Understanding the Art Market: The Value of Exposure

Understanding the Art Market: The Value of Exposure

Further to a previous post on the different events that can affect the prices of artists I have accumulated some more data that provides further evidence of how different factors can contribute to the price rise of an artist. Art is usually bought with the intention of hanging on the wall and providing enjoyment for the owner which means that some artworks stay in the hands of their owners for long periods of time.

If an artwork by a well known artist comes onto the market after a long period of time in a private collection there tends to be a lot of interest and exposure given to these works resulting in more competitive bidding and a higher realised price. Artworks from prestigious and well known public and private collections that come onto the market also seem to attract premiums because of the provenance.

According to artprice.com in 2003 the break-up of several prestigious art collections such as the Forbes Collection and the Andre Breton collection saw the most featured artists receive up to triple the estimated price. It is quite obvious from these statistics that the connections and provenance that can be associated with a work of art can often be a catalyst for increased prices.

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectables for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.