Why do some artists charge so much for the random splatters of paint they make?

Question

The artists that take time and make something beautiful deserve money. The ones who spend ten minutes with a blindfold and 6 colors of paint don't.

Answer 1

The marketplace controls. If someone is willing to buy the piece of art -- whether you think it's beautiful or not -- then the artist is entitled to what he/she is charging.

Nobody buys, the price drops. Simple economics.

Answer 2

Just because it's random doesn't mean it's an "accident". Everything happens purposefully and naturally, though not by some intelligent being controlling the Universe(s). You make it sound like the sun and moon were created just for us, when there are billions of suns and moons that serve us no purpose. But nothing has to serve us any purpose, they were just randomly created through natural processes. Organisms evolve to use natural processes to survive (like eyes). But we DON'T know all the mysteries of the Universe, nobody claims to have all of the answers. Just because we don't have some answers doesn't mean God should be used to fill in the gaps of what we haven't discovered yet. a6kl2 is right, that's called the Ignorance of Proof fallacy, which is when you use lack of understanding as evidence. EDIT: ACTUALLY random splatters of paint are art, and they sell for thousands. You could just appreciate the random beauty of nature instead of inventing a purpose.

Answer 3

In the art world, it isnt always the content that sells but the name behind the piece of art.
There are some artists who really do spend a lot of time picking out the color for the splatter, the location of the splatter, how this amount of force would work in this area, etc.
Generally though, I'm not too fond of that kind of work either.

Answer 4

Because some fools will buy their messes, not paintings. In recent times, mere eccentricity has been mistaken for creativity. It is sad to see such a thing. I paint pictures, and I try to make them as realistic as possible. I don't try to sell rags I used for cleaning my brushes. There is a tale that Picasso told an interviewer that he was a mountebank peddling trash to fools. If he didn't say it, he should have. Salvador Dali said the best painting is the most realistic and that the really great painters lived in the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Answer 5

The market determines the price. If someone is willing to pay it, then the artists can charge it. Sure spatter art can appear as if they just started slinging a brush in any random pattern but there is an art to this.

Answer 6

art cannot be measured in time and cost. i agree with the posters discussing the economy of art. if someone will pay it then the smart artist will charge it. i would hope that the artist is at least as concerned with his or her product as the money. paintings like that that sell i feel certain have been assessed for their color usage and placement, movement quality, depth and intensity. and when it comes down to it....does it have to be a pretty picture for someone to like it?

Answer 7

They charge so much because someone is willing to pay that much.

Some people see value in that art and are willing to pay to acquire an "abstract" piece. It can seem ludicrous, but many of those artists took years and years of training and technical drawing to get to the point where they're famous enough to command such a high price.

Answer 8

Time spent at painting counts more than time spent making a painting. Don't be so quick to diminish someone who controls his medium so well, he can complete a painting in a short period of time...blindfolded.

Answer 9

Go for it, Big Boy, do it! Just take some random paints and splatter them 'round. Do it in an original way nobody's thought of before. Start with small splatters and one color. Work your way up; see if they give you a dime. It ain't as easy as it looks.

Answer 10

art is more than paint and a canvas. It's your imagination. And if that's what their imagineation is then that all they can give.