Terms of use
The basis on which this site is offered, and what is asked of visitors in return. Plain language, modest scope.
Last updated: 2026-05-28.
This site is the studio site of the painter Payal Agarwal. It is offered as a place to view the work, read about the practice, and start a conversation about a painting, a commission, an exhibition, or a press piece. These terms describe how the site may be used and the limits of what is offered.
Ownership of the work and the site
All paintings, photographs of paintings, in-progress imagery, texture studies, written notes, captions, and other materials presented on this site are the work of Payal Agarwal and are protected by copyright. The site's layout, code, typography choices, and arrangement are also her work. Unless something on a page is explicitly marked as belonging to a third party (a press quote, a gallery photograph, a competition logo), assume that what you are looking at belongs to the artist.
You may view the site, share links to it, save personal reference screenshots, and quote short passages of the writing for review or commentary, in the ordinary way the internet works. You may not:
- Download, copy, reproduce, or republish painting images at full resolution for any purpose without written permission.
- Use the images or text to train, fine-tune, evaluate, or seed any machine-learning model, dataset, or generative system. Permission for any such use is not granted, and the work is explicitly opted out of automated ingestion.
- Use the work, in whole or in part, to make or sell prints, merchandise, NFTs, derivatives, or any reproduction.
- Represent any image or text from this site as your own.
- Use the site's design, code, or arrangement as a template for another commercial site.
If you want to use anything from the site for a legitimate purpose (a press article, a gallery feature, an academic paper, a curatorial project), say so via the contact form. Reasonable requests are usually granted on reasonable terms.
Acceptable use
You agree, when visiting the site, that you will not:
- Scrape, crawl, or systematically copy pages or images, whether by hand or by automated tool, beyond what a normal search engine does.
- Submit any form using a name, email address, or content that is not your own and that you have no right to use.
- Use the inquiry, commission, press, gallery, contact, Studio List signup, or workshop waitlist forms to send unsolicited commercial messages, marketing pitches, recruitment outreach, link-building requests, SEO services pitches, or AI-generated outreach of any kind.
- Attempt to probe, scan, or test the security of the site or its underlying systems.
- Interfere with the site's normal operation, attempt to overload it, or attempt to access content not made publicly available.
- Use the site or its forms to harass, threaten, defame, or impersonate any person.
Form submissions that appear to violate these points may be discarded without reply.
Inquiries are inquiries, not contracts
Every form on this site begins a conversation. Submitting a form is not a binding agreement to buy, sell, commission, exhibit, or reserve anything. Whether a painting is available, the price (where one is named), the terms of a commission, and any commitments on either side are all settled later, in writing, in a separate document signed by both parties: typically a letter of intent or a sales agreement.
Nothing on this site, including any description of price, dimensions, availability, exhibition status, timeline, or process, constitutes a binding offer. Information is presented in good faith and kept as current as is reasonable, but availability and details can change between the moment a page is rendered and the moment a reply is sent.
No purchases on the site
The site does not host an online store. There is no cart, no checkout, no payment processing, and no order placement of any kind. Sales of original paintings happen either directly with the artist (under a signed agreement) or, when a piece is currently exhibited at a gallery, through that gallery. If a page invites you to "Inquire," that is the full scope of what the site itself does.
Commissions
Commission inquiries are welcomed. Acceptance of any commission is at the artist's discretion, based on her availability, scope, and creative interest. Submitting a commission inquiry does not place you on a list, in a queue, or under any obligation, and it does not place the artist under any obligation to accept. If a commission moves forward, a separate written agreement will set out the work, the timeline, the price, the payment schedule, copyright, delivery, and any other terms.
Gallery-represented works
Some paintings shown on the site are, at any given time, exhibited and represented by a gallery. Pages for those pieces will say so. While a piece is under gallery representation, sales of that piece are facilitated by that gallery on its standard terms; the gallery, not this site, is the place those terms are agreed.
The Studio List
The Studio List is offered as a courtesy. Signup is double opt-in (your email is added only after you confirm a link sent to you), and every Studio List message contains a one-click unsubscribe in the footer. There is no charge to subscribe, and there is no penalty for unsubscribing. The artist reserves the right to discontinue the Studio List at any time.
Links to other sites
The site links to galleries, exhibitions, press articles, and competition pages. Those sites are operated by other people. Their content, accuracy, security, and privacy practices are their own responsibility. Linking to them is not an endorsement of everything on them.
Accuracy
The site is kept reasonably current, but typos, outdated availability, stale exhibition dates, or other small errors can happen. Where something matters (a painting's price, a dimension, a delivery date), the version in a signed agreement governs, not the version on the site.
The site may change
Pages may be added, edited, or removed. Paintings may be added to the catalogue, marked sold, or withdrawn. The Studio List, the workshops plan, and the press-kit page may evolve. No commitment is made that any particular page, painting, or feature will remain available.
Limitation of liability
The site is provided as-is and as-available. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the artist is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or exemplary damages arising from your use of the site or your inability to use it, including any loss of data, loss of business, or loss of opportunity. Where some jurisdictions do not allow these limits to be fully excluded, the liability is limited to the smallest extent the law permits. Nothing in this section is intended to limit rights you have under consumer protection law in your jurisdiction, or to exclude liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Choice of law and jurisdiction
The site is operated from the United States, from Wisconsin. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wisconsin and the federal laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute that cannot be settled informally will be brought in the state or federal courts located in or serving Dane County, Wisconsin, and you consent to the jurisdiction of those courts.
If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or another jurisdiction with mandatory consumer protections, the protections that apply to you under your local law continue to apply, and nothing in these terms takes those rights away.
Severability
If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest still apply. The unenforceable part will be read down to the smallest change that makes it enforceable, and the remainder will be given full effect.
Changes to these terms
These terms may be updated from time to time. When that happens, the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will move, and the new terms will apply from that date forward to new visits and new submissions. If a change is material and affects an existing relationship (for example, an open commission), that change will be raised directly, not buried in a page edit.
Questions about these terms
These terms are reviewed periodically. Questions or requests are read personally; please use the contact form.