How to Price Artwork

How to price artwork, is a question that even art dealers and art appraisers must deal with continually. From experience, I find that artists are not the best people to price their artwork. However, artists have their sayings to decide for which price can let go or not, but they may under or over price the artwork and miss out on many good opportunities either way. Artists need professional art appraisers, art historians or dealers with long experience. For the fun of it, an artist might try to request from an art appraiser to price one of his/her artwork. Art appraisers charge by hour and consider many ways to come up with the right price for you. When appraising an art work, they look for the artist's history, awards, number of years invested in the art field, compare the quality of work with others artist in the market, as well dimensions of similar value and history. I believe that pricing artwork starts from the moment we think of an idea/subject, composition or searching, taking photographs, sketching, preparing the canvas. Also, the involved costs between purchasing art materials, studios cost, framing, insuring artwork, traveling cost if applicable and time are measure concerns!

Here are different ways to price artwork in points form:

1- Is it per hour? Certainly not, for the fact that an experienced artist might take short time in finishing a piece of art whereas inexperienced artist can take many hours longer to achieve the same result. Alexandria shares her wisdom in "Pricing Your Work to sell " and her book "Pricing Your Work with Confidence" 

2-By dimension? No, for the fact that one inch or cm can takes much longer hours when working with certain style such as realism, whereas that one inch/cm in another painting style may take few minutes or few hours.

3- By quality? Yes, the quality of work and number of layers, art materials have been used, all the treatments artwork requires.

4- By originality? Yes, the fresh original and creative idea and composition always have their uniqueness, value and inference the price.

5-By Awards and history of an artist? Yes, these add much value to the sale price.

6- By subjects? Yes, all rare subjects/ideas, compositions that are presenting culture and history or will be as such in the future add more valuable than ordinary landscapes. As well, artwork of known places is more valuable than simple scenery. And sometime strange never-done idea can be of so much value.

7-Price artwork according to what the market is willing to pay? No and yes, for the fact that art market goes up and down. If an artist is desperate to sale his/her work at that moment, then it is the only option for them. Had they been able to wait until they are well established, known and when the market is in its peak, then, it the right time to receive the deserved price.

The suggestion is that an artist must not reduce prices at any circumstance especially during the financial crises, if artists can hold on their artwork without sale for a while.

Pricing artwork also depends on selecting a gallery/gallerist/representative as the following factors:

1- Reputation: The higher perception, experience and reputation of gallery/gallerist/dealer/art fair are, the higher the price of artwork will be and the kind of visitor’s go there are different from kind of visitors go to cheap art fairs with limited pricing.

2- Experiences: The more experience a gallery/gallerist/dealer has the better clients /quality of visitors will have/come. As well, how those ones will represent and promote artists!

3-The influential effect: How many times we all might have wondered about some art pieces which were sold for incredible prices with no explanation! If the value is about perception, then the perception of an "Influential" becomes exceptionally vital. Between the artists and galleries owner who would become the "Influential" and whose opinion is indispensable?

4- The Location: Fair market value has much to do with the "Market Place," in other words - crags list will generate low values, local auctions and antique stores might price little more. Therefore, they sale it for much higher prices, but galleries often charge much higher prices than any of all those and in most cases they do not tell artists who the buyers were neither do they give you their contract information.

From the above, I believe that having the right art representative under mutual trust is very essential.

I would like to share this short story with you that happened few years ago that might add some light on how to price artwork! One day, my heat thermostat got burned. I called a technician. In few minutes an old one was installed with the excuse that in such harsh winter with so many demands hard to find a new one and I was charged $165. The cost included the use of the technician’s truck, gas and his time to come to my home and drive back to his office! This thermostat, shortly, will get burned out again! After all, it was an unique comment that the technician made, when saw my walls were full of paintings, while going out to the door, he said," So, you are the starving artist!"

Finally, I would remind you that art can be like an old bottle of wine, the older it gets, the more value will have. Thus, it is your choice to hold on your artwork until the right time comes to sale or sale it now and someone else will keep it longer for better value.

©Mona Youssef - Realist fine artist - Realism paintings