Children - Lesson 3: How is art sold?
Child
Hi. We tend to like things that are worth something, but how does art become valuable? That’s a tricky question. Do you know how art is made and sold? This lesson describes that process and then suggests something fun: Field trip!
Adult/Teacher
Hello. This lesson moves into a discussion of value, particularly in the sense of a financial value of art. Talk with the child about the art market and then take the child to a gallery to see the business in action.
The Art Market
Art has value. You assign it value, whether or not you’re aware of it, by the way to react to it. But it might be interesting for a child to learn how the commercial art market works, too, and how an artist goes about selling something. This is a tangent to Aesthetics, which is philosophical in nature, but it has consequences in the marketplace because decisions about the value of art affect the sale of art. Let’s break it down.
How does an artist sell art?
First, an artist makes something. You might be visualizing a painting when you read that sentence, but remember that throughout these Art at Home lessons, we talk about art and objects. So the “work” might be a number of different kinds of things. For our purposes, we’re talking about something visual, but the bottom line is that the art work has been created.
Second, the artist decides to sell it. If you can imagine a giant stack of all the art works ever made by artists throughout the history of the world, it would tower high into the atmosphere. All of the drawings you ever made would be part of the imaginary stack, too. Of those nearly infinite number of art works, only a small fraction would be works ever offered for sale. Most art is never sold, nor created to be sold. The decision to sell a work, then, is statistically unusual.
Third, the artist gives the art work to someone to sell or sells it himself or herself. Artists whose names you might recognize likely have a commercial art gallery that represents them and does the selling for them. As the artist makes a work, it is consigned to the gallery to sell. (Unsold works are returned to the artist.) Having gallery representation removes the artist from business transactions and allows them to focus on making art. For that service, the gallery takes a percentage of the eventual sale, usually in the range of 50%. The gallery might display the works as a one-person exhibition, in a group show of multiple artists, at an art fair, or sell it directly from inventory. A well-known artist might have multiple galleries to be her representatives, in different countries, for example. Pricing of the art work is set by the gallery, often in consultation with the artist, based on the sales history of the artist’s previous works, its scale, and its perceived importance and desirability.
Fourth, even after the art work is sold, the artist retains copyright of that work. This is a complex legal concept and possibly difficult for a child to understand—it’s difficult for adults, too—but essentially, the copyright protection means that the artist keeps control of the image and the intellectual idea behind it, unless the artist signs away those rights, specifically. The person who purchases the art can’t make a copy of it to sell, for example. They can’t publish pictures of it without the artist’s permission for a period of time while it is under copyright and not in the public domain. The purchaser can resell the art work or donate it (or even destroy it), but otherwise, there are some restrictions to what is legally allowed.
Fifth, in some countries under some circumstances, if the sold art work is resold at auction by the purchaser, the artist or the artist’s heir (if the artist is dead) receives a percentage of the sale. This is called droit de suite (“right to follow”). Some states in the U.S. enacted laws to allow artists to capture resale royalties, but a 2018 U.S. Court of Appeals decision struck down such laws. As an example, let’s imagine a young artist new to the gallery scene. He sells a painting before anybody knows him very well for a small amount of money. Later, he becomes famous and the purchaser who acquired the painting for a small amount suddenly resells it for a large amount. In that case, without droit de suite laws, the artist is not part of the second transaction, whether it is a private sale or a public one—an auction house, for example. Again, the U.S. does not have such laws to share resale royalties.
Sixth, after an artist dies, the artist’s body of unsold works reverts to the artist’s heir or estate—just the same way that your great-grandparents’ belongings were passed on. The inheritors have full power to sell those art works and divide any proceeds as they are legally entitled to do. There are complicated tax issues involved here, as well, when a successful artist passes away, and the more valuable the art works are, the more tax burden there is for artists’ inheritors.
Field Trip
You need to see this in action. Go to an art gallery in your community. Although you need to be on your best behavior and not touch or knock over anything, galleries are free to the public and anyone can enter them and experience them. Once inside, start by taking a good look around. Read about the exhibition (look for materials at the front desk that describe the exhibition and provide information about the artist/artists). If there are individual wall labels posted by each art work, read those, too. Discover who made it, when, what it is made out of, and more.
If you are looking at art work that is new, there may not be any additional information about the work for you to read. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even at galleries that give a formal (and formidable) vibe, gallery staff are there to assist you. You will find that if you can ask even one good question, the gallerists will be more than happy to take you on a little tour of the exhibition. What are some good questions? Let’s think of some together to ask of the gallery associate:
Which of these art works is your favorite?
I don’t know much about this artist. Can you tell me something interesting about him or her?
I’d love to know how these works are made. Can you describe the process to me?
Where can I learn more about this artist?
Can I take pictures and share them with my friends?
I’m having a hard time trying to see these works as the artist did. What do you think this work might mean to the artist?
Do you have a price list? What is the range of prices for the works?
Where is the artist from?
What is the title of the exhibition, and what does that mean?
If a child walks into a gallery and ask a question like one of these, you can bet that the gallery will bend over backwards to make the experience a positive and educational one.
By the way, many children become experts in something as they make gradual purchases. Many an art collector started as a child with comic books, baseball/trading cards, action figures, etc. Consider talking to the child about what it might be like to purchase art. A fun game to play at any art gallery is to ask, “Ok, if you could take home any of these right now, which would it be?” You might be very surprised to discover that a lot of art is not expensive at all, that galleries often permit/encourage small monthly payments, and that once you own something the adventure into connoisseurship truly begins.