The Forbidden Topic

This blog entry is inspired by the art critic Jerry Saltz, and I’ll start off by giving him credit here. He posited a question on Facebook that exploded in a passionate comment-frenzy the likes of which I have not seen in my social media experience. In short the question was, “Why is art so expensive?”. It really got me thinking. I’ve thought back over the years at the comments I have received (and overheard) in regards to the price of art, and my art in particular. I realize that most people don’t have a clue on the subject, and are in general afraid to ask. The subject of money it seems is still taboo. People will ask many questions about the work regarding technique, inspiration, and materials, but they will never ask, “How did you arrive at that price?”. The closest question they can muster is “How long did it take you to paint that?” and upon hearing the answer I can sense the silent calculations going on in their minds. I would personally welcome the question, so I am going to answer it here. I am broaching the “forbidden topic” and explaining exactly why my work is priced the way it is, and forgive me please, I’ll offer my opinion on some of the pricing practices of others.

The art world is like the celebrity world. There are about 2 million artists in the US, and about 1% of them are the super-stars, those who are “discovered” and propelled to stardom on the backs of the uber-galleries like Saatchi and Gagosian and make real money in this game, selling their work in the $100,000’s. For the rest of us 99%, we are working artists with an average professional pay of $34,000 a year, hardly par for a trained professional. The serious artists I know are extremely hard working. The days of old when all you had to do is sign with a good gallery are long gone. Today’s professional artist doesn’t just paint, he is a business unto himself. It is a necessary evil in this day and age that an artist must also do the majority of his own marketing and promotion, and handle all the general office tasks of any small business. In my own experience, I spend at least 2-3 hours a day on marketing and office tasks. There are times that number increases dramatically when there is an exhibit or big project on the horizon. I still try to get at least 6 hours at the easel in a day most days. Art is my full-time job, my profession.

Like any other profession, the more time you put in the more you expect to be paid, the reason being your skills and quality are increasing with each passing year plying your craft. You would certainly expect to pay more for the services of say, a doctor with 20 years experience, than one fresh out of med school. Other factors that increase the price of a painting are the artists resume’, ie: awards and accolades, prominent shows, press, gallery representation, etc., and the largest factor is demand. The higher the demand for an artists work, the higher the price the market is willing to bear.

I price my work based on a formula. This formula is: An hourly rate x hours into the piece, plus the cost of materials and a percentage for overhead (studio rental, marketing, etc.) What really varies in this formula is the hourly rate. This is the number that increases as experience and demand increase. When I was just starting out, the hourly rate was about $8 an hour (15-20 years ago) now it is $25. My very detailed paintings take me an average of 3 weeks to paint. The paintings in my last gallery show were $4995-6800, with the gallery taking a 50% commission, which is well-deserved. (a word on galleries below) I do always offer limited-edition giclee’ prints as well as small works and studies for those art lovers for whom this is out of range. My career is gaining momentum and I expect to be able to raise my hourly rate again in 2011. Most artists use a formula similar to this, some do not. Just last night I was attending a few local gallery openings and noticed one artist’s work in particular, mainly because I had seen the same set of paintings at least twice before in other venues. They were nice paintings, well-done, good composition and technique but way over-priced. I could see by studying them they took him a maybe few days to paint. This is an artist I had never heard of showing at a small second-tier gallery and to my knowledge hasn’t had a write-up or review. He was asking $3000 for a painting that should have been a third of that. I have also seen the opposite issue with very talented artists producing high quality work who far undervalue it. In general, these examples are exceptions to the rule. In regards to the super-stars, there seem to be few rules. The uber-galleries are adept at creating demand for their artists and can set the prices where they see fit. Would I like to be “discovered” by one of these galleries? You bet, though with the sheer number of talented artists in this country, that would seem akin to Lana Turner being discovered at Schwab’s. The rest of us make it in the art world with a lot of hard work and determination, just like most working professionals do.

A word on galleries. A good gallery deserves it’s 50% commission. From the collector’s point of view, the “good gallery” brings them the work of artists they otherwise would be unaware of, artist’s whom the gallery has very carefully selected. They provide a valuable service. For the artist, the “good gallery” helps them promote their career, brings them new collectors, houses and shows their work to potential collectors between exhibits, get’s them press, etc. My gallery earns their cut. Artists, if your gallery is not promoting you year-round, get a new gallery.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite stories attributed to Pablo Picasso. I’m sure like a good game of telephone, I’m bastardizing it a bit, but you get the idea…A woman enters a restaurant and sees Pablo Picasso sitting at one of the tables. Being a big fan, she approaches him saying, “Mr. Picasso, I’m such a fan of your work. Would you draw a little something on this napkin for me?” Picasso draws a sketch on the napkin, hands it to the woman and says’ “that will be $1,000.” she reply’s “$1,000! But it only took you you a few minutes to draw!”. He says, “But madam, it took me 40 years to learn to draw like that.”