By Renee Phillips, The Artrepreneur Coach
Reputable and responsible art dealers, art promoters, artists and agents know the importance of reassuring their customers that the art they are investing in has value. Artists' achievements, history of sales, appraisals, auction results, marketing trends, and other business factors are all important. Collectors trust the artist or representative has integrity and commitment to make every effort to build value and equity in their art.
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| Andy Warhol, Dollar Sign, 1981 |
So, you may ask, what is "value" and how do you increase it?
In this upcoming article for Professional Artist magazine I will be answering those questions and more. Here is a brief excerpt from the article that will appear in the November 2011 issue.
How do you define value and how do you increase the value of art?
Throughout your career you will be faced with having to make decisions about the value of your art. You will want to always strive to maximize value and minimize your risks. Establishing market value of art is a very precarious situation and has to be taken seriously. It is also based on a range of factors and events that as an artist you should not leave to chance. Nor can you leave the price-related decisions solely in the hands of others.
Art market value it often the result of marketing strategies or “perceptions” which I often refer to being analogous to the emperor’s new clothes. However, is must also be based on reasonable facts and justified figures. Increased value is acquired over a period of time, and in the best of circumstances rises continually, with each advanced step of your career.
There are key benchmarks that justify rising prices and perceived value of art. They include:
* Increase in sales each year for several years
* One-person exhibitions in respected galleries, museums and alternative spaces
* Steady one-person and group exhibitions without several year gaps between them
* Exhibitions in different continents
* Positive reviews in leading art magazines and other forms of publicity
* Identifiable “branding” also known as “wall power” as a result of a coherent and consistent body of art work
* Sales to well known collectors and celebrities
* Sales to museums, other public collections and major corporations
* Public art commissions
* Sales in auction houses
* Awards, grants and fellowships
* Scale and complexity of the art and media
* Technical merit combined with artistic originality and innovation
A related article is “Pricing Your Art” by Renée Phillips http://www.manhattanarts.com/readingroom/ezine/CareerBusiness/Renee_Pricing.htm
