Pricing per square inch

[Chris Saper]

Dear Karin,

Yes, I have read a great deal recently about an artist's (more likely the estate!) securing rights to participate in increased value of resold work over time.

Personally I think it would be more productive for all of us to take law school correspondence courses (during slow periods, of course). Unless one ends up being the heir of Norman Rockwell or Andrew Wyeth, it's an unrealistic enforcement notion to me. On the other hand, who'd've thunk?

For the most part, traditional portraits, in and of themselves, are unlikely to find great demand in the resale market. To the extent that they do, my sense is that their increased value is a by-product of the artist's general fame or notoriety.

Chris