Last Wednesday I met with a former art director who had been working in Madrid for multinationals and top brands. He had had a great relationship with artists and among other things he told me why so many of them (even those with hundreds of thousands of followers) are obsessed with having more followers and more likes on the networks.
Here's how it works:
A young artist starts selling his paintings for about 500€.
A little later he meets a gallery, they like each other and start working together. The gallery tells him that his work is too good to be worth 500€. And they go up to €1,000.
The gallery's contacts and the art fairs begin to have an effect, there are sales. Things are going well and they recommend raising prices again.
And they go a little higher.
And more...
And the day comes when the 500€ painting is worth 10.000€, 20.000€ or 40.000€...
And you know what the problem is?
They don't sell anymore. Nothing. Zero.
Yes, yes... having paintings worth €10,000 gives a lot of prestige but the reality is that many artists do not sell any and are desperate to gain followers in the networks in the hope that one of them has €10,000 to buy one of his works.
It's a shame but it's even worse because in the art world lowering prices is taboo. It is a red line. You can go up but not down. No gallery would allow it. So the artist who at some point went up to €10,000 can no longer go down. Even if he doesn't sell, even if his back bills are piling up.
It is the game of perception in the art world. High prices generate glamour, confidence and prestige. But it's not free, it often comes with killing sales. And the one who pays the price is the artist.
And one last thing, my next auction will have a starting price of 10.000€... no, no... just kidding. It will be less. Much, much less. I don't understand glamour or prestige so I can keep selling cheap.
Discover the next Auction Legendary™.
