Valuation in the Art Market: How to Accurately Estimate the Price of Artworks

By Andrew Bay, UK


The value of a work of art is often determined by factors which are not always easily discernible at first. Are there any specific methods or rules of thumb, available to buyers and sellers, to ascertain the monetary value of artworks? Can we understand the factors that have an effect on the prodigious prices of great artistic masterpieces? 

Undoubtedly, one of the key factors to take into account in order to determine the value of an artwork is where the piece stands, in relation to the artist's overall body of work. For example, the value of an Andy Warhol Campbell's soup print would greatly exceed the value of one of his pet portrait prints. The reason is quite simple: the Campbell's soup cans are vastly more iconic.

To the layman, these variances can be quite perplexing indeed. But the basic maths behind the business of art simply follows the rules of any market economy: demand and supply, in their infinite number of variations, dictate the price of all transactions in the art world. And in this particular market, the supply is always more limited than the demand, thus invariably driving prices higher up the financial stratosphere. Other peripheral factors that influence the price of artworks include: the number of exhibitions which the artist may have had in the past, the tally of the artist's previous sales, and the volume of their output. 

At Composition Gallery, our pricing policy is always shaped by our desire to reach a mutually beneficial arrangement with the owner of the artwork. Therefore, our main concern is to arrive at a commonly reached decision with our partners, to settle on the pricing range for the work.

In order to make an accurate estimation for the price of your artwork, we will perform a valuation, based on our industry expertise and the knowledge pool which we share with other galleries, auction houses, art curators, and dealers. We have been a successfully established online gallery since 2005, and we're therefore able to provide accurate, fair and practical estimates for the value of your works. We have a long history of rating and assessing artworks, and the specialist training required to correctly establish the worth of your artifacts. As the value of your works will intermittently change over time, with the fluctuating markets, an appraisal is the best tool at your disposal, to decide how much you want to sell your art for. Composition Gallery specialises in artwork valuations and appraisals. Among the many reasons why we always recommend that our partners conduct an evaluation for their works, is that an appraisal is routinely expected, to settle the insurance value of your artworks, in case of damage, theft, or restoration costs. An appraisal may also be needed to secure a financial loan, or simply for tax deduction purposes.

Composition Gallery is resolutely dedicated to providing clarity and transparency to its partners, about what they should buy and sell their art pieces for. All prices are estimated based on accurate market research, gallery records and the exhibitions history of the artists and the works.

Lastly, from a logistics point of view, it is of the utmost importance for Composition Gallery to collaborate with highly reliable couriers. Once the transaction has been completed, we will securely handle the administration of the shipping costs for the artworks and oversee their packing, tracking number assignment, insurance fee ad import duties. For our American clients, it may be duly noted that the US authorities do not apply import duties taxes on artworks. For our European clients, VAT rates may greatly vary from one country to the next; Germany for example applies reduced VAT rates for artwork transactions, and other countries such as Greece or Italy, request explicit permission to export artworks to their territories.