In this article we will explain several ways to find out the value of art.
The easiest way to determine the value of your art work is to try to sell it on eBay, however this often depends on how you present it for sale. You will also then know the rock bottom price! In all marketplaces there is the importance of presentation and circumstance in determining price. An art gallery can get more money for artwork than a thrift store or ebay, for example.
Just putting a piece of art on the market is not the best way to achieve the highest price. You are better off having some prior knowledge of its value before releasing it to be sold. Auctions are often limited in scope, some are rigged, art galleries take a fifty percent cut, eBay is a madhouse, you name it each market has its share of unknowns.
We often think that we have an invaluable piece of work and are incredulous when someone tells us that in fact it is worthless. We always hope to have a hidden Picasso. The art world could surely need a good dose of modesty. This applies to the seller and the buyer.
As international art dealers ourselves we use a variety of mechanisms to determine price. Our objective could be to always make a immense profit by buying low and selling high, but that would be very short sighted. We have found that attaining a fair price during the buying stage and selling stage is what matters most to us. So if you have spent 30 hours painting a landscape you should expect it to be worth your while, but it is best to sell several in the future at a reasonable price than just waiting for a single sale in the distant future.
If you are the owner of a piece of art and have no idea of its value, you should start to educate yourself by reading the biographies of the artist, researching their exhibits, visit any website that is dedicated to that artist, search for art sales catalogs that contain artwork from your artist. Basically have fun exploring and discovering what is known about your artist. The more you know about them the better you can represent them when you wish to sell the piece of art or if not selling you will gain an even greater appreciation for your piece art.
There are also some very useful search engines that will help you determine a general idea of the value of the works of some artists. We like to use the search engines Artprice.com and Artnet.com. You have to pay to use their services but they list over 400 000 artists and the results from their art work sold at auction. A real goldmine if your focus is just on price. This is quite useful if you have several piece of artwork from a variety of artists. Artprice and Artnet’s focus is mostly on paintings and prints.