From ancient cave engravings to modern day pop surrealism and lowbrow, art has been around for millennia and as long as humans and their imaginations live, it will continue to develop. Art in the form of paintings has been a big part of our history and culture.
We appreciate and value good art quite highly because it is beautiful, has expressive power and can move us in many ways. Some art carries historic value, some carries emotional value, and some art carries both, but all art has some value attached to it in one way or another.
It may not always be monetary value but it has value, nonetheless. That being said, there is something about the monetary value of a work of art that makes it seemingly more beautiful to some people, namely pickers and collectors.
Art Beauty & Big Bucks
Pickers and collectors understand the value of a good piece of art and they actively search for them when they are prospecting for valuable items they can collect or resell for a profit. The high demand of valuable paintings makes them even more expensive and some can sell for up to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Recently, a small painting by Sandro Botticelli was sold for $92.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York at the beginning of the year. The highest a Botticelli has ever been sold for in the history of his works. This is exceptional value for a piece of canvas with some paint on it.
To give you a reference of how this particular piece of art appreciated in value over the years, the previous owner of this Botticelli, the late real estate billionaire Sheldon Solow, bought it at Christie’s in 1982 for 810,000 pounds. Making it cost around 10,000 percent more today than its previous sale price.
Which begs the question…
What Makes Paintings So Valuable?
There are a few factors that determine the price of a painting and pickers and collectors know these too well. They include:
· Authenticity
The first, most basic factor that adds to the value of a painting is whether it is authentic or not. It is the main differentiating factor between an inexpensive copy of painting and an original work of art by a known artist like Monet or Picasso.
Experts, pickers and collectors will often determine authenticity by examining the painting itself or the artist’s signature. Although, it is important to note that some extremely rare and authentic pieces of art are not signed by their artists.
· Historic Importance
If a painting has historic importance, in that it was of importance in the history of art in some way, it is automatically a hundredfold more valuable than other paintings.
· Provenance
Another value determining factor is the painting’s provenance, or history of who it belonged to. This means that a painting that comes from a respected gallery or if it was once owned by a prominent or passionate collector, it is relatively worth more than other paintings.
· Artist’s Fame
Sometimes, paintings will automatically cost more if their artist is trending or famous in some way. This price factor remains true, regardless of whether the painting has any staying power or not.
· Color
Color is also a determining factor when it comes to the value and price of a painting. Historically, paintings that contain the color red, for example, have always been more expensive than those that do not.
· Medium
As a rule of thumb, works on canvas will always be more expensive than those on paper. Similarly, paintings are more expensive than a sketch or, naturally, a print copy.
· Typicality
If a painting exhibits recognizable features of a famous artist, it is worth more than other paintings, including those by the same artist. For example, a cubist painting by Picasso will typically sell for more than his other works, such as one of his early landscapes, because people associate him with cubism.
· Background of the Artist
If the artist of the painting in question has an appealing back story, like an untimely early death for example, it will affect the price of the painting. This is partly because if the artist produced less work during their short lifespan, then supply and demand can automatically change the painting’s value.
Moreover, it is also because artists’ lives tend to fascinate people, so any appealing story, or background of the artist, helps sell their paintings for higher prices.
· Attractiveness
Although difficult to quantify in words, a painting’s attractiveness is possibly the biggest factor in determining its price and value. Is it shocking? Is it inspirational? Is it absolutely gorgeous? Does it draw you in closer but you do not understand why? All of these attractive qualities help increase the price.
Where to Find Valuable Paintings?
Known and valuable paintings are most often sold at auctions. These include online auctions, private auctions and public auctions. Pickers and collectors often go to auctions where they know they might find valuable paintings which they can buy and resell for a profit.
Another common place where you can find and pick valuable paintings are estate sales. Pickers and collectors know too well that estate sales are ripe with hidden gems and you might often find valuable paintings that have been passed down from generations.
Additionally, while not nearly as common, you may find valuable paintings at garage sales. Although the chances of you finding a Monet or a Picasso at a garage sale are close to none, you may still find some fairly valuable and profitable paintings at very low prices.
Conclusion
When searching for and picking paintings to resell for a profit, pickers and collectors need to pay close attention to the style, medium, provenance, artist, authenticity and many aspects of a painting. Is it watercolor? Is it oil on canvas? Is it a Botticelli? Is it a Picasso, if so, is it cubist or landscape?
There are many things to consider and many places to look for when picking for valuable paintings.
What We Do
At ‘How to Become a Picker’ we are experts in picking and collecting all sorts of valuable paintings and historic works of art by famous artists and even unsigned works. We have successfully grown our picking company from scratch to now making 6 figure revenues a year.
This is all made possible through picking, collecting and reselling valuable items from garage sales, estate sales and auctions. We promote and teach the picker lifestyle to interested individuals and enthusiasts who want to make money through picking successfully.
You can learn more about picking and collecting valuable items, like paintings, for a profitable resale or how to become a picker, by visiting our website today.