Art Business News

WINTER 2012

As the most requested magazine in the industry, Art Business News stays true to its mission of reporting the latest industry news and emerging trends driving the fine art market. ABN: The art industry's news leader since 1977.

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ABN WHAT'S IT WORTH? PRICING YOUR WORK WITH CONFIDENCE BY J. JASON HOREJS O 26 ne of the most com- mon questions I hear from visitors to my gallery, and it's usually asked with a look of con- sternation, is: "How do you come up with the prices for the art?" What a great question! I know exactly why they are asking it, too. It's because $2,500,000. Quite frankly, it can be dif- fi cult for the uneducated eye to tell why the decimal point is placed where it is. T is same question, in a slightly dif- ferent form, is also the most common one I hear from artists: "How should I price my own artwork so that it will sell?" Let's face it, it's a mystery. Because there really is no rhyme or reason to the value of art. T e intrinsic value of art is ephemeral; the true value is in the eye of the beholder. T is is such an important topic that "THERE REALLY IS NO RHYME OR REASON TO THE VALUE OF ART. " 1. ALWAYS REFER TO THE PRICE OF YOUR WORK IN TERMS OF RETAIL VALUE. they have been to 20 galleries (there are more than 40 on Xanadu Gallery's street in Scottsdale, Arizona), and they have seen work ranging from $250 to Whether you are talking to a gallery owner, a visitor to a show or a private collector, you should have one consis- tent price for any piece of work. You are I feel a little like Moses coming down from the mountain with stone tablets in hand. While the recommendations that follow are not biblical, I present you with: THE COMMANDMENTS OF PRICING making a huge mistake if you feel that you can sell to buyers outside a gallery setting at a "wholesale" or "studio" price. You are undervaluing your work by doing so, and worse, you are undermin- ing your galleries'—or future galleries'— ability to sell your work. It would be helpful for you to think of the value of your work in two parts: T e fi rst part is the value you create in the studio as you employ your artistic talents and skills to create a masterpiece. You deserve to be paid for the eff ort it takes to create this value. T e second part of the value comes from the eff ort that it takes to market and sell your art. T ere is a tremendous amount of time, work and skill invested in making a sale hap- pen, and the value created here needs to be rewarded as well. Most artists I work with agree that in most cases it is easier to create the work than it is to sell it. (If this were not the case, you and every other artist would already be fabulously wealthy.) If you sell a piece of artwork through your own eff orts, you have earned both WINTER 2012

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