Subjectivity reigns in the art world. For this reason, although it may be difficult to put personal tastes in the background, it would not be consistent to deny the other while calling what one does as art. Because the artist’s way of expressing himself does not need to find meaning on the other side.
If this were the case, we might be seeing uniform works of art that change from period to period. Just like the music that was popular on social media for a while but later left its place to others. This is also the case for tables. Still, when looking at the painting in front of you, one can’t help but think, “What is x million dollars in this?” saying.
Let’s start with the reason everyone knows. Tables have collectible value.
For this reason, no matter how much you bid in auctions where few people participate, higher bids keep coming. Because these paintings are both unique and very few in number. Especially if the artist who made those paintings has passed away, the paintings gain value as they get older. If the painting is already old, we constantly see that it is sold for millions of dollars.
It is also known that the rich can benefit from tax advantages if the purchased works are donated.
Yet another reason everyone knows: Labor
Comparing a highly detailed landscape image with an abstract painting in terms of labor would be like saying classical music is better than rock. For this reason, it would not be right to directly compare these tables in different classes. Whichever is closer to your taste will automatically attract you.
This thought can also play a role when considering the effort put into it. However, we cannot say to someone “this is not art” just because it seems simpler anyway. In a way, it depends on how the art responds to the recipient.
However, it would be wrong to say that there is no common perception of labor. This labor hides itself either in the visible details or in the background of the image, that is, its meaning.
Artist Hakan Yılmaz had previously explained this as follows:
“Art is not about producing images. It’s about generating context. You don’t need a visual skill to create a creative relationship between two different topics or concepts that have not been related before. This can only be handled with pure creativity. So, is creativity a talent? No, creativity is a behavior.
Even if you put 3 stones in front of many creative artists I know, you can make enjoyable art works with them…
Art is the name of its underlying glimmer of intelligence, and not every image has that glimmer.”
This timeless statement by the artist for one of our content on artificial intelligence also shows that we should not forcefully attribute meaning to every image.
For this reason, some people who spend millions on these works do not do it blindly. Because they are also used as investment tools.
Think of the Arab princes who bought a limited edition car in the first place and didn’t drive it once or even look at it. This is often the reason why traders buy and hold expensive charts. Because the collection value of the paintings increases over a long period of time, much more of the money given at the beginning can be returned.
As we said before, the more time passes, the more valuable the work becomes. There is a similar logic on the antique side. This adds to the collectible value.
In the art community, many factors play a role, such as the originality of the work.
When you look at different paintings that are admired in every aspect, you see an expression. For this reason, standing in front of the painting and cliché “What did the artist want to convey here?” You don’t need to get into your thoughts. You just need to know that there is only 1 of the work in front of you, and that work comes out with a unique combination of brushes. One step beyond this, there are different things such as the movement in which the work is included and the characteristics of the period in which it was created.
The same is true for books. For this reason, when we like a certain author or book, “I wonder what else is there?” we wonder. However, an outsider often looks at these paintings as a means of earning rather than through the eyes of art.
There is also the ‘money laundering’ part of the business, which is not talked about much.
As with NFTs, there is no law that controls the fee in tables, so you can either give the picture you have free of charge or sell it for millions of dollars. When this painting is sold, it cannot be questioned where this money came from. We already see that the same thing is done over crypto.
In conclusion…
We said that among the factors affecting the value of the work are whether the creator is alive, how old it is, its originality, the effort given and the collection value arising from all of these. However, it is worth noting that the valuation part varies for each work.
Because although we see paintings sold for millions of dollars, apart from these, there are many works that are out of our focus. Probably, a very large part of these works will not even be worth $ 1,000. This is not because the piece in question is bad, but because very few have access to the auctions we mentioned.
- Sources: New York Times, Medium, Vox
- Headline: Joan Miro (1893-1983) – Peinture (Le Chien)
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