IS IT WORTH IT? - the value of art
Have you ever looked at the price of a piece of artwork and thought ‘Cor blimey! That’s a bit steep!’?
’ll put my hands up and admit that I have, but recently, in the pursuit of making a career as an artist, I have been thinking about this a lot and I decided to do a bit of research. Here’s what I found…………
Artwork is notoriously hard to place a value on, with some people willing to spend no more than twenty quid and others looking to invest thousands.
Should it be valued by the joy it can bring? The time taken to create it? The quality of
draughtsmanship? The fact it’s a one off? The kudos it offers? The medium that it was created in? Or, maybe, the cost of the raw materials?
As an artist this makes pricing your own work a tricky business. Artists’ can often undersell themselves, plucking prices from the air, a reflection of their confidence rather than the quality of, or time taken to create the work, thinking ‘no one will pay that much for it’. I’ve been guilty of this myself, and still find it difficult to get past, but I have come to realise that in doing so I am contributing to a culture that undervalues the time, skill, care and creativity taken in creating an artisan product.
When you buy artwork from a gallery, or direct from the artist, as opposed to mass produced prints from a chain store, you are paying for exclusivity. You are paying for quality, carefully chosen colours and marks, lovingly applied to create a truly original piece, rich in lustre, a luxury item.
Artwork makes a house a home, and in choosing to invest in a one off you are saying that you are not scared to stand out from the crowd. The artwork that you invest in will make a statement about your own personality and tastes, it comes with a story, and makes a great conversation starter.
Artwork can provoke an emotional response, cause you to raise a smile, evoke memories, bringing a joy to your life, and if all of that is not enough, an original artwork has the potential to appreciate in value as the artists’ career develops.
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