What is Your Art Worth?
Recently, I had the opportunity to review a large collection of fine art photography created by artists from around the country. All of the prints were similarly contained in black, plain, wooden gallery-quality frames. Consequently, the value of the various works was not skewed by the visual influence of their framing. After setting aside all of the work that was superior, in my humble opinion, I then looked at the value each of the artists had assigned their work. Within the approximate 16x20- inch range of images were values of $225 to $2,200. Keeping in mind that by my estimate all of the work was of excellent quality, that is a ten-times spread! And, very few of the images in this group were by well known, collected artists. As the director of The Center for Fine Art Photography, I was often asked how to price prints. As a rule, I never priced anyone’s prints. However, I did offer guidelines that I’d like to share with those struggling with this question. First, evaluate your work. Compared to established artists, is the quality of your work similar? Have you had your portfolios reviewed by those who regularly conduct photography reviews? How have they evaluated your work? Assuming that it is agreed your work is at an established level of quality, here are some factors you can use to guide your pricing. First, we make three assumptions:
Being a named-recognized artist has cache. It is the result of many years of artists’ investing time in developing their art and their marketing. Lacking a nationally- recognized name, you may want to reduce the price of your work 20 to 40 percent of that charged by the established artists. Do you have name recognition in a regional market where you work is to be sold? If within the region, your name and work is essentially unknown, you may subtract 10 to 30 percent from what more recognized regional artists are charging. Is your work to be sold in a market accustomed to paying $1,200 for a quality print, e.g. New York? Or, is it for sale in one of the more numerous markets that tend not to pay in excess of $550 for a print? Then there is the cost of framing. Add 10 percent to the framing cost for your prep and travel time. If your images are being sold in a gallery, the gallery may take 50 or 60 percent of the sale price. You need to factor the gallery’s commission into your pricing.
Some additional considerations: Does your work appeal to more specific audiences? Is it avant garde in style, metallic representations of motorcycles, or some other niche style? Then you can more easily price your work closer to the well-established artists, who are limited in number within a specific genre. There is one thing I do want to emphasize. If you are not producing work judged as being of good quality, however that is defined, you will do yourself a huge service to continue to build on your talent before putting your work out for sale. It is much better to come out of the gate with work that is recognized for its quality, than it is to recover from a less than stellar reputation. How do you know if your work is good? Maybe you should consider to have your portfolio reviewed. A review by several qualified people is the fastest way to determine the quality of your work and also to gain insight to making it better. (See more about portfolio reviews) This is not an exhaustive guideline list. However, I hope I have provided some insight for those initially struggling with this continuing dilemma. Larry Padgett Did you find this article helpful? Do you have thoughts or comments on this article, I’d like to here from you. Please send me your comments to larry@photobizguru.com
Larry Padgett is a marketing consultant for photographers and photography-based organizations. You can read other articles by Larry at www.photobizguru.com
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© Red Dog Journal, 2008 |