Dear customer, dear future customer, dear art friends,
Pricing artwork is an art of its own.
Prices in the official artworld are usually generated by a small formula: Length + width x factor. The factor depends on how long you have been part of the pro art world, how experienced you are, what materials you use and where you stand in comparison to the international ranking system.
Sometimes other aspects are relevant too. Like art materials, creative spark, trends (nobody likes to admit that), color and subject. One thing which is never taken into consideration is time. In comparison to illustration where prices usually are set according to working hours and materials / services used. Not even art which belongs to the art movement of slow painting takes working hours into consideration.
International Covid disaster and my personal experience made me come to the decision that I will, most likely, not return to working with galleries and will never submit myself and, more importantly, my work again to international art market pro standards.
I am a slow painter. I tried to speed up my process to have a larger output which would be more worth the marketing efforts of galleries. I tried to change formats. In the end it comes all down to the insight that people love my large scale and very detailed painted work. I did see colleagues change style, effort and formats to fit in the classic marketing mechanisms. I tried and now I refuse to do so. I was more than once told that I do not paint fast enough or my output is too small.
After some hard years of trial and error, I came to the conclusion that the classic pro art market is not made for me. I will stick to what I love most and what I stand for. I believe that every single purchase a customer makes, he or she should receive the best product possible I am able to offer at that point of time. This is what I do believe in and what I do stand for.
And I decided to dare to apply a different approach on pricing my work, to honor the effort and the working hours which have to go into all of my pieces. I know this is different. I know this is what illustrators and craftspeople usually do. But it’s the only way pricing works for me. If you want me to be able to move on with my work, please support me in this decision. In the last six years I was contacted by clients several times, with the plea to rebuy my own artwork. Not only at the price the customer once paid, but at an even higher price range.
First of all, I am afraid but I have to tell you that I will not be able to do intervention support or rebuy without a gallery at my back. And I want to add a little something here: I totally understand that a higher priced artwork is an investment. But it brings you joy and insights on a daily basis. It upgrades you home, brings tons of atmosphere and makes you recognizable as a person of taste, culture and attitude. You will not ask a kitchen manufacturer to take back your $20.000 dollar kitchen. You will not assume that you can resell your car at an enormous price.
Originally, the idea that art is worth an enormous amount of money and even better is a valuable investment was originally born by banks offering their clients art of the classic modern period as investment. Artists like Picasso or Salvatore Dali. These artists are dead. The work is limited and the number is restricted. There will be no further changes in style or material. And more importantly, they, as artists, no longer bother. The whole atmosphere changed when auction houses were involved in selling art for the first time in history. The moment astronomical prices of sales went public, the art world went crazy.
Initially, artists had to be dead to be sold in auctions, such as artworks by Vincent Van Gogh. Now living artists like Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter and Banksy are sold at auctions. When this happened for the first time, gold fever broke out. Artists that people assume will become famous in the near future, are described as „blue chip“. A cheap catch which would make the owner a wealthy man somewhere down the road. Don’t get me wrong, all of this is valid and human. We want to be seen for our taste, we want to live a good life, we want to be recognized for what we do.
But, let me gently remind you, that all of this is about the interests of the client.
Once there was a time when clients bought what they loved just because the artwork had a certain look or feel to it. Or even better, the client bought a piece of art because he wanted the artist to continue his work. Originally buying art by a client, back then called “patron of the arts“, was an act of humanity, selflessness, trust and hope.
Reselling a piece of work by a still living artist is most of the time a pretty bad idea. I‘m sorry to have disillusioned you. You will most likely not find a buyer or even worse will lose money. Keeping a piece of art is the best decision you can make. Gift it, pass it on, but don’t sell it. It could be that your piece of art will be a valuable piece somewhere down the family line for generations to come. But not now.
You are my client if:
You love my work, my style, my attitude. Or simply me. You would like to support my work and you are willing to pay for my expertise and experience in my profession, for my diligence and my creative spark. You intend to keep my work & hold it dear.
You are not my client if:
If you intend to buy a piece of art to resell it as quickly as possible to draw profit. My family name may be a guarantor for future price changes, but it will most likely happen when we both have died. So I would encourage you to move on and buy from another artist.