Why do paintings cost so much ?

Answer 1

When people ask me "How long did it take you to paint that?" I tell them
THIRTY YEARS.

Thirty years of learning, practising, making mistakes... and thirty years of frustration and joy. That's gotta be worth SOMETHING - more than 75 cents an hour plus materials.

Answer 2

You know the saying 'a picture paints a thousand words'. Painting don't work if they don't say something to us, trigger some emotional reaction. The equivalent 'art' is really music, you sometimes get those tunes that cause the hairs on the back of your neck to rise and give you goosebumps, or make you happy or make you sad. But just as some kid blowing on a trumpet (badly) does nothing for you, so will (or won't) a badly drawn picture or uninspired (and uninspiring) painting. Just as some of us are tone deaf and wouldn't recognize a good tune, others won't recognize a good painting. But I'm inclined to think that most folk who stood in front of a great painting would find themselves affected in some way. So we value the 'effect' and we value the rarity of great paintings. Interestingly the comparison with music continues. There have probably been as many 'great' musicians (a few hundred) as there have been great painters. Lots of other folk make music (and we're grateful for it), but most of it doesn't 'move the world' and last in our collective memory for hundreds of years. You have to note though, that the 'effect' I talk about is amplified when art does something new or shocking. So part of Picasso's and Jeff Koons 'power' is their shocking subjects or size and the fact that they did it 'first'. So while looking at Koon's puppy might not give you the same sense of awe (after the hundredth time), you'd know that it would have that effect on folk meeting it for the first time, and collectors would know that there was 'only one' and you owned it. You could also say that all the bad painting make the good ones valuable, and when a high price is attached to a bad painting (and it sells) then it represents the happy conjunction of lack of talent (the artist), avarice (the dealer) and stupidity (the buyer with more money than sense).

Answer 3

It depends.

Some paintings cost a lot because of the supplies used. Canvas can range in price but in general gets expensive the larger it gets.

If the artist is using a medium (type of paint or charcoal, etc) that has to dry before you add a new "layer," it can take a very long time to paint something.

If you spend your life making things from your heart you need to make sure you get paid well for something that took you 30+ hours to make. If you take the cost and divide it by 40 hours (a normal work week) you can figure out how much it cost an hour to make that painting.

Take out the cost of supplies and whatnot and you can see that not much is left... unless it is someone who is very well known. Thomas Kincaid for instance over charges middle-aged women for his crappy prints of paintings. That is not really art... that is also another answer than what you are looking for.

Happy picture buying.

Answer 4

when you buy a painting, you are not paying just for some paint on a canvas. You are buying an artists special talent. They have a talent that not too many other people can do, so that makes their work special.

Value also increases when there are a limited number of works to purchase. Sometimes we are willing to pay high prices for things just so that we will be the only person who has a certain item. People like to say "my Picasso" or "my Chagall". makes them feel important and then people know that they must be wealthy.

Answer 5

They all don't.

But, good ones do!
And It has little to do with the price of art supplies.
It's the artisists' interpretation of a subject combined with his/herskill and technique.

It's very much like music... It's not the fact that Paul McCartney played a $500 Hofner base that made the Beatles a great band.

It's not the fact that they played their instruments and sang well.

It's not the wonderful, timely and insightful lyrics that they wrote.

It's all of those things coming together.

The same is true for a good painting.

Answer 6

For several reasons.

But if you are buying an original painting by an accomplished artist then you are buying exactly that: An original, one-of-a-kind, work of art. It's yours now. Something no one else in the entire world can claim.

Prints and limited-addition runs simply don't command the same awe or respect as an original.

Answer 7

SOME paintings are expensive because the public has convinced itself that they are irreplaceable. If the artist was very talented and has since died, this may be true. Today, however, it is often not. The value of art today is usually the result of marketing. If I spend a million dollars on advertising, I can certainly get someone to bid 2 million on my dirty underwear. If it's my girlfriends underwear, I just put it on ebay.

Answer 8

Because artists deserve to make a living too. A really good painting can take at least a week, more likely a month to create. Most artists can't get what they deserve, it is a sad state of affairs.

Answer 9

First they are desirable and are much more popular than just copies or prints. Also, it takes a lot of work and a LONG time to paint especially if its a good picture.

Answer 10

They take a lot of time and materials. Also, they are a little fingerprint of the artist's soul. Soul doesnt' come cheap.