Why Is Art So Expensive?
A person may be at a busy arts and crafts festival and wander past an artist sitting in their booth, surrounded by beautiful artwork. After glancing at the art hanging there, the person may think to themselves, "Art is too expensive", and move along to the next booth. Or, a couple of people walk into an art gallery and spot some interesting art, take a look at the label and gasp at the price. This article tries to walk the reader through what it actually took to create a painting.
What Does the Artist Actually Make on Their Artwork?
In all actuality, often that artist sitting in their booth, hears the person say, "Why is that art so expensive?" talking about their art!
The truth is, artists rarely get a fat check for their art, especially when starting out. It can take years to make a name for themselves, if they ever do. And they typically do NOT pocket all of that price on the label. Yet their art is wonderful. And even when they receive their check from the sale of their art, there are LOTS of costs and fees that affect what their actual profit is.
Let's take a look at some artwork sizes and some prices, which may give a better understanding of why the price is what it is...
A - D is pretty straight forward in my example, and as anyone knows, any of these prices based on size can vary up or down greatly. (You wouldn't find a Picasso in these price ranges, correct?) What is someone willing to pay for a piece of art is whatever catches their fancy and within their budget, or needs, also called subjective. I'll even venture to say that it may also be based on their perceived value in the piece as well.
The prices are scaling up as the size of the artwork goes up in the examples. This is based on the fact that more supplies go into the work, the greater the size.
E - J is more the unknown costs that the potential buyer will not know. These are samples of the artist's costs that come out so that their artwork can be shown - sort of the leasing or rent of the wall space where it is hanging.
In other words, the art show, art group, the art gallery - the all take a commission which is deducted from the artist's price for the piece. Then they send the artist, the remainder.
And/or the art group also has a fee to join to display artwork, and they take their cut off the artist's price before sending the check. How else will the gallery or group make their funding?
Now, in K through P, we get into the other costs that the artist spent to create the artwork based on the art size A.
K is the surface, what the artist's cost is for the canvas the artist painted on. If the artwork is a print, or on watercolor on quality paper, any of these prices will fluctuate.
L can also vary greatly if the artwork has a frame. Frames can be quite expensive. Some artwork MUST have a frame and possibly glass, like watercolor and pastels. Oil and Acrylic paintings on a gallery wrapped canvas don't necessarily have to have a frame, it depends on the artist and the gallery.
Some artists and buyers, feel like the art isn't finished unless its framed and some galleries only want framed artwork. If you have ever gone to one of the framing stores, you get the idea of how costly it can get. The artist must recoup the costs of the framing fee for the piece.
M is harder to configure, but it is the price of the medium, techniques, and finishing process for the artwork. The canvas should have a layer of gesso, layers of paint, possibly including extenders, and layers of finishing varnishes to help protect the painting.
Quality paints, specialty brands, mediums, solvents, etc can add up quickly. And I haven't included any info here on the use and costs of the brushes or knives used.
N is the potential entry fee the artist may have paid to show their artwork (on top of the commission fee, after the artwork is sold). At many art shows and galleries, there is an entry fee when a Call for Art goes out and the artist may enter 1-5 pieces for that fee. Occasionally there are monetary awards given, but not always.
Of greater cost would be what the artist paid if this were a booth at a fair or festival (along with all the equipment used to display there - tent, gridwalls, tables, print stands, etc).
O is another hard to calculate cost. Much like a home office someone works out of, a home art studio has the utilities including electric and water, or other cleaning materials, which are other calculations for the artist. As they say, no free lunch.
Artwork that doesn't sell, must be stored properly as well, and hopefully there is space in their home. If the artist pays for an art studio space somewhere, that has to get paid for, right?
Then there is the gas to go buy the art supplies and to go get it framed. To then to get the artwork to the show. Possibly a hotel or food costs if the art show or fair is far from home.
Websites cost the artist a monthly fee, any promotional or advertising fees, as well as the business cards or postcards that are offered up to the visitors.
P can be hard to calculate the total cost of supplies and equipment to create artwork, but you can see how it all adds up.
Q shows that the check given to the artist in J has the costs of supplies and fees deducted from P to come up with the total in Q - where we are considering as the profit.
R is showing an estimated amount of time that the artist spent creating the artwork. Some artist can spend a ton of actual time on one piece - probably based on a lot of variables, including their experience and whatever the subject matter is.
Finally, the last row is the Cost per Hour showing that if you take the estimated hours to create the item in A, and divide hours R into Q, this is the estimated hourly wage to create the purchased art.
That isn't so impressive is it?
Sure, artists create art (most often) for the love of it. Some artists are hobbyists, some make art because it is their career, and maybe more often, many artists are making art because they would LOVE to make a career of it. They need to make a living from their art sales.
Food for thought: I asked a friend one time, after I had spent about 40 hours on a painting - obviously equivalent to one of their work weeks and asked why should I expect less than what you make in a week?
Artistic Experience
Typically, the cost is based on time and the artist's experience, possibly their artistic training as well. A self-trained beginner artist often does not usually ask the same hourly rate as a beginner art-educated person. Over time and as sales add up for either artist, the pricing on their paintings will go up.
I heard this story one time (true or not, read the link provided),
"It always reminds me of the story about the woman who approached Picasso in a restaurant, asked him to scribble something on a napkin, and said she would be happy to pay whatever he felt it was worth. Picasso complied and then said, “That will be $10,000.”
“But you did that in thirty seconds,” the astonished woman replied.
“No,” Picasso said. “It has taken me forty years to do that.” - https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/01/14/time-art/
I'm not comparing my work to Picasso of course, but I do want to make a reasonable hourly rate so that when the commissions, fees, supplies, and misc. costs are deducted, my profit is satisfactory. Wouldn't you?
Let me know what you think of "Why is Art So Expensive?"
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.
Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 52-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
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