Guarisco Gallery 2012

5 WHAT DETERMINES THE PRICE OF A PAINTING 1) Marketability: Is the painting of a desirable subject? Is it a desirable size? Is it aesthetically appealing? Is it beautiful? Is there a large potential audience or is it of limited appeal? 2) Quality: Is the painting a quality work of art independent of the artist’s name? Is it a top quality work within this artist’s oeuvre ? Guarisco Gallery recommends only the top 10% quality by any artist. We evaluate quality even before authorship. 3) Artist: Authorship has a major influence on price. Who is this artist and what is this artist’s historical significance? A top quality work by a founding member of a school will be much more expensive than an equal quality work by a follower of that school. However, prices are not determined exclusively on an artist’s name. Sometimes prices are established based on subject alone. However, if a painting with a major artist’s name is also of a highly desirable subject then the price will be much higher. 4) Rarity: Supply and demand always plays a significant role in pricing. How difficult is it to get something similar by this artist or by any other artist for this price or less? Can you replace this look and quality for a lesser price? 5) Condition: Condition of a work of art is important both aesthetically and in terms of its value. Restoration in historical works of art is absolutely acceptable and most likely. The question is how much restoration and where is it located? The amount of restoration combined with the location of the restoration determines the true condition. 6) Subject: There are certain 19th-century subjects like Venetian scenes, mother and child imagery, and depictions of elegant ladies with parasols that are desirable independent of authorship. In addition, particular subject matter by an artist can dictate price. For example, a top beach scene with elegant ladies by Eugène Boudin is usually valued in the millions, yet a wonderful harbor scene of equal quality by this same artist may be available for under $300,000. Additionally, there could also be a price difference between a single figure work and a multi-figure work, and beautiful subjects will always be more desirable and more collectible than unattractive subjects. 7) Size: A large painting by one artist could be much less expensive than a small work by another more well-known artist. Yet, a large painting by one artist could be more expensive than a small painting by this same artist.