How much is a painting worth?

[johnnyrod]

If you bought a painting, and sometime you wanted to sell it, how would you know what it's worth? Or to put it another way, if you wanted to buy an original for a few hundred or thousand, as something to hang on the wall and also something that'll be worth a bit more later, how on earth do you get a handle on what is valuable and what is just expensive?

its worth whatever somone is willing to pay. simples.

Here are some tools to help you come up with some idea of what your original work of art might be worth.

Prices for works by a given artist vary widely and wildly for many reasons, including:
auction prices are usually lower than gallery "list" prices
size: larger is better, within reason
medium: oil paintings are almost invariably the most valuable, followed distantly by watercolors, pastels, drawings, etc.
period: is it from the artist's best period?
subject matter: is it characteristic of the artist's most sought-after work?
if a realistic work: does it have a girl or a horse in it?
if an abstract work: do the dominant colors match common shades of sofas and drapes?
provenance: has it been in the Rothschild family collection since they bought it from the artist 200 years ago (good), or does it have no traceable lineage before, say, 1946 (very very bad)?
certainty of authentication: even if the work is signed by the artist it could be a forgery, or it could be a genuine work from the period on which the signature has been forged
where the auction took place, geographically: is there a natural market for the artist's work?
uncontrollable factors: rain, full moon, sunspot activity, etc.
lastly, (and sometimes least) the actual artistic merit of the work
Keeping the above in mind, it is possible to look up auction records in the reference section of your local library, to get a general idea of what an artist's works fetch. There are several annual publications which list hundreds of thousands of sales results. The public library I use, which is good but by no means world class, has three sets by different publishers.

One good online resource is Artcult, which has a freely accessible database of price ranges for many artists. And if you are willing to pay, you can get full auction results online at several sites, including artnet.com and artprice.com.

From here: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/faq.html#painting

Ooo, get scooby van goh, lol

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by bluefishman

Ooo, get scooby van goh, lol

Yep, went mad and tased his left bollock off

I'm an artist and sell very few paintings as it's not my main job but artist friends who are in the market, so to speak, are valued solely by the galleries and by marketing. It's not how good you are, it's how highly rated marketing made you.

I bought a painting a few years back for £550. It's nice, and suited my living room, and I was happy to pay that for an original that nobody else would have in their home.

I also bought a canvas in Greece for about £50 that I had mounted and is lovely.

Finally, I bought a canvas from a girl at my front door once. It hangs in the bathroom and cost about £40.

If you like it and feel it's worth it, pay it. Not sure about resale though as it is literally what someone will pay for it really. Unless the artist becomes really famous and dies. Then you're in the money!

[johnnyrod]

Interesting thoughts... never knew you had it in you Scoobs! Zunkus I know what you mean, but still not sure how to get a handle on it. Had a look on the Artcult sire, they have a fair few on there but not, for example, Govinder or Jolomo (I had to think of someone to look up) who are well-known British artists.

John, You bought a painting from a certain artist. The price if you eventually end up wanting to sell would depend on the evaluation of the artist at the time of selling and the style and subject he is famous for at that time. You will then look up similar works to your piece from the same artist and set the price to those lines. Simple. If however you think (added help from a good artist to see the painting's desirability would be beneficial) that it deserves to go for more, it's simply up to you.