The most incredible thing about art is how the value can often be determined. Not necessarily the price, but instead the value to the buyer. This isn’t a product that relies on an equation of time, parts and labour to determine what it’s worth. There’s a near infinite amount of variables to take into consideration when it comes to appraising art – no matter the form.
Appraising Art
Art valuation concerns itself with estimating market demand, estimating the liquidity capability, works, and artists, the condition and provenance of works, and with valuation trends such as average sale price and mean estimates.
The more well known the artist, the more in demand the artist is, the higher the piece will go for. The term “comparables” is used when trying to properly evaluate the price of a piece – similar pieces in the market place will be used as a potential benchmark.
The Primary Market
When an artist is alive and well and wishes to sell their pieces, they’ll try to sell their work through an art fair, gallery or even out of their studio. This is when their work is referred to as contemporary art and they’re trying to get their work out into the world. The pricing is often set by the artist.
The Secondary Market
When a piece of art enters the secondary market, it has achieved a history of ownership, called “provenance”, a French term for the history of ownership of a valuable object. Typically, the secondary market emerges when the artist passes away, and the supply of their work has been finalized. While higher quality and higher appraised works do not tend to benefit from being in a collection, there are cases of added value to lesser and mediocre pieces simply by being associated with a certain collector or being owned by a celebrity.
The Emotional Value
The buyer always has their own motives. Some love to spend as much as they can on art to add to their collection for the prestige of owning the piece. Some love a piece they see that costs next to nothing in comparison of the collector’s piece because the art truly speaks to them. And finally, there’s a mix of the two camps – those who absolutely love the piece and love to spend the massive amount of money on them.
The best part about any of these buying styles is no one is correct. Art is to be bought and enjoyed for whatever reason the seller chooses.
Seeing and feeling a piece of art, being moved by it, is truly a wonderful experience. Knowing an artist put their soul into a piece to send out to the world in such a vulnerable manner can make the piece that much more impactful. Though, occasionally, there are pieces of art like paintings, photography or movies that seem to be missing the heart and soul but still try to tug on the heartstrings… which leaves the question: Would those pieces still be considered worth less?
For a great look into why great art makes you feel, as opposed to mediocre art that tricks you into feeling, check out this article.
John Cutruzzola is a fine artist based in Brampton, Ontario.
Experience John’s many accomplishments at www.theartsofjohncutruzzola.com
