1. DeChant Art Consulting, LLC
Teresa M DeChant
How Much is That Art Worth ?
When encountering artwork, people often ask some of the following questions. Who
is the artist? When was it made? How was it made? What does it mean? There is,
however, one other popular question regarding art that people of all ages and all
backgrounds tend to ask: how much is it worth? This question is not as easy to answer as
the preceding ones, because the answer depends on the intersection of three fluctuating
elements: art collecting, art history and the art market.
Art collecting is the basic foundation for how values are assigned to artwork. Those
who collect art include individual collectors, corporations and museums. While individual
art collectors may pay the same high prices for artwork as corporations and museums, the
function of these collections differs greatly. Most simply, individual art collectors collect for
themselves, while corporate collectors and museums collect for their institutions and a
public audience. Individual collectors may someday deposit their artwork into museums,
but collecting categories tend to be more rigid in corporations and museums than for
individual collectors.
These collecting categories are directly related to art history. It is art history that
defines which artists and artwork are valuable to our society and are deserving of further
study. In some sense, once a work of art becomes famous, its intrinsic value increases, as
does its financial value. Art history, however, does not happen overnight. It is a process
that involves weighing the impact an artist has had on the art world, based on exhibitions,
reviews and influence on other artists.
Art history and art collecting together influence the art market. Although the art
market depends on art history and encourages art collecting, the foundation of the art
market stems from a basic economic rule: supply and demand. It may seem greatly
disrespectful for the value of artwork to increase after an artist is deceased, but again,
market value assignments depend on rarity. Once an artist is no longer living, the supply of
their artwork becomes limited and their artwork increases in value.
This short essay does not fully answer the question it posed in the first paragraph
regarding how value is assigned to artwork. It does, however, offer insight into the systems
of art collecting, art history and the art market that together inform individuals, corporations
and museums what artwork to buy and how much to pay. However, looking at financial
value alone when determining the success of an artist is not always sufficient.
A successful artist should have artwork in important museum and gallery
exhibitions, as well as in museum and corporate collections. These factors are just as
important to make an artist successful as the actual sales and again, demonstrate that art
collecting, art history and the art market collectively and systematically
answer the question..... “How much is that art worth?
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