Nov 18th, 2020 • 7 minute read
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#CollectorEducation Series: Why Does Artwork Cost What It Costs?
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Based on sticker value alone, art can seem like a pricey, intimidating investment. Here at Art in Res we are on a mission to make high end, original art affordable by offering the ability to purchase and enjoy fine art via manageable monthly installment payments. We also want to help our collectors understand what exactly they are paying for in a work of art. We want to break down why art costs what it does. You may be thinking it is all subjective, but in fact, there are many practical, calculated, and familiar reasons behind artists’ pricing.
There are a lot of misunderstandings around the pricing of art, starting with how artists assign cost and value to their work. Do artists just pick a number out of a hat? One big misconception is that the price you pay for any work of art, pricey or inexpensive alike, all goes directly into the pocket of the artist. This may seem magically wonderful or it may seem downright confusing, but in the end, it could not be more wrong. When we take the time to pull back the curtain we find that artists truly are just small business owners in messier, paint-stained clothing who carry the same expenses as any other business. The pricing of their work is based on a delicate combination of factors involving their craft, supplies, expertise, and more.
In the end, if you don’t know exactly what you are paying for, it can seem that art is that dreaded word: overpriced. We hope to put our heads together and shed some light on the intricate cost aspects of what it means to be a working artist and teach you, as a collector, some ways to think about the intrinsic monetary value of art.
Like any product being sold, the cost of production is factored into the final sale price. In this article we will focus on breaking down some of the more tangible costs associated with creating art.
Materials
An easy place to start this discussion is with the cost of materials. To craft any form of art, artists need materials. Paper, pencil, brushes, paints, etc etc are not inherently that expensive, but with high quality comes higher cost. When we are creating everyday and buying more than just a box of Crayola crayons (which actually aren’t that cheap!), the expenses add up fast. Multiply that single $10 sheet of paper by 25, multiply that $8 brush by 50 or 75!
This is all to say that if materials are high quality, things can get pricey fast –– just like in any other consumer market. Especially since the majority of the material being used are immediately expended and need to be replenished time and time again. It is important to note that there is a huge variety of materials out there. Turns out paper is not just paper. As you can imagine, there is a whole range of types and qualities of all art materials factoring into the quality and, therefore, the cost of the final product. Quality materials are extremely important in fine-art, because they determine whether a work will stand the test of time. Many collectors enjoy passing their work down to the next generation and the next generation certainly enjoys inheriting a meaningful and valuable family heirloom!
But how can we find out more about the specific materials used by an artist? When it says “pencil on paper” how do we know which pencil on what paper? Great questions! We built a feature on Art in Res specifically for this purpose! When you’re checking out an artist’s work on the site, just use our built-in messenger feature to Direct Message (DM) them and ask any questions you may have –– about their process, materials, inspiration, etc! –– directly. We encourage our collectors to reach out and foster relationships with the artists they admire. You never know what it will lead to or what meaningful connections you might make. You can also find more specifics about many of the artists materials and processes in their virtual studio visits, which you can conveniently find on their profile page!
Monthly Expenses
Many artists have a second job to help with the burden of all the regular, everyday expenses we all know so well –– from apartment rent to groceries. But, in addition to that, artists have to consider all the expenses they take on in order to produce and promote their work in a meaningful way. On top of the standard day-to-day onerous price of being a human, artists pay for things like studio rent (which is, of course, quite pricey, especially in a metropolitan area), website expenses, or even possibly insurance for that space and the artwork itself. There is a whole array of varying expenses that come with the practicality of crafting art.
This, of course, does not mean that the artwork you are buying is single-handedly covering the expenses of all these things (we are sorry to say...it’s not even close…), but like anything you purchase, the seller and creator has thoughtfully considered their overhead expenses and strategically placed compensatory monetary value on their piece. And, unlike most sellers, the sale of artwork is anything but a steady stream. We all know the stereotype ‘starving artist’ for a reason. For every individual artist, artwork sales can be extremely fickle.
Time, Labor & Skill
As with any product, the time, labor, and skills of the creator are a huge factor. This is a question that comes up all the time with artists. How do we correlate the work needed to craft a piece with the price of the art itself? Like everyone on planet earth, an artist’s time has value. From the collector and artist perspective, we can agree on and appreciate this element of the craft. But things start to get complicated when we try to quantify the exact dollar value of time. When does the clock start? How does an artist define a full day of work? And what does that cost?
Like we’ve observed in the many Art in Res artist studio visits, an artist isn’t working only when they are in their studio. Many artists are thinking through their work, wheels spinning, and making notes and observations throughout their daily lives. Because being an artist is, inherently, to be an observer. Artists can get inspiration in their studios as well as on their daily runs, connecting with nature, in the shower, and driving to the grocery store, just like everybody else.
It can also be paradoxical when we begin to consider the fact that an artist’s time can be converted to an absolute value. But, when comparing two artists' works, perhaps one piece takes a few hours to create while another takes a year or more to complete –– it all depends on their own process. We can’t truly pin down which has more value. And how can we say one piece of work took only a few hours? Aren’t we always brewing and observing and gathering inspiration for our art? What about all those failed pieces that came before? The trial and errors, the hours and hours of honing the craft.
Beyond the simple matter of time and expertise in creating art, we also need to consider the labor that goes into building, preparing, and prepping the work of art. Many artists build their own stretcher bars, stretch their own canvas, prep their own surfaces or develop their own film and many other labor intensive crafted skills. This can often be a factor in their desire to control the quality of their art and many also find it saves on the expense of buying a ready-made canvas or panel, but it certainly takes more time and knowledge to do the labor themselves. So, artists can simultaneously utilize their finely developed skills to save money and improve their craft. And we think that’s pretty amazing!
Next up for the #CollectorEducation Series we will discuss some of the more intangible factors of understanding why art costs what it costs. We will explore ideas around valuing:
We hope you learned something new from this article and are excited for more #CollectorEducation to come! If this article raised more questions for you than it answered, that’s ok too. We encourage you to reach out to us directly with any follow up questions you may have. We’d love to hear from you! You can message Mel Reese and Noni Culotta directly at mel@artinres.com/@melaniereese and noni@artinres.com/@austinartscout respectively.
Virtual installations courtesy of ArtPlacer