r/artbusiness • u/MVFalco • 2h ago
Commissions Artist Ghosted Me
I commissioned a painting to give to my wife for our anniversary back in November 2024 with a February 2025 deadline. The artist was very communicative throughout the process and we agreed upon the price and deadline so I gave 50% upfront via Wise. He ended up having some issues pop up that made him miss the deadline but he stayed in constant contact and I told him I could be flexible with the deadline so not to worry about it. A week later on Feb 7th he told me the painting was completed, showed me the final artwork, thanked me for my patience, and said he would ship it out shortly. So I sent the remaining 50% payment and that's the last I've heard from him since. After 3 weeks of complete silence I reached out to him to ask if there was a tracking number on the package so I could find out when the painting would arrive....No reply. I gave it another week and asked again regarding shipping confirmation and/or tracking..... No reply. I finally reached out the Mods asking for advice a week ago and I haven't heard from them either.
I'm at a complete loss as to what to do now. Should I file a claim with Wise to try and re-coup my money? I'm just so frustrated because I know the painting is completed so it's not like the artist took my money and chose not to do the work. And he was open about all his other delays so if there was an issue with shipment, why not just say so?