Do you sometimes stand in front of a modern artwork and ask yourself, What on earth makes it cost that much? Well, it’s your lucky day because I’m going to explain to you the simple math behind the spooky topic of artwork pricing. 💸
It all begins with the materials. You may know that artists (in my case, painters) need a canvas, paint, and brushes. And I would be the happiest person on earth if it were all that simple. Let’s take canvas as a primary example. Most canvas are woven from cotton, linen, or a blend of materials. As you may know, these plants are very costly to cultivate, as they require lots of water, nitrates, and care while growing. Thereafter, we enter the phase of making a good-quality yarn and then weaving it into a textile canvas. For the frame, we would need solid wood, furniture, and a master who knows how to stretch the canvas properly onto a frame. The canvas is supposed to be primed in three coats; otherwise, it’ll suck up all the paint and in the worst case, simply go moldy. On top, there are the world-scale logistics and retail involved in the chain. Imagine that the same happens to the paint (mediums, pigments) and brushes (synthetic or animal hair). Put it all together to get the whole picture of the number of people and effort involved, just so you can see a picture that somebody extracted from their mind and put it on a physical surface. 🖼️
Then there is an artist. Tell me, do you work for money? I think the majority of people do. To create an artwork is a job. The same job as all the other jobs. Yes, it may not be as physically exhausting (talk about the sore muscles after sitting for hours in one and the same position), but it takes plenty of mental capabilities, knowledge, and concentration to create an artwork. Please keep in mind all the hours put into practicing the skill just to be good enough to hear somebody say “My six-year-old could do the same”. Depending on the details, amount of research, and medium, one artwork can take anything from an hour to 150 hours of pure and concentrated painting. Sitting still, developing every detail, or aggressively stroking the canvas with a giant brush. So, we take the working hours of an artist into account. 👩🏻🎨
The last factor in price calculations is the “magic” factor. Unfortunately, there’s no actual magic involved, but such aspects as being presented by a gallery, publications in magazines, and artworks being in collections, museums, or catalogs. It is important to know how well known the artist is, how often he or she sells, and to whom and by whom it gets sold. I think we can put it all together as: How proud would you feel to own the artwork by an artist, and how much money can you make by selling it? 👛
My personal formula is: the hours put into creation x the cost of materials x the dimension of the painting x the magic factor.
So now you know, how the pricing works. And I hope it helps to bring to light that every human’s work who’s included in the giant chain of producing an artwork is as valuable as your own. The quality of materials matters, and the popularity and personality of an artist are also major factors. I hope that helps the next time you try to figure out why it costs that much. 🤍
Love you,
Lorena