Hi

I was approached by a colleague of mine to sell one of my paintings to him. But since I am new to painting, I have no clue as to what should be the price of a painting. Could someone suggest a probable price range in which I could price the paintings?

I am attaching a couple of paintings here for reference.

Thanks.

Sandeep Khedkar

As a fairly new artist, I too struggle with pricing. The business side of being an artist is so different than the creative side.

By the way, your paintings you've displayed are very nice, love the contrast of color, and look forward to seeing more of your work posted on the watercolor forum. Let me know how the sale goes.

Darlene

If you are struggling with pricing, you probably have other nagging questions. I suggest reading Joanne Berkow's book, What They Didn't Teach You in Art School. She is a very successful artist, gallerist and also operates a giclee atelier. She offers a whole chapter on pricing, which was succinctly summarized by reisafp. Joanne's book is only available from her Web site: www.jbberkow.com. At $20 plus shipping, it's well worth the price.

Joanne discusses the methods of time or per sq. in. What you have to decide is what each of those is worth to you and what you want to make from the effort. The point is to decide a method and then be consistent in how you apply it. The suggestion of finding prices in local galleries is good. You can also look in the many online sites selling works of self-represented artists for a broader look.

As an amateur, it is understandable that you are anxious about pricing. However, if you want your work to be out in the world beyond your family and friends, you have to deal with the business issues. They will never go away.

I also strongly suggest reading on negotiation. It is part of the business for any artist and just having a modicum of improved skill in negotiating can help you make and keep more money from every aspect of your artist career. Whether dealing with art shows, magazines, landlords, printers, publicists, galleries, dealers, collectors and others, you end up in negotiation. Understanding the process and how to proceed in it is as invaluable as being able to paint things people want to buy when it comes to your career, even amateur career as an artist. You can find some recommended books on negotiation on the Good Reading link on my site at: http://barneydavey.com/books.html.

Finally, aim to price competitively with confidence. Even as a newly emerging artist, if you portray a sense of confidence in your skill, your vision and your pricing, it conveys to galleries and buyers. Confidence and poise are enormously attractive values to possess. They are for most people learned skills. Being first aware allows you to observe your behavior and change it for the better. Conversely, being either cocky and overpriced or too humble and underpriced sends a negative image to those you seek to impress. Best wishes for success with your art!

Having representation by more than one gallery is never a problem. Having inconsistent pricing is always a problem. Set fair competitive prices and stick to it. If you have an arrangement with a gallery, you should both be clear on what you are doing to sell art, especiailly prints, outside the gallery. You do not want to compete with your gallery, and you certainly don't want to undermine the credibility of the gallery or your pricing by offering the work cheaper when you sell it yourself. The work is worth what it's worth regardless of who sells it or where it is sold.

Depending on your contract with the gallery, you may need to pay them. Most likely not unless it is somehow directly involved in the sale. Doing some reading on the subject will help you understand. Many of the best art business books cover the artist-gallery relationship in detail.

Having good relations with your gallery and showing respect for their business model will serve you well. Gallery owners get rightly miffed when they spend the money to publicize and promote an artist only to have the artist sell under them or compete directly with them. With the proliferation of Internet sites for self-represented artists, it's harder to not compete with brick and mortar galleries. It's one reason why more galleries are selling more originals. They don't have to compete with online sites and cut rates.

Hi Sandeep Khedkar, 

As a newbie on the art scene as well, I have the same problem knowing how to price my art; I wish there were just one clear cut way of gauging how much it is worth without so many variables!  I recently received a newsletter from Robert Genn about pricing art I thought I would share [some of it] with you.  Hope it helps!

Lynda

"Dear Artist,

Like politics and religion, it's perhaps an indelicate subject, but somebody has to talk about it. ...
Artists young and old--particularly those who have the intention of staying in the game--ought to strategize for the big picture and honour their strategy with Biblical tenacity. Here are the Ten Commandments of art pricing:

Thou shalt start out cheap.
Thou shalt publish thy prices.
Thou shalt raise thy prices regularly and a little.
Thou shalt not lower thy prices.
Thou shalt not have one price for Sam and another for Joe.
Thou shalt not price by talent or time taken, but by size.
Thou shalt not easily discount thy prices.
Thou shalt lay control on thy agents and dealers.
Thou shalt deal with those who will honour thee.
Thou shalt end up expensive.

Best regards,

Robert"

PS: "While artists may believe that the marketplace was invented by the devil and remains in his henchman's hands, they have no choice but to carry long spoons and sup there." (Eric Maisel) "He profits most who serves best." (Arthur F. Sheldon) "To everything there is a season." (Ecclesiastes)

Esoterica: My prices change on a set date once a year. (For some inane reason it's April Fools Day) Prices on all available paintings, in galleries and out, advance on that day. I "leak" the new prices a month or two early. These days the leak occurs online. Savvy dealers are quietly spurred to make sales before prices go up. If you happen to be interested in this concept, the price-change page on my own site can be seen at www.robertgenn.com/dealers.html#pl