in the amount of sales tax, which will be refunded to him as soon as the VAT ID number is correctly received by the gallery. If the VAT ID number subsequently proves to be incorrect, the gallery is entitled to withdraw from the purchase agreement.

Conditions of payment
The purchase price is due with invoicing without deductions. In the case of non-cash payments (check, bank transfer, etc.), the buyer bears the costs of cheque redemption, etc.

Issuance and retention of title
(5.1) The buyer can demand the delivery of the object of purchase only against full payment of the purchase price.

(5.2) The transfer of ownership of the sold item takes place under the suspensive condition of full payment of the purchase price. The gallery is entitled to withdraw from the contract if the buyer defaults on payment of the purchase price. If the object of purchase is already handed over to the buyer before full payment of the purchase price contrary to the regulation provided for in Section 5.1, the buyer is obliged to treat the object of purchase carefully and with care until the transfer of ownership and to protect it from damage or loss.

Set-off and retention
The buyer can set off against the gallery only with undisputed or legally established claims. Rights of retention of the buyer are excluded, insofar as they are not based on the same contractual relationship. 

7. Delay
(7.1) Debtor default: If the buyer is in default with the payment of the purchase price or a purchase price installment, the gallery is entitled and, at the request of the artist, obligated to give the artist the name and address of the buyer. In the event of default by the buyer with the purchase price payment, the default interest rate for the year is five percentage points above the base interest rate or eight percentage points above the base interest rate if the buyer made the purchase in pursuit of his commercial or self-employed professional activity. The gallery can claim further damage. The gallery is entitled with default to make all outstanding installments immediately due. 

(7.2) Default of acceptance: The buyer will be in default if he does not collect the object of purchase within the contractually agreed period or within 30 days after an offer of services from the gallery. After the default has occurred, the gallery is entitled to insure and store the object of purchase at the risk and expense of the buyer (§ 304 BGB). 

(7.3) Additional period: If the buyer is in default of debtor or acceptance, the gallery is entitled to withdraw from the purchase contract under appropriate extension period. In this case, in addition to the statutory rights, the gallery can also calculate its damages in such a way that the buyer has to compensate for the reduced proceeds if the object of purchase is resold. The buyer is not entitled to any additional proceeds. 

8 Dispatch of the object of purchase
A dispatch of the object of purchase will only take place on written instructions from the buyer. The risk of damage or loss of the object of purchase during shipment shall be borne by the buyer if he intends to use the object of purchase in the context of his commercial or independent professional activity. If the value of the object of purchase is more than 150 €, the gallery will insure the shipment at the expense of the buyer. The gallery can, at its own diligent discretion, determine the shipping method and means of shipping and does not assume any obligation for the fastest or cheapest shipping. 

9. Returns
Returns to the gallery are made at the expense and risk of the sender. If the object of purchase is returned for the purpose of subsequent fulfillment, the gallery bears the costs of the return (§ 439 para 2 BGB), unless it concerns the purchase of a non-newly produced work and the customer intends to use the purchased goods in the context of his commercial or independent professional activity. Unauthorized returns will not be accepted. For the subsequent return, the sender bears costs and risk. 

10. Liability
(10.1) Information about the object of art: Work descriptions in catalogues, brochures etc. do not include any guarantee from the gallery for the quality of the object of purchase. If the customer intends to use the purchased goods in the context of his commercial or independent professional activity and if the object of purchase is not a newly produced work, the gallery assumes no liability for the completeness and correctness of the information contained in the catalogues, brochures, etc. on the art object, as far as the gallery did not have to be aware of the inaccuracy or incompleteness.

(10.2) Commission business: If the gallery sells the goods as a commissioner, warranty claims for defects are excluded if the customer intends to use the purchased goods in the context of his commercial or independent professional activity and if the object of purchase is not a newly produced work. This also applies to counterfeits, insofar as the gallery should not have known the lack of authenticity of the work. Before the sale, the buyer has the opportunity to convince himself personally and if necessary by expert help of the contractual condition and the authenticity of the object of purchase. If there is a warranty situation for which the gallery is not liable in accordance with the above provision, the gallery assigns its claims against the principal to the buyer. In these cases, however, the gallery can also take back the object of purchase and refund the purchase price at its choice.

(10.3) Liability: For all damages caused by the gallery or its legal representatives or vicarious agents intentionally or through gross negligence, the gallery is liable without limitation. For damages resulting from injury to the body, life or health, which are based on a negligent or intentional breach of duty by the gallery, its legal representatives or vicarious agents, the gallery is also liable without limit, irrespective of the degree of fault. The gallery is only liable for damages caused by the gallery, its legal representatives or vicarious agents due to slight negligence if the gallery, its organs or its vicarious agents violate a contractual obligation (obligations whose fulfilment makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and whose compliance with the contractual partners can regularly trust and rely on). In this case, the liability of the gallery is limited to the contract-typical foreseeable damage. Otherwise, the liability of the gallery is excluded. 

(10.4) Warranty: If the delivered work is defective, the buyer can only pay damages due to the defect after two failed subsequent fulfillment attempts and in accordance with the limitation of liability in number

(10.5) of these terms and conditions. If the customer intends to use the purchased goods in the context of his commercial or independent professional activity, he may initially only demand subsequent performance; only after two failed attempts at subsequent performance can the customer withdraw from the contract or reduce the purchase price as well as claim damages in accordance with the limitation of liability in Section 10.3 of these General Terms and Conditions.

(10.6) Limitation: Claims for damages based on the defectiveness of the work shall expire at the latest one year after the statutory beginning of the limitation period, insofar as the claims are not based on the intention of the gallery. If the buyer intends to use the object of purchase within the framework of his commercial or independent professional activity, claims for damages due to defects in the delivered work that are not based on the intention of the gallery will lapse six months after the legal start of the limitation period if it is a work of art that has not been newly produced. Other claims for defectiveness of the delivered work, which are not based on the intention of the gallery, expire within one year from the statutory limitation period, if it is a work of art that has not been newly produced. If the buyer intends to use the object of purchase in the context of his commercial or independent professional activity, these claims, if they are not based on the intention of the gallery, shall lapse within six months from the statutory limitation period, if it is a work of art that has not been newly produced, and within one year from the statute of limitations, if the object of purchase is a newly produced work of art. The exclusion of claims for damages does not apply to cases under § 309 No. 7 BGB (injuries to life, body, health and liability for gross negligence). 

11. Applicable law
The legal relations between the gallery and the buyer are governed exclusively by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The provisions of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”) shall not apply. 

12. Final provisions
(12.1) For the interpretation of these terms and conditions, the German version is decisive.

(12.2) Place of performance and place of jurisdiction for merchants, legal entities under public law and special public assets is the seat of the gallery. The same applies if the customer does not have a general place of jurisdiction in Germany. Should one or more provisions of these terms and conditions be or become ineffective, the effectiveness of the other provisions shall remain unaffected.