Instead of dry reference material ranging from the flea markets on the Seine to Sotheby’s auctions, I’ll explain the logic behind pricing in a more accessible way — tracing when each valuation criterion first appeared in history.
Today, 85% of all sales are for works priced under €50,000 (UBS Report). I’ll add more interesting statistics from ARTinvestment expert Denis Belkovich at the end.
Eight Criteria of Value
- Labor Input. How long would it take a person of average ability to create the work? This is the oldest criterion. Slave labor is measured in man-hours. Ancient Egypt, Oriental crafts, carpets woven by hand over years. “Talented” meant fast. “Expensive” meant labor-intensive. This still matters today — think of Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds at Tate Modern, where each porcelain seed was hand-painted, or his thousand remakes of Viennese chairs made by cheap Chinese labor.
- Materials. This began in markets selling looted goods. Art and jewelry were once the same market: this is gold, that is copper; these are precious stones, those are glass. Even now, materials matter — for the same artist, oil paintings almost always cost more than works on paper. Recently, works by Moldovan artist Gutu were detained at the Montenegrin border. The reason: “An oil painting on canvas cannot cost so little.”
- Originality. In ancient Roman markets, original Greek sculptures stood next to poorer Roman copies. Originals were expensive; copies cost barely more than the material. Today, even with perfect reproduction techniques, handmade work still commands a premium over editions.
- Headcount Scale. The Catholic Church, the biggest patron of “kilometers of painting,” created a standard pricing system based on size and the number of human figures depicted. Remarkably, the Soviet Art Fund used an almost identical system — multi-figure compositions were priced by the number of “heads.”
- The Artist (Brand). In the 8th century, artists began signing their works. This marked the birth of the “brand” market in art — long before other industries adopted it. The name became the universal price criterion. This is why critics of art commercialization often call for anonymity. The name is the most reliable criterion, though not flawless — artists age, repeat themselves, or lose sharpness. Then everyone starts looking for the “early” Konchalovsky.
- Novelty. This criterion emerged during the French Academy period and became dominant with the rise of Modernism in the late 19th century. Has this been done before? Does it deserve its own chapter in art history? Even today, in the “post-everything” era, millions of art tourists travel from biennale to biennale searching for something “never seen before.”
- Relevance. How well the work resonates with what major contemporary art museums are currently showing, discussing at documenta, or proclaiming as the motto of the Venice Biennale.
- Scarcity vs. Circulation. Common sense says: fewer works = higher price. This applies only to established masters. For mid-career and emerging artists, the opposite is true: the more works in circulation, the faster the artist becomes known and, ultimately, more expensive. Every new collector or museum becomes a brand ambassador.
“The artist's name has become a collective and universal criterion of price. The name is the price.”
Classification of Art Markets
These eight criteria are important, but even more important is understanding which market the artist is operating in.
- Artifact Market Traditional crafts, tourist souvenirs, unlimited editions, beginner works. Pricing is chaotic. This market has almost no influence on serious careers and is never an investment.
- Salon Market The largest segment. Decorative art for homes, offices, and hotels. Prices are closely tied to the real estate market and the general economy. In the 1990s, post-Soviet salon works were five times cheaper than comparable European ones.
- Identity Market Art that helps form the cultural portrait of a country, city, or subculture. This market is highly sensitive to politics and geopolitics. Right now, for Ukrainian artists, the window of opportunity is wide open.
- Art History Market Here each artist stands alone. Value is determined by their place in the history of art (with adjustments for all the previous criteria). Rothko, Pollock, and de Kooning became the first truly “American” masters for the richest country in the world — hence their prices.
There is also a separate art labor market (illustration, theater, cinema, art design, public art), which operates like any other labor market.
Practical Advice for Artists
- Price is always the result of collective effort by critics, curators, gallerists, and consultants. Don’t try to do all these jobs yourself.
- Your initial price should be no lower than the cost of one square meter of housing in your city (for example, €2,000 for a medium-sized painting in Montenegro).
- Until you’ve sold 20 works, feel free to give discounts. After that, raise prices by 30–50%.
- Make your first catalogue for your second exhibition and be sure to include already sold works.
- Participate as actively as possible in non-commercial projects, especially those with production budgets. Major careers (and high prices) are made by museums and institutions, not just galleries.
- Expand the geography of your exhibitions even if it costs money and seems less profitable at the moment.
- Only participate in charity auctions. At regular auctions your works compete with classics.
- Be honest. Call repeats repeats. Fraud is rarely forgiven in the art world.
