Today, pricing art. For me, this is one of the hardest parts of getting art out into the world, probably cuz I’m still new at it. I don’t know what this painting is worth, and anyway who would be crazy enough to buy it at any price? (I know. Get help, Maria.) But the pricing thing is an issue not just for me but for other artists I know.
One recent guest on this radio show says she pretty much prices paintings by the square inch – except in cases where the small ones seem worth more or the large ones not so much. So then we’re back where we started, feeling our way in a fog, trying to guess what the market will bear.
Then it occurred to me that I happen to know an expert on this subject, someone who prices art for her gallery. Barbara Nair is the artistic and executive director of the nonprofit Spectrum Gallery in Centberbrook, CT. She occasionally shows my work in her gallery and I also take part in her her twice yearly outdoor art fairs. One is coming up, by the way, on Oct. 7 and 8, in Madison.
Barbara recently sat down with me in her small office to share the secrets of pricing art. Bottom line: its complicated.
Works discussed in the episode — The whale wall hangings are by Old Lyme artist Andrew Teran. The rest are by me.
Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, CT has been in business 11 years. It started in a smaller space in Killingly and will expand next year into an annex that will allow space for more programming.
@spectrumartgallery
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