This is one of my paintings ("Keep loosing my way") which hangs on my nephew's bedroom wall near his cot. At 3 months old his parents would hold it in front of him, he would stop crying and stare at it and smile.
About 2 years ago a man ventured into my studio and fell in love with a painting. I never convince anyone to buy one of my paintings, I tell them if they go away and it's still on their mind the next day and they can afford it, buy it. So many customers wait until it's too late and get quite upset when the painting they loved has sold. He asked the price and I told him, I think it was around $1500, he wasn't a collector so to him this was a lot. He asked "why does it cost so much"? (eeek! let me tell you, this is a GOOD price). My response: There are so many things you are paying for. For a start, the painting would have taken me around 1 week to produce (these are 8 hour days), not the whole time is spent painting though sketches, ideas etc. are all part of the process. You are also paying for what I have learnt over the last 15 years and what is essentially "me". Another thing, this is a one off, you are not buying a mass produced item, no-one else has this item which should evoke a unique emotional response every time you look at it. He bought the painting.
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4 comments:
That's a good way to explain the value - a lot of people seem startled by art costs but once you break it down like that it starts to look like a bargain!
Look at what spend on mass produced furniture? Then they balk at an original art piece.
I really like your justification on the price - really well said:) The art an artist produces is the sum of their experience, time, thought process, individual creativity etc..
Exactly!
sometimes even the highest price is still not enough... sometimes its not even about money - some works are priceless... but whether my work sells for $500 or $5000, I prefer it to go to someone who really 'gets' it, or gets something from it... sometimes that in itself is worth more than the money.
hope you are doing well.
S
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