I just received a curious email request from a visitor (let’s call him “Fred”) at FineArtAmerica.com. Fred found one of my very early watercolors from 1970 at the Salvation Army and wanted to know if it was worth purchasing it to “make money.”<\/p>\n
Aside from the slightly insulting but nevertheless\u00a0humorous thought of my work winding up in the “gallery” section of a Salvation Army thrift store, the idea that my work could be used by someone else<\/em> to “make money” is alarming. Additionally, the ignorance and insensitivity of asking the actual\u00a0artist whether his\/her artwork is “worth purchasing” is offensive. For the last few years at least most queries\u00a0like this that I have received have been couched in a request for the “insurance value” of a piece someone might have inherited or purchased. If the query\u00a0is accompanied by a statement of enjoyment or love of the piece, that removes suspicion and I am happy.<\/p>\n The point of this rant is that I am increasingly appalled that artists’ work has been commoditized and to many people its only\u00a0or main\u00a0value is monetary.<\/p>\n I may have sounded a bit snotty to “Fred” with the reply, “I don\u2019t recommend anyone buy any artwork whatsoever to \u201cmake money\u201d (whatever that means), unless you own a gallery. If you like the artwork buy it, otherwise don\u2019t.” <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n And<\/span> “…a<\/span>s a living artist trying to make a living at painting I have no idea what the \u201cinvestment\u201d value of my work is or will be” <\/span><\/em>nor do I really care. My only real concern is that a purchaser or collector of my work enjoys seeing it hanging on their wall.<\/span><\/p>\n Comment to let me know what you think!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I just received a curious email request from a visitor (let’s call him “Fred”) at FineArtAmerica.com. Fred found one of my very early watercolors from 1970 at the Salvation Army and wanted to know if it was worth purchasing it to “make money.” Aside from the slightly insulting but nevertheless\u00a0humorous thought of my work winding … Continue reading Artwork Is Not A Commodity<\/span>