{"id":2321,"date":"2024-08-28T17:12:44","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T16:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/?p=2321"},"modified":"2025-10-12T18:07:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T17:07:01","slug":"pricing-your-art-the-right-way-part-ii-value-and-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/2024\/08\/28\/pricing-your-art-the-right-way-part-ii-value-and-worth\/","title":{"rendered":"PRICING YOUR ART THE RIGHT WAY Part II \u2014 Value and Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oscar Wilde once wrote: \u201cA cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A true artist therefore should be the exact opposite, but not due to ignorance towards the ever-present concept of money; the real truth of the matter is that putting a price tag on an embodiment of love, hate, reminiscence or longing (and all the other messages that art can communicate) just isn\u2019t as easy as adding up ones material and overhead costs and slapping a 20% markup on the sum.<\/p>\n

At least not to those that really understand the depths of their own work, because they know that while symbolism allows us to represent temptation by painting apples, temptation itself cannot be sold in the same way as apples.<\/p>\n

Because unlike this common tree fruit, temptation cannot be grown, packaged and distributed (even though the media will tell you otherwise). True temptation, unlike her watered-down cousin, lack of self-control, does not come in chocolate or vanilla flavours, it does not make you giggle and say: \u201cOh, I\u2019m bad, but I\u2019ll have another piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

True temptation destroys kingdoms, not waistlines \u2014 something corporations still haven\u2019t figured out how to manufacture on an assembly line (or perhaps just decided not to do). But it\u2019s exactly what the best of us are doing, and people like us have been doing since before the Dutch invented oil paints.<\/p>\n

We create altars to truth, to the essence of what makes us human, and just as there is no universal truth to speak of, there are no all-in-one solutions of valuing it. But there are intimate, personal ways with which verities are created and in today\u2019s blunder I would like to explore them and try to shine a bit of light upon the convolution that is added value in art.<\/p>\n

As its name implies, it is a form of worth that is added, not inherent to the object, and because our time is defined by value as no other time ever was, all of us know that added value is present in all human creation, not just in art.<\/p>\n

From bread loaves to trousers; because of the abundance of stuff that is floating around us, the value proposition or the amount and type of added value that any one product has, has become the defining factor by which people decide to either spend their hard-earned money or keep it in the bank.<\/p>\n

Back in the day \u2014 by which I mean mid nineteenth century Europe and before \u2014 this wasn\u2019t the norm. When Zara and H&M didn\u2019t exist and a clean pair of un-tattered cotton trousers was more of a luxury item than a commodity for many people, you could make trousers for everyone because added value hadn\u2019t been invented yet.<\/p>\n

Of course you had to measure your customers, so that they\u2019d actually fit the person, but the question of: \u201cDo you maybe have these in salmon red?\u201d had absolutely no chance of existing. Not because the idea of red trousers was too abstract for people to get back then, but because the demand for \u201ctrousers\u201d was far from being met.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There were no electric sewing machines and fabric was hard to come by. It was only after many technological advancements and the continued outsourcing of child labour into places, where labour laws could not reach, that the idea of \u201ctrousers\u201d became a commodity. And by doing so, the ideas of \u201cred trousers\u201d and \u201cblue trousers\u201d and soon \u201clight khaki skinny-fit jeans\u201d replaced \u201ctrousers\u201d as the only available option.<\/p>\n

Every time a quicker, cheaper, or better way of producing something (the same goes for service) is invented, the thing being produced slips a bit more into the oblivion of commodities \u2014 making it possible for more and more people to be able to afford it and consequently producing a need for more sophisticated versions of that particular product for those who already had the means of buying it in the first place.<\/p>\n

And while there are no real technological advances in painting (at least not compared to bio tech or computers) the basic ideas of supply and demand are the same.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Art in its core is the polar opposite of what the idea of commodification is to trousers \u2014 though print-on-demand services and the overflow of uneducated artists painting pretty flower pictures have taken their toll on the market.<\/p>\n

Because, while any other form of creation is roughly limited by the means of production on one side and the specific tastes and capital of the consumers on the other, paintings don\u2019t behave like trousers or laptops. Because no work of art is the same as the other, scarcity is next to infinite (well, it\u2019s precisely one, if we\u2019re not counting editions).<\/p>\n

This is the first and most important added value that a work of art has \u2014 scarcity. While philosophically one could even argue that it might actually be the only human creation that has inherent added value (I\u2019m not, because I don\u2019t believe this to be true), scarcity defines art unlike any other trait it might possess.<\/p>\n

In any art economics book (and there sadly still aren\u2019t that many), you can find at least one long paragraph that glorifies art as the ultimate product; one can have a bunch of villas, a dozen yachts and hundreds of beautiful old cars, but lose all interest and excitement about them eventually, because it\u2019s not that hard to add one more into the collection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vintage wine, like all the \u201cgood\u201d things in the world, tastes the best when we first try it, then it slowly but surely slips into the oblivion of commodity. The only real thrill then is to own a Salvator Mundi<\/i>, Picasso\u2019s Boy with pipe<\/i> or Pollock\u2019s No. 5<\/i>, because there exists (and ever will exist) only one of each in the world. The one we have. The one others cannot possess.<\/p>\n

But scarcity has to arise from somewhere, because nobody just wakes up with a sudden urge to buy our art. Scarcity needs an ecosystem in which it can exist \u2014 it needs demand. But to really understand demand, we have to understand need first, and there\u2019s no better place to go than the nineteen forties, 1943 to be exact, when most of the western world was at war and people\u2019s demands for almost everything were far from being met.<\/p>\n

While the zeitgeist of the fifties created many questionable things, it had also sown the seeds for one of the most important scientific papers of our times, titled: \u201cA Theory of Human Motivation<\/i><\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Maslow\u2019s paper would become the bedrock of the social sciences for many decades to come, because it stated something groundbreaking; namely that all people share a common hierarchy of needs that follow certain rules and influence our lives as never thought of before.<\/p>\n

He found that people do not and cannot experience certain needs \u2014 located higher up in the hierarchy \u2014 without first satisfying the more basic ones, like hunger, sex and security. Thus he concluded, that without first giving priority to the basic securities of life, like food, water and shelter, we humans are unable to even feel the urge to want something more complex; the need to have a family or the need to be respected in the eyes of our peers for example.<\/p>\n

The trick is that demand for art, unlike trousers or bread, isn\u2019t as popular amongst the masses, and we can find a clue as to why in Maslow\u2019s theory: unlike most of our physical needs, that could be described as being a reaction to a certain deficiency \u2014 needing sustenance, love, affection, camaraderie, etc. \u2014 the need for collecting art comes from abundance and the need to grow.<\/p>\n

Be it as a person, a society, a business or a local community; art gives us the tools to express ourselves and to connect, create a common identity and express our power. And if we see it as such, it gives us a much easier time understanding why the majority of people don\u2019t collect art or just don\u2019t give art the same importance in their lives as we do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They just don\u2019t feel the need for it.<\/p>\n

Imagine you\u2019re working two jobs and supporting a family of four; the chaos of having to put food on the table, paying the electricity bill and god forbid a mortgage on the house with less than 100\u20ac in the bank to last you for another two weeks of grocery shopping, while your child is telling you she will be needing a new textbook for next week\u2019s class that costs 50\u20ac.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No sane person under such conditions will ever think about how the empty wall space in the kitchen could use a nice still-life with a bunch of flowers or maybe an impressionist seascape in the colours of the living room couch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever.<\/p>\n

But on the other side of this equation are the people who are privileged enough to live in abundance; those who strive for power, fame, beauty or morality. Here, in a place of abundance the demand for art has a chance to sprout, but because there\u2019s millions of artists around the world (1,2 million just in the US), it takes a bit more than a vague demographic analysis to find ones fertile soil.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We need a niche. Without it, we\u2019re no more valuable than a no-brand drill bit at the local hardware store; forgettable, replaceable and most likely dull.<\/p>\n

Think about it. There are many different companies that sell drills and accessories, all competing for the same customers. Some differences do exist, of course; you have different sizes, varying quality of the bits, their intended purpose \u2014 to drill into wood or metal or stone etc. \u2014 but apart from the obvious, there is one that is equally important, but resides on the customer side and is quite often overlooked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perception.<\/p>\n

What I mean by this is that when a person goes to their local hardware store and buys drill bits, do they really go there with the sole intention to own drill bits or do they buy them only because it lets them make a hole in their wall to hang a painting of their dad?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even then; did they buy drill bits and the painting for the sole reason of owning it, or did they maybe see in the portrait of their father an object that would remind them of what a wonderful person he is? Maybe he recently passed away and the painting means a lot to them? As does the process of commissioning it, receiving it, unpacking, framing, \u2026 and especially hanging it.<\/p>\n

And in a world full of drill bits, more or less similar in size, quality and defined usage, would a drill company that focuses on evoking a certain emotion in their customer like pride, or a feeling of usefulness or maybe even self-actualisation, not only have an edge over their competition, but provide a lot of value to anyone with such a need?<\/p>\n

Imagine your dad was somebody that made you feel like you needed to be useful in your life, like it was your duty as a person to do good and create great things with your hands. To pride yourself on a simple job well done.<\/p>\n

What if the company that makes drill bits tried to enhance this experience with their products? They could invent a great advertisement campaign to place their products in such a demand niche, reinvent the packaging so that is helps enforce this feeling, maybe as simple as a slogan that says: \u201cNothing like a job well done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe they could put a small chip inside their drill bit boxes (and call them Drill Beats) and make them play Ain\u2019t No Mountain High Enough<\/i> by Tammi Terrell & Marvin Gaye every time you open them? The goal would be to help you actualise your wish for feeling proud, helpful, self-reliant and in charge when you are preparing the wall to hang your painting, and a good tune goes a long way for a lot of us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Would you not buy these bits over the competition if this was this exact experience that you are searching for? You might just pay a bit more, maybe 10% or 20% because you would see the added value that they embody.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or, you might laugh at the sight of them and take the cheapest ones \u2014 preferably returning them after you don\u2019t need them anymore and persuade the cashier or manager that you never opened them and just bought the wrong kind.<\/p>\n

The difference is, that there would be a lot less people willing to buy Drill Beats, of course, because they would only sell to those that identify with the added value that they provide. But at the same time such people would probably cherish the added value immensely and may even talk about their newly-found novelty drill bits with their friends. All in all, they would be deemed more valuable than the other, generic bits, if the right people got their hands on them.<\/p>\n

The cheaper ones on the other hand would still be bought by folks that need a hole and don\u2019t mind the quick and dirty way, if they can save a few cents because of it. The difference wouldn\u2019t even be connected with the functionality of either drill bit \u2014 both make holes and nothing else.<\/p>\n

All that would be different would be the customers perception of them, their ability to connect with the core need that made them go into the hardware store in the first place. And with drill bits, it\u2019s usually never to buy drill bits.<\/p>\n

People don\u2019t buy drill bits, they buy the ability to create holes. But even then, they don\u2019t need holes, they might need to hang a painting of a loved one, to pay respect, to remember, not to forget \u2026 to feel proud that they did it themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The real question for us then, is what do people really need when they buy our art?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oscar Wilde once wrote: \u201cA cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.\u201d\u00a0 A true artist therefore should be the exact opposite, but not due to ignorance towards the ever-present concept of money;…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4783,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions\/4783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}