What makes a painting worth $90 millon?

[tarheelmjfan]

Bragging rights.

 

[tvguy]

25 minutes. Even PBS runs promotional programming between shows.

Here they run commercials

 

[moon]

True. People who buy paintings and spend above $50,000 are not buying something that is nice or even better. It's an envestment, not aesthetic.

Hockney is very popular. Hold it for 18 months and sell it for another record breaking number. Even $100 million would be good.

Or maybe the buyer actually thinks there isn't something nicer or better.

That (kind of) make sense...an investment. But it seems like a HUGE risk!

 

[RUDisney]

A few years ago, I saw a Paul Durand-Ruel exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum. Paul was alive during the impressionist period and his contemporaries included Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, etc..

The impressionist movement was not catching on and people were opposed to seeing brush strokes on the canvas. He started buying up art at a price higher than what was asked. He created a false demand for this work so he could sell it at a higher price. He was a leading art dealer at this time. We have him to thank for many of the masterpieces that we can view today.

If that doesn't suggest that art prices can be manipulated, nothing does.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Some rich idiot willing to pay $90 million

 

[tex1989]

Sorry, to many classes in economics and finance in my undergraduate and MBA coming through but the classic definition for the market value of anything is the point at which a buyer and a seller are willing to transact. So the seller thought it was the right price and the buyer thought it was the right price. To to be clear no where in that definition does it speak to the sanity of either party or the wealth of either party so take that for what you will.

 

[Kitty 34]

.....and why do MBA basketball players makes millions, let alone pro baseball, football etc etc...........

 

[ZephyrHawk]

In a book I'm overly fond of, someone quotes a famous horseman as saying, "The price does not represent what the horse is worth, only what some idiot is willing to pay for it."

 

[EveDallas]

This David Hockney Painting was sold for a Record-Breaking $90.3 Million at Christie's.

My question is, how is a painting, especially one by a living artist worth so much?

In my admittedly uneducated opinion, it is a nice painting, but there are dozens, or hundreds just as nice or even better.

What makes this piece so special?

http://www.artnews.com/2018/11/15/d...isties-new-record-work-living-artist-auction/

Because someone with more money than brains paid that much for it.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Wasn't there a mother in the art world that let her 3 year old scribble, and she sold the "pieces" for thousands of dollars?

I will never get art.

Sorry, he's 4yo now

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/06/aelita-andre-chelsea-agora-gallery/351494/

 

[katie01]

.....and why do MBA basketball players makes millions, let alone pro baseball, football etc etc...........

I agree with you that it’s amazing that they can make so much money playing a game. But at least with sports it’s somewhat quantifiable, meaning the people who pay these athletes money have some idea of how much money the athlete will actually be bringing in with ticket sales to the sporting events. Same with actors being paid millions, the studio owners paying them will recoup the salaries in ticket sales to the movies. It seems riskier or harder to quantify with art. Someone else MAY buy that painting for more money down the road, but who really knows? Maybe that style of art won’t be as appealing ten years down the road

 

[_19disnA]

^^ I agree. The value of art is so subjective and what is in vogue today may not be tomorrow. I can see prices simply collapsing when people decide to put their money elsewhere. Art is very risky as an 'investment' since the perceived value is all that drives the price and you simply hope someone in the future will pay more then you did. If not, you are stuck with something you can hang on the wall.

 

[moon]

In a book I'm overly fond of, someone quotes a famous horseman as saying, "The price does not represent what the horse is worth, only what some idiot is willing to pay for it."

Because someone with more money than brains paid that much for it.

What I'd love to know is how you can convince these idiots that your work is that valuable. It would be awesome to make or have something and convince someone to buy it for thousads or even millions!