Criteria for Evaluating Art

You’ve probably stood in front of an artwork more than once and thought, “Even my grandmother could paint better than that,” then clutched your head after seeing its four-digit price tag. How can such an ugly piece of art cost so much?

At first glance, art valuation may seem completely incomprehensible. Still, it’s actually based on fairly clear criteria for why one artwork’s value is higher and another’s is lower — and why, for instance, works by Jackson Pollock cost staggering sums. At the same time, the painted cats sold on street markets are cheap. Drawing on insights from Michael Findlay’s book The Value of Art: Money, Power, Beauty, we can sort art valuation criteria by market type: primary and secondary (always comparing works of the same genre and artist tier).

In the primary art market (when a work is bought directly from the creator), you are paying directly for the artist’s skill and time. This is the first sale of a new work, where the following criteria matter:

1. Size

One of the most obvious factors determining an artwork’s price is its physical size. The larger the painting or sculpture, the more expensive it is. Larger works require more materials and time. There is, however, one exception: artworks too large for a home setting, which can only be displayed in large spaces (banks, offices, hospitals, etc.). The price of such works is no longer increased for size, since their exhibition potential is limited.

2. Edition

Unique, one-of-a-kind works are the most expensive when compared within the same artist category. Sculptures are sometimes produced in multiple editions, in which case the first sculpture will be the most expensive, and later ones progressively cheaper. This does not apply to prints or photography editions.

3. Material quality and production cost

There is a certain hierarchy in the world of materials and production, where some materials are significantly more expensive than others, and some production methods require more effort. For example, oil paint is a high-quality material that is resistant to moisture and sunlight, so oil paintings are priced higher than less durable works on paper.

The secondary art market includes all works being purchased not for the first time (no longer from the artist or original dealer). While the value of most used movable goods — a car, say — typically depreciates over time, a resold artwork’s value can rise considerably. In the secondary market, price depends on supply and demand along with other relevant criteria.

4. The artist

The artist’s name recognition is a key criterion affecting a work’s value. The more well-known and popular the artist, the more expensive their work will be. You might buy a young creator’s work cheaply, and years later, once they’ve become well-known, sell it for tens of times more.

5. Supply (rarity)

In both the primary and secondary markets, a work’s rarity and accessibility matter — whether that rarity is real or merely perceived. You’ll often hear art dealers say things like “only four copies of this work were ever made” or “this artist won’t create anymore, so these are their final works.” Rarity doesn’t just justify the price — it also gives the buyer entry into an exclusive club of owners of unique works.

6. Ownership history (provenance)

An artwork’s ownership history — also called provenance — is important in determining its price. If a work belonged to a well-known collector or was exhibited at a significant venue, this can raise its value by as much as 15 percent.

7. Condition

It’s recommended to have a condition assessment report for an artwork. The more serious the qualifications of the condition assessor, the more weight the assessment carries — and the better the condition, the more expensive the work. The impact of condition on value often depends on the era’s culture and shifting taste. For example, 50 years ago, Americans favored fully restored Impressionist paintings, but in recent years, Impressionist paintings that were restored more modestly have come to be valued more highly.

8. Authenticity

It’s important that a work comes with documents proving authenticity, so the buyer isn’t deceived into purchasing a worthless forgery or a work incorrectly signed (i.e., not actually by the artist they believe they’re buying). Proof of authenticity secures the value of the purchased work and the likelihood of future investment return.

9. Exhibition

One of the best moments to sell an artwork is after a successful exhibition in one of the country’s leading exhibition halls. It’s worthwhile to lend owned artworks to museums and galleries — not just to share them with the public, but also to promote and popularize the works so that they can later be sold successfully and profitably. It’s worth noting that there are both written and unwritten rankings of exhibition spaces, so it’s always important to keep in mind that displaying a work in a low-prestige or overtly commercial venue can actually harm its value.

10. Quality

There are hardly two people in the world who, looking at the same artwork, have identical experiences. And although one’s relationship with an artwork is individual, art specialists agree there are criteria that help distinguish an average or typical work from a high-quality, original one — regardless of the work’s style or subject. These criteria are mastery of technique, persuasiveness of execution, and uniqueness of expression.

The ability to perceive quality can be trained fairly easily through extensive looking and evaluating. To quote Michael Findlay himself: “The art market recognizes quality, and there is ultimately a strong correlation between price and quality. No one has ever made a mistake by paying more to buy the best.”

Ornela Ramašauskaite, head of artXchange Global, an art market consultancy agency, notes that “buying an artwork — or perhaps even starting a collection — is a very interesting and engaging game with many components. There is no mysticism here; it is more a matter of romance because works of art also hold the status of an emotional investment. Once you start delving into it, whether independently or with professional help, the work’s price and its projected trajectory become quite clear.

What’s harder for people to understand is that works of art are fluid values—although the decision to purchase one is very important at the time of purchase, people change, and with them, their tastes, their desire to have—or not to have—certain memories, and their desire to reflect themselves or their surroundings through specific works by certain artists. So an artwork’s potential liquidity — or even the possibility of profitable earnings — is an additional factor in the decision to buy.”