Pricing your art
 

Almost every year I do a survey of art pricing to determine how my art should be priced. Over the years that I have been doing this, I have discovered that art prices have a common denominator that holds true regardless of the type of art being sold. Portrait, figurative, landscape, abstract and virtually any other category of art is (knowingly or unwittingly) priced by the square inch. The range of prices per square inch tends to reflect the quality of the art and in the higher price ranges an artist

This is fascinating, Richard. Thanks for posting it.

Very nice research Richard, thanks for sharing.

Thanks Richard for your research. I should adjust some prices now.

Garth

Garth,
Based on my observations of the market, you should be in the upper quartile. i know that is a rarefied zone to be in, but your work is certainly worthy of that placement.

Tony Pro
i hope you see this posting as some of the work you have at the Heritage Gallery is in my list. Great Stuff!

Thank you so much for posting this Richard.

I, unfortunately, fall in the category of the artist described that was scared to raise his prices. I'm coming around slowly though.

Richard,

This information is great and I thank you as well for sharing it with us. Have you observed what the trend is for charging for additional people in a portrait and weather or not pet portraits command the same per square inch ?

Enzie,
When i first started this statistical market analysis many years ago, i tried many different ways of analyzing the raw data. The amazing conclusion of the analysis is that art pricing displays a direct correlation to price per square inch regardless of the subject matter. There is also a direct correlation to perceived reputation but virtually no correlation to any other factors.

Now to answer your questions:
1) With portraits or figurative art there seems to be a 10 to 20% boost in price for each additional figure. However, this is not a hard and fast rule. Some artists don't show any price change.

2) Animal or pet art commands the same price as all other types of art.

You can get further information about portrait pricing by looking at the work of the many artists on the SOG site.

Thanks for posting this, Richard. It's very clearly stated and makes a lot of sense no matter how you sell work, whether you are in a gallery or not.

My work is in three galleries, and in addition to that, I often have shows in other venues. Things get a little complicated. Usually the gallery is willing to split their commission. In this kind of situation I never expect to get more than 50%, my usual commission, if it is piece that was in a gallery to begin with. If you are honest and make sure the gallery gets their part of the commission even if it is a piece that the gallery sent back because it wasn't sold, it helps promote good artist-gallery relations. I never sell anything or negotiate without consulting the manager of my primary gallery.

I'd be interested to hear how others manage this sort of situation.

Alexandra,
The gallery gets paid for work performed such as selling the painting, negotiating the sale, providing wall space, advertising and other things like these. Their high commision is predicated on the fact that not all the art will sell. When they send a piece back, the business contract for that piece is ended. They were not able to perform their required function. They are not owed any fee. In such a case you owe nothing to the gallery unless it is specifically stated in your contract that any such after return sales are commissionable.

Hi Richard,

I've heard varying opinions on this. Personally I would still go through the gallery if the work had been sent back recently, say within 6 months, but no more than a year. I know not everyone would do this--others might call it "bad business sense"--but I have a very good relationship with my galleries and I think this enhances it.

Older work I just go ahead and sell myself or through other shows (minus whatever commission is charged).

When artists reach a certain stage in their careers when they are branching out into several galleries, they often do not tell their primary gallery where else they are selling and what work they are giving these other galleries. I've seen gallery managers become angry about this, and I can see why, so I try to keep them all informed, especially my primary gallery. I don't think secrecy is a good policy here because sooner or later someone finds out.

In a way these two paragraphs are about two different things, but in a way they are both about going the extra mile for the gallery especially if your gallery has done a really excellent job of promoting your career, selling your work, and building a collector base. It works for me.

Alexandra,
You will never go wrong going the extra mile...especially when it come to communication.With respect to what gallery owners should get monetarily, however, I believe they are getting an undeserved gift when you pay a commission on a work they did not sell. On the other hand giving them some compensation will always keep them loyal. Tough call. Your way shows a gentle and loving soul. i like that.

When I first started to figure out how my work compared with others and how it should be priced, I looked at the fees of other artists, who worked in a similar style and who's technical ability matched mine.

I have never liked having to list different prices for each different size and then adding on fees for complexity, even though that's exactly what I ended up with, since that seemed the thing to do at the time of my research. I would love to say instead: " I charge "x" amount per square inch plus "X" amount for each extra person and have the client decide what size suites their budget. Somehow starting with a small figure and adding it up, is not as shocking as seeing the lump sum right off. Does that make sense?!

I often feel that when people hear what I charge they get that look of "Wau, way too expensive!" and it makes me upset that I always have to try to justify my fees. To top it off, I am priced at the bottom end of Richard's fee structure! At this point I really don't know what to ask for anymore.....

Michele, I looked at your pricing again and I like how it is kept simple and precise. I will need to look at mine and revise a couple of things.

What about miniatures?
 

Enzie, I am with you. It seems a big factor should be content and complexity, more so than size alone.

By your scale Richard, a miniature portait with all the content and complexity of a life size portrait might be a hundredth the price! There must be other factors to be considered.

It seems most portrait artists cannot adhere rigidly to a size only pricing scale. A small head and shoulders might be better than half a spacious three-quarter figure on a typical portrait price schedule. Why should it amount to a quarter the price by scale?

Can we tweak the formula?

Garth

Once, many years ago, I priced portraits only by size. The first client I got asked me to create their portrait at a quarter of the size I would have normally used and therefore paid only a quarter of my normal fee. (A tiny head and shoulders can often be MORE work than a life size head and shoulders, since there's much less room for error. A discrepancy of a millimeter in the positioning of an eye can look way off when the portrait is too small.) I also would rather not be asked to try and cram four full length figures of a client's family into a 24x30" canvas. That's why I price by complexity now.

Some portrait artists who want to give clients an idea of the size that their canvas might be sometimes show both factors on their websites. For example, they might say that a head and shoulders portrait is $4,000 and would typically be around 16x20" in size.

I think Richard's numbers are still very useful, though. I look at the size of canvas I would normally use for a typical 3/4 portrait and can see where my prices stand compared to his figures.

Enzie, you mentioned that people are often surprised at how "high" your prices are. This can happen sometimes with clients who have no experience buying original fine art and may be comparing a painted portrait to a studio photograph.

There was a recent post by the very experienced professional, Joy Thomas, on this subject. She said she would often start off by showing examples of the work of other artists whose work she felt was similar in quality to her own, along with their prices. Then she would show the client her more modest prices as a point of comparison. Doing something like that might help you.

You can also explain how a painted portrait is made to last for centuries, becomes a treasured family heirloom and (in the case of slow artists like me!) can take over a hundred hours to create.

Richard--

This is very useful information. Thanks for it. Even though there are many complicating factors in portrait work, as Michele said, it's not a bad benchmark just to help artists see how paintings need to be priced to have a decent return on the effort.

I've always felt that artists are their own worst enemy when it comes to pricing, and they nearly always underprice. Also, pricing seemed for many years to be the domain of agents and gallery owners, and any information that we can share among ourselves to help level the playing field is to our mutual advantage.

I charged as much as I could stand starting out, and still look at myself in the mirror. The unexpected benefit was that I worked really hard at first to get good enough to justify my price. A little fear is a great motivator.

Thanks again--TE

The haggling that goes on over price makes it seem like we are vendors in a bazaars. I think this is more so an issue, when one's work is not well known and I hope that established artists run less into this problem, especially if they are represented by a gallery.

Garth, I agree, the pricing for miniatures definitely does not fit into this pricing structure and has to have it's own.

Michele you are right to say that people must not have experience in buying fine art. I am just amazed how easily people spend their money on anything but art, without even flinching, yet when it comes to a painting, it's like the drawstrings to the purse tighten up.

A while back I saved an Arts and Antiques Article "Face Value", which speaks about the portrait commission process and what clients can expect, when they decide to commission a portrait. It also lists some prices of what professional portrait artist charge. I thought this would be an unbiased source that can act as a comparison for justifying one's fees and I keep it in the back of my portfolio.

I find Richards prices useful and I have come to understand that pricing is a matter of attitude of the artist. Those of us, who under price ourselves still have not learned to value our art for what it is worth. We are still influenced by people's opinions what it should be. I found that being a push over does not help one's objective and just like learning to say "no" one has to learn to say:" If you want cheap, then I know this great photographer down the street who can do it for less." I just haven't learned how to say it with a smile yet! :sunnysmil

I just like to see an easy across the board pricing structure, that is fair to both the artist and the client and allows for a little flexibility in the case of exceptions to the norm. I would say Richard's little formula is a good step into that direction, because it offers a parameter of what is considered cheap, midrange or high end. Where we place our work within those ranges should then be determined by the quality of work being produced.

Tom, you wrote: It seems as if many agents/galleries would prefer that their artists price their work on the low side. This seems confusing to me. Isn't it also in the interests of the seller to get a high price for the work, if it's warranted?

Enzie, you wrote: My prices are firm and I don't renegotiate them. I have once in a while offered an "opportunity" for a client to get a different price in exchange for something else of value to me (an unveiling party, barter for other goods or services, etc) but not a reduction in price just because someone requests it.

Enzie, you also wrote: Great idea!

I'm curious about this article, I don't know if you can post it here, if so, it would be very useful.

I can't post it (copyright law), but I can Email it to you later today.

Thanks a lot.

Garth,
I hate to say it, but complexity and number of figures at best only make up to a plus 30% change in the per square in price.

Miniatures tend to fall in the third quartile with a median price of $17 per square inch. That is only 40% above the median for all type of paintings. Most of the miniatures I saw were as complex or more so than the larger works. Unfortunately Per Square Inch rules as king.

Michele,
You are absolutely on the mark with sticking to your price. My 40 plus years of business experience is that customers that insist on lower prices are continual problems to work with. Better to walk away.

Enzie,
Joy Thomas's approach is the smart way to go. One of my business colleges calls this approach "letting the customer see the bullet coming." By the time you get to your price they are mentally prepared to accept it.

Could you also include me in the e-mailing of that copyrighted piece?

Richard and Claudemir,

Check your Emails, I have sent the article to both of you.

Hi Enzie, would you care to share with me the article too?
With the thread of discussion here, and the mentioned reference, i'm now feeling a little apprehensive about my own pricing scheme. I now feel i have more or less something to work with, in checking if my pricing scheme is adequate.
Thanks for the wonderful thread!

Hi Enzie,

Thanks a lot for the email. I think I'll save you a lot of work.
Here is the link to the article http://www.portraitartist.com/media.htm

Adjustments to pricing
 

Some have asked about adjustments to the pricing formula suggesting that complexity and number of figures has a part. Indeed they do, but I woke up this morning with another epiphany.

The real adjustment needs to be how strong or weak the piece is. Every artist, including the masters had great works of art as well as clunkers. The great works command high prices while the clunkers are deservedly low priced.

Therefore, here is my suggestion. Pick your price point ala price per square inch and then adjust up or down by how strong or weak you and trusted advisers might feel that piece is compared to your overall body of work. This does three things:

1) It automatically adjusts price for complexity and figures if they add strength

2) Price automatically gets adjusted upward as we acquire more skill and expertise.

3) Our art gets priced in the same fashion as the public perceives it.

Picking the price point
 

Picking your individual price per square inch price point requires honest soul searching and a lot of visits to different galleries. After viewing enough different works of art you will get a feel for how your art compares to what is being sold in the marketplace.

Be honest. Most of the forum artists produce art that is better then most of what I see in the galleries. Yet I suspect that a lack of confidence is leading far too many to low ball their prices. DON'T LOW BALL! Price your art honestly according to the market as you and trusted advisers perceive it. Use advisers to help you get past any emotional issues of self worth that may be clouding your judgment. You do yourself and all other artists a favor by doing so.

Maybe we should have a members only pricing section on the forum, where our fellow members can be our board of advisers. They can collectively rate our body of work (say five pieces we think represent our best work) on a one to ten scale. Then as we produce new works they can be rated on the same scale. A comparison of an individual piece to our collective works will determine strength or weakness thereby helping us to adjust our price point for that piece.

Richard, I would also add pieces that have won an award to that latest
adjustment list.

I think a section for group pricing is not a bad idea. Who better to judge one's work than one's peer.

I will ask Cynthia about a members-only section where we can discuss our specific pricing as it relates to our own work.

Oh, this whole topic just makes my stomach feel funny. Pricing has been a sore spot for me. Two or Three years ago Michele gave me some great advice and I followed it. It was something similar to what Richard is describing with his "trusted advisors". I went through the SOG artists and found artists that I thought might be similar in style to what I offered and printed them all out and mixed them up with some portraits of mine that a group of my friends had not seen. I think they actually thought I was showing them a batch of "MY" paintings.

I asked them to rate them in order from like to dislike, bracing myself to be last in their choices and was SHOCKED to come in so high so often. Unfortunately, this is where I stopped following Michele's advice. I at that point should have felt more than confident to up my prices and still didn't have the nerve to do it.

I'm getting ready to work with a rep, so I am going to HAVE to raise my prices in order to give her her cut. But the whole thought of the money situation really makes me feel ill. How do you over come that?

I like the idea of a members only pricing help forum. Maybe if someone else told me what to charge I'd get the nerve to do it.

Pricing for artists is hard
 

Mary,
Don't get down on yourself. Art is a right brain activity. Pricing and the business of art is a left brain activity. The more one is right brain oriented the harder it is to perform well in the world of marketing and pricing. The starving artist appellation has a real basis in physiology.

More on art pricing:
As I conceive of the art pricing section. The ratings of our fellow artists on our collective work would comprise a narrow range on the 1 to 10 scale....say for example 5.5 to 6.3 with most ratings centering around 6.

That range would be proportionate to the $0 to $58 art market range (which by the way is a curve and not a flat line). Thus equivalent pricing for the artist rated above might be $17 to $23 per square inch with the center around $21. The artist now has a suggested range to work in for pricing.

Individual pieces would be rated in the same way. A strong piece might break open the range and suggest to the artist that it is time to raise prices again.

However, it will always be left up to the artist to set his own sales price. He or she could accept or ignore the advice of the pricing section. So in the final analysis, the artist must have confidence in setting their own price. it is my hope that the pricing section will boost that confidence and allow the artist to receive the income they justly deserve.

Cynthia indicated that the feature that would allow a members-only section for discussing our pricing is not working due to some technical glitch, so I don't think we'll be seeing a section like that any time soon.

Mary, price your portraits as if they were someone else's work, as if you were the marketing department selling the creations made by someone else altogether. That helps give you some distance and takes the personal feelings out of it.

In your case, ask your soon-to-be rep for her advice on where your prices should be. You may find her aiming a bit on the low side as that will make it easier for her to sell, but it's also to her benefit to get you a good price for the work, too.

Richard, how much emphasis should be put on geography and pricing?

One more thing: It's been suggested to me that when an artist has a backlog of anywhere from 9 to 12 months (assuming they are working at their art full time) that it's time to raise prices.

Michele, you were posting as I was typing. Everything you say makes so much sense. My brain knows it, but I still have a hard time doing it. I'm hoping this woman will help me in this way, from what I understand she is very much a sales person, so it can only be better than my attempts. How did you luck out with a functioning right AND left brain?

Cynthia and Michele,
There are always work arounds. If such a section could not be technically set up within the forum, a separate domain site could be set up with it's own members only login. There could be a redirect button on the forum titled "Members Only Pricing Section" that would take one to the pricing section. Also in the pricing section there could be a redirect button to take you back to the forum.

Make the pricing section available only to paid up, subscribing professional members. The fee should be high enough to cover the additional costs plus a profit to make it worth Cynthia's effort.

Mary,
Pricing is everything. Choosing the right price point can mean the difference between success and failure. Too low a price and the public perceives the painting is of little value. Too high a price and the public believes the artists is not serious. The public as a mass is not stupid. Tests show that in large numbers the public is more accurate in "guessing" important factors such as price or outcome than experienced experts.

Geography seems to have little or no impact on the art prices that I have researched in the United States. Overseas may be a different matter.

This is something that is of interest to all here. Richard thank you for bringing this up. Your help is grately apreciated.

I am still nut sure how to apply this here in Germany. Pricing my work per square inch/cm? I'm not sure if I understand? Head and shoulders 40x50cm compared to a 50x60cm. Being that I am new to the area and starting out with my first exhibition pricing in the ball park i must figure out like quick. I plan to start 000 but not sure where. I have tried to compare prices with local artists that are on line but have not had much success. Any advice would be certainly appreciated.

Enzie, I could use your help and that is if you could mail me a copy of that article you spoke about. Thank You!

Thank you all, Richard! This came at the right time.

mischa

Mischa,
Let me make it a little easier. The median price for all art in my research is $12.15US per square inch. If I have done all of my conversions correctly this translates to 1.56EUR per square centimeter. i have only seen one piece of your art (your web site is down) but your skills shown in that one piece indicate that your price point should be around that median.

Being that my page is down
 

Richard, thank you for your prompt reply. I did not know that my site is down? It was acting up the other day but I did see it active. In the last while I've had axes problems, wanting to do a page make-over. I contacted my provider and he is looking into it.

I hope no one minds me posting a few photos being that my page is down. Here is a color study and one of my charcoals and a chalk. Just to give you an idea. How would you price these and I would appreciate your honesty.

Regards,
mischa