How do we, as humans, place value on something that is pleasurable to look at? Or perhaps it’s a piece that gives us no pleasure or is downright ugly – but others assign value which we think is insane. I suggest that it’s the same psychology that makes people line up at Costco before it opens for a better chance to snag toilet paper during a pandemic. (see my “Tulips and Daffodils with Toilet Paper’ under the Still Life Tab). Other people want it so I better get some.
Sure the Mona Lisa is Priceless, because it will never be sold. Perhaps the same could be said of the Cezanne ‘Card Players’ at the Barnes (see my Reproduction under the Masters Reproduction Tab).
Take this one by Jean-Michel Basquiat called “Untitled’ from 1982. in 2017 it hit a record for a sale price for an American artist at $110 Million. Which even beats works by his pal Andy Warhol.
Or this one by Gerald Richter called ‘Abstraktes Bild’ which was sold for $22 Million.
I may speculate that the answer may lie in the fact that Eric Clapton bought the painting in 2001 for around $3M (and change). Years later he made a cool $74M in total profit from this sale along with two other Richter paintings. I say…. good for him, he had the foresight to take this gamble and it paid off handsomely.
More examples that I find interesting are the creations of the artist Jeffrey Koons. (Who by the way was born the same year as me and is from York, PA which is near my home town of Camp Hill). Among his inventions are various polished steel structures including “Popeye”, pictured here with me at the Wynn casino in Las Vegas. Popeye is 6 1/2 feet tall and weighs 2,000 pounds. (It has since moved to his Encore property in Boston.) It was purchased for a cool $28M by Steve Wynn. Koons says “Art is our spinach.” Maybe for him !
I like the reflective property of the piece so decided to paint him…. “Koons Popeye”, 24 x 36.
If you want to look at other whimsical Koons creations, check out “Balloon Dog” and “Split Rocker” on the internet. The latter was a temporary installation with live plants growing on it that we saw at Rockefeller center in N.Y. in 2014.
Speaking of Steve Wynn, I find an incident concerning Picasso’s “Le Reve” interesting. Wynn owned the painting and in 2006 agreed to sell it for $139M. He suffers from an eye ailment that affects his peripheral vision. When entertaining guests he accidentally put his elbow through the painting creating a hole the size of a silver dollar. D’OH! (actually I think he said a different word). Of course the sale was cancelled after that. But don’t feel sorry for Steve. Years later, after restoration, it was sold for even more money, $155M.
Back to earth ….. Besides the money aspect, of course we get value from a work being pleasing to the eyes. And I get value from others liking what I do, especially if the subject matter has a personal connection to the viewer. However I realize that art isn’t for everyone and that’s fine. After all, I would hazard to say that when you saw the Basquiat above you were thinking “my kid could do that!” Am I correct?
I like to joke that my paintings better not end up in the Goodwill bin after I am gone. I modestly think that they are good enough not to, and also that some may still be here on someone’s wall maybe 100 years or so after I am gone. So in that respect I have created something for humanity.
Just not in the same class as a Michelangelo or a Basquiat…..