Why Is Art So Expensive?

Summary

This Crash Course Art History episode explores the evolution of the art market, highlighting how art sales have shifted from patronage in 15th-century Europe to today’s billion-dollar global industry. It touches on the roles of patrons, guilds, art dealers, and auction houses, showcasing the power of money and status in the art world. The episode also delves into issues of provenance, stolen art, and the disparities in who profits from art sales, with contemporary critiques from artists like Banksy and CB Hoyo on the gallery industrial complex.

Takeaways

• 💎 The value of art can be extraordinarily high, with a Van Gogh painting recently selling for $71 million.
• 💰 Throughout history, the rich and powerful have heavily influenced the art market, but this has also led to progress in artistic freedom.
• 🖼️ In the 15th century, art was mostly commissioned by wealthy patrons, giving them significant control over the art's material, technique, and subject matter.
• 🎨 By the 17th century, artists in places like the Dutch Republic began creating non-commissioned work to sell freely, leading to more creative freedom.
• 🏛️ Art guilds and full-time art dealers emerged, setting standards for what made art valuable and establishing a consumer-focused market.
• 📈 By the 18th century, art was being bought and sold in auctions, and collectors began buying based on trends, with works often changing hands multiple times.
• 🔍 Art provenance, the history of a piece's ownership, plays a major role in determining its value, as seen in the case of 'Salvator Mundi.'
• 🛑 Many artworks were stolen during European colonialism, posing ethical dilemmas about their rightful ownership today.
• 💼 The modern art market, sometimes criticized as a 'gallery industrial complex,' benefits a few wealthy players, while most artists see little financial gain from secondary sales.
• 🎭 Artists like Banksy and CB Hoyo critique the excesses of the art market, with Banksy famously destroying one of his pieces to protest the system, which ironically increased its value.

Q & A

What is the significance of the $71 million painting mentioned at the beginning of the transcript?

The $71 million painting by Vincent Van Gogh highlights how the art market is dominated by wealthy collectors and demonstrates the high monetary value some artworks can reach, often making them inaccessible to most people.

What role did patronage play in the European art market during the 15th century?

In the 15th century, the system of patronage allowed wealthy individuals, like nobility, to commission specific works of art directly from artists. The patrons had significant control over the artwork, dictating materials, subject matter, and technique.

How did the Dutch Republic change the way art was sold in the 17th century?

In the Dutch Republic, artists began creating and selling non-commissioned work to the general public. This marked the emergence of a free market where artists had more creative freedom, as they were no longer bound by patrons’ specific requests.

What was the role of art guilds in the art market during the 17th century?

Art guilds established standards for artistic quality and helped artists set prices for their work. They also played a role in connecting artists with potential buyers, shaping the evolving art market.

How did art dealers influence the market in the 18th century?

Art dealers became intermediaries between artists and buyers, purchasing various artworks from workshops or guilds and reselling them at higher prices. This made it easier for wealthy collectors to acquire a diverse range of art in one place.

What impact did auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have on the art market?

Auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s played a significant role in art sales from the 18th century onwards, creating a secondary market where collectors could sell and resell works. This helped the art market expand and increase in value.

What is provenance, and why is it important in the art market?

Provenance refers to the documented history of ownership of an artwork. It is crucial in determining the authenticity and value of a piece, especially when considering how an artwork has changed hands or been restored.

How does the example of 'Salvator Mundi' illustrate fluctuations in art value?

'Salvator Mundi,' once sold for just $72 in 1958, increased in value as it was restored and later attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Its final sale in 2017 for over $450 million illustrates how the perceived origin and historical importance of an artwork can drastically increase its value.

What challenges are posed by stolen artworks in the art market?

The art market contains many stolen works, often taken during colonial times. Returning these artworks to their rightful owners is challenging due to the complexity of tracking their provenance and determining who has rightful ownership.

What critiques do contemporary artists like CB Hoyo and Banksy offer about the art market?

Artists like CB Hoyo and Banksy critique the excessive wealth and status-seeking behavior of collectors in the art market. Hoyo mocks the luxury-driven market with satirical versions of famous works, while Banksy’s 'Girl With Balloon' stunt criticized the high prices paid for art, even though it ultimately increased the work’s value.

Outlines

00:00

💸 Art and Money: The Price of Creativity

The paragraph opens with a rhetorical question about how one might spend $35 million, humorously listing extravagant purchases before revealing that a modestly-sized painting by Vincent Van Gogh recently sold for $71 million. It acknowledges the disappointment of high art prices and notes how wealth and status have long influenced the art market. However, it frames this as a story of progress and artistic freedom as much as it is about wealth. Sarah Urist Green introduces herself and Crash Course Art History, acknowledging the undeniable role money has played in art's history.

05:04

🖼️ Patronage and the Evolution of Art Sales

This section explains how art was traditionally bought and sold through the patronage system, where wealthy patrons would commission artists. Patrons had control over the materials, technique, and subject matter. The analogy of commissioning a painting to ordering a sandwich at Subway adds humor. The narrative then fast-forwards to the 17th century, when economic growth and the rise of the Dutch Republic enabled artists to sell non-commissioned works, marking the shift towards a free market. Art guilds and dealers became integral to the sale of art, standardizing pricing and offering wealthy buyers more choices.

10:07

📈 The Rise of Consumer-Focused Art Markets

This paragraph describes how, by the 18th century, the art market had become more consumer-focused. Art was sold at auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, which thrived through the 18th and 19th centuries. As art collecting became trendy, works of art were frequently resold as tastes changed. The narrative highlights the financial scale of the global art market today, which is valued at over $64 billion, and introduces appraisers who help determine the monetary value of artworks, noting how prices can fluctuate significantly over time.

🎨 Salvator Mundi: The Mysterious Journey of a Masterpiece

The focus here is on the remarkable story of the painting 'Salvator Mundi,' allegedly by Leonardo da Vinci. It vanished in 1763 and reappeared in 1958, selling for just $72. After a series of sales and restorations, its value skyrocketed, eventually fetching over $450 million at auction in 2017. The paragraph highlights how the painting’s origin story, though contested, has played a key role in driving up its price. The role of provenance in determining the value of art is discussed, along with the challenges of assessing and tracing the history of artworks, especially those with disputed ownership.

💥 Stolen Art and the Complexities of Provenance

This paragraph delves into the issue of stolen art, using a Maori figure as an example. It belonged to a Jewish collector who fled the Nazis, but its origins trace back to the Maori people, suggesting it was taken as part of colonial exploitation. The figure’s transformation from a cultural artifact into a valuable piece of art raises tough questions about the art market, particularly regarding stolen works whose original owners are difficult to trace. The narrative challenges readers to consider the ethical complexities surrounding the provenance of many artworks in today's market.

💼 Who Benefits from the Art Market?

The paragraph addresses how the art market primarily benefits a select few collectors, dealers, and auction houses, while most artists only profit from the first sale of their work. This phenomenon dates back to 17th-century art dealers who bought and sold works for a premium. Contemporary artists like CB Hoyo and Banksy critique this system. Banksy’s famous self-destructing painting is mentioned as a pointed criticism of excessive spending in the art market, though it ironically increased the painting’s value. This section examines the paradoxes of the art market’s pricing and critique.

🔮 The Future of the Art Market: Dreaming of Change

In this final section, the narrator reflects on the inevitability of the art market continuing to favor the wealthy, though there is still hope for change. The paragraph notes that despite the high costs of some art, many affordable pieces exist. It concludes by teasing the next episode, which will explore the intersection of art and activism, and encourages viewers to support the series on Patreon.

Keywords

💡Art Market

The art market refers to the system and processes involved in buying and selling art, which have evolved significantly over centuries. In the video, the art market is described as a space dominated by wealth and status, but also one that has allowed for artistic freedom and change, as it transitioned from patronage to free-market dynamics. The global art market is estimated to be worth over 64 billion dollars, illustrating its vast economic scale.

💡Patronage

Patronage was the system by which wealthy individuals or institutions, like nobility or the Church, would commission artists to create specific works. This system gave patrons significant control over the content and form of the art produced, dictating everything from the materials used to the themes depicted. The video contrasts patronage with later developments where artists could sell their work freely in the market.

💡Provenance

Provenance refers to the history of ownership of an artwork, tracing its journey from the creator to each subsequent owner. In the video, provenance is important for determining the value of art, as it helps appraisers and buyers verify authenticity and origin. The complex provenance of the 'Salvator Mundi' painting, for example, contributed to its massive increase in value over time.

💡Salvator Mundi

The 'Salvator Mundi' is a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which went through a dramatic rise in value from $72 in 1958 to over $450 million in 2017. The painting's story is used in the video to illustrate how the art market can inflate prices based on factors such as the perceived artist, condition, and provenance. Its uncertain authorship has also fueled debate, further driving up its value.

💡Art Dealers

Art dealers are intermediaries who buy artworks from artists or other sources and sell them to collectors, often at a higher price. The video explains that these dealers played a crucial role in the evolution of the art market, particularly as it transitioned from a patronage system to a free market. Dealers helped make art accessible to a broader audience by offering a variety of works in one place.

💡Gallery Industrial Complex

The gallery industrial complex refers to the highly commercialized and exclusive nature of the contemporary art world, where a small group of collectors, dealers, and auction houses drive up the value of art. In the video, this system is critiqued for benefiting a few wealthy individuals while most artists see little profit, especially after the initial sale of their work.

💡Secondary Market

The secondary market refers to the sale of artworks after their initial purchase, often through auction houses or private dealers. Unlike the primary market, where artists sell directly to buyers, the secondary market involves reselling art, often at significantly higher prices. The video highlights how artists typically don't profit from these resales, even though their works may increase in value.

💡Colonialism and Art Theft

Colonialism and art theft refer to the practice of European powers seizing artworks from colonized nations during their expansion. The video discusses how many indigenous and non-European artworks were taken without consent and later sold in European markets, becoming part of the art market’s legacy. An example given is a Maori statue, which was taken to Europe and transformed into 'art' with a price tag.

💡Banksy

Banksy is an anonymous British street artist known for his satirical and politically charged artworks. In the video, Banksy's 2018 auction stunt where his artwork 'Girl With Balloon' self-destructed after being sold for $1.4 million is used to illustrate a critique of the excesses of the art market. Ironically, this act only increased the value of the work, underscoring the absurdity of the market’s dynamics.

💡Appraisers

Appraisers are specialists who assess the value of artworks based on factors like provenance, condition, and market demand. The video emphasizes the role of appraisers in determining the fluctuating value of art over time. For instance, the value of 'Salvator Mundi' rose dramatically due to appraisers linking it to Leonardo da Vinci, which heightened its desirability in the market.

Highlights

A Vincent Van Gogh painting sold for $71 million at auction, illustrating the massive prices in the art world.

Throughout history, the wealthy have always dominated art sales, but the specifics have evolved over time.

In 15th-century Italy, the patronage system gave wealthy patrons immense control over art creation, influencing materials, techniques, and subjects.

By the 17th century, artists in the Dutch Republic began selling non-commissioned work, freeing them from patrons' constraints.

Art guilds and full-time art dealers emerged, helping to standardize art value and connect artists with wealthy collectors.

The consumer-focused art market spread across Europe by the 18th century, leading to more frequent art transactions and the growth of auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

The global art market is estimated to be worth over $64 billion, highlighting the economic magnitude of art sales today.

Appraisers play a key role in determining the value of artwork, which can change significantly over time due to factors like provenance.

The story of 'Salvator Mundi' shows how art's perceived origins can drive its price from $72 in 1958 to $450 million in 2017, with debates over its authenticity continuing.

Colonialism played a significant role in the art market, as stolen indigenous artifacts were sold to European collectors and transformed into high-value art.

Many valuable artworks have complex and often dark histories, including theft and displacement during European colonialism and World War II.

The current art market often benefits a small group of wealthy collectors and dealers, while most artists only profit from the initial sale of their work.

Contemporary artists like CB Hoyo and Banksy critique the excess and elitism of the art market through their work.

Banksy’s 'Girl with Balloon' shredded itself after selling for $1.4 million, but its value skyrocketed to $25.4 million, ironically reinforcing his critique of the art world.

The art market is likely to continue favoring the richest individuals, but there is hope for change as art and activism often intersect.

Transcripts

What would you buy with $35 million  dollars? A really big diamond? Your  

own airplane? Maybe a few private islands?  Perfectly affordable. But If you were hoping  

to nab this relatively modestly-sized  oil painting by Vincent Van Gogh,  

I’m afraid you’re out of luck. It recently  sold at auction for $71 million dollars.

It’s disappointing, I know. The rich and powerful  have always taken up a lot of space when it comes  

to art sales, even if the specifics have changed  over time. But the history of this changing market  

is actually as much about progress and artistic  freedom as it is about wealth and status.

Hi, I’m Sarah Urist Green, and  this is Crash Course Art History.

[THEME MUSIC]

We know that art has value beyond its  price tag. In fact, we spent all of  

episode 6 exploring the non-financial side of things. But it’s time to acknowledge the  

elephant in the room – for better or worse, money has always played a major role in the  

art world. Though the specific ways art has been bought and sold have evolved over time.

Like, if I were 15th-century Italian nobility, and I wanted a portrait to spruce up my parlor,  

I could write a letter to an artist friend  of mine – humblebrag – and commission them  

to create one. I’d get a cool new painting, and they’d get a bag of money – win-win.

This was the system of patronage.  And it was pretty much the way that  

art in Europe was bought and sold for a long time.

So, patrons had a ton of power over art:  everything from the material, to the technique,  

to the subject matter. It’s kind of like when you go to Subway and “commission” a sandwich artist —  

except instead of a six-inch veggie delite, you’d be ordering, like, the Sistine Chapel Ceiling.

Now flash forward about two hundred years to the first half of the 17th century. There had  

been enormous economic growth across Europe as the various nation-states expanded trade  

routes and reaped the benefits of colonizing others – benefits that extended to artists, too.

For example, with the creation of the Dutch Republic in what’s now the Netherlands, artists  

began creating non-commissioned work and selling it to anyone who would pay for it. Paintings were  

sold at bookstores, fairs, and even hawked by artists on the street. And that meant artists  

weren’t bound by the whims of their patrons – they could create what they wanted, when they wanted.

As this free market grew, art guilds  gained more power. These associations  

of artists established new standards for  what made art valuable. They’d often help  

artists set the price of a work and  connect with buyers to make the sale.

On top of that, we start to see the  emergence of full-time art dealers.  

These new go-betweens would shop around at guilds and workshops buying a variety  

of artworks. That way, they could provide wealthy collectors with varied options,  

all in one place — and they’d sell  them at a higher price than they paid.

By the dawn of the 18th century, this idea of a consumer-focused art market had spread  

across Europe – including the cultural hubs of London and Paris. While art purchases used to be  

more about legacy and power, now they were more about what was trendy. Collectors would often  

sell off works when their tastes changed. So,  art started changing hands more and more often.

Around the same time, collectors  also began buying and selling art  

from auction houses. Places like  Sotheby’s and Christie’s in London  

were profiting mightily off of art sales  through the 18th and 19th centuries. Both  

of these auction houses are still around  today – and seemingly doing quite well.

Throw in the popularity of online auctions in  the 21st century, and you’ve just completed  

a 600-year speed tour of the art market.  Which brings us to the global art market,  

which is so big, that it’s estimated  to be worth over 64 billion dollars.

That’s a lot of money. And to figure  out where those numbers come from,  

we rely in part on appraisers, the folks who do the work of investigating and analyzing art  

to come up with its value. And that  value can change significantly from  

the first time a piece is sold, to the  last. Let’s head to the drawing board.

Behold: Salvator Mundi. It was allegedly created for King Louis the Twelfth of France around 1500,  

but the artist was unknown for hundreds of years.

In 1763, it disappeared from history.  Just–boop! Gone! Until it reappeared  

in 1958 when it was auctioned off at Sotheby’s for a whole…72 dollars. Then, poof, gone again,  

until it popped back up in 2005 at an American  estate sale. By this point, it was in bad shape.  

The panel was infested with worms, and it had been  painted over in a botched restoration attempt.

But a pair of art dealers bought it for  a little over ten thousand dollars and  

took it to a professional restorer.  As the layers of paint came off,  

they realized they had a prize on  their hands. They were now convinced  

that the Salvator Mundi was made by  none other than Leonardo da Vinci.

When the news broke, the art  industry went wild. In 2013,  

Sotheby’s sold the piece again – this time for  around 75 million dollars. Later that year,  

the buyer turned around and  sold it for over 127 million.

And in 2017, the painting  turned up for auction again,  

where it sold for over 450 million. The  painting has mostly been in storage since,  

except for a stint when it hung inside the yacht  of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

To this day, not everyone is convinced the Salvator Mundi is entirely da Vinci’s work. Still,  

the suggestion that it might be,  and the heated debate around it,  

was compelling enough to  keep driving up the price.

Which goes to show how important a  painting’s perceived origin story is  

to determining its price.  Art specialists, dealers,  

and auction houses keep detailed records to  try to determine an artwork’s provenance — or  

the journey it’s taken from initial  creation through each subsequent sale.

But this gets especially complicated in the case of stolen artworks. When the art market swelled  

to new heights in Europe in the 17th century and beyond, European colonialism was well underway.  

And in addition to taking control of other nations, they stole a whole bunch of art as well.

Take this figure, for example. According to its provenance, it belonged to Jewish collector,  

Frederick Wolff-Knize, who had to abandon it at his home in Vienna when he fled the Nazis in 1938.  

After the war, he reunited with his collection, and he brought the figure to his new home in the  

U.S. Then, in 1950, it went to auction where it was sold into another private collection,  

where it remained until 2019, when  it showed up for auction yet again.

But there’s another story, one that doesn't show up in the provenance. This figure was carved by  

the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. We don’t know the exact story of how Wolff-Knize  

acquired it, but it was likely part of a large  number of indigenous objects that were taken  

from their home country, transported to Europe during the 19th century, and sold to collectors.

Wolff-Knize’s Maori statue went through what’s been described as “art by metamorphosis.” In  

other words, it was never meant to be sold as art, but after it was taken out of context and resold,  

it eventually became art, at least in the way Europeans understood it – with a price tag.

Which poses difficult questions. Like, how  do we reckon with an art market flooded with  

works that were likely stolen from their original owners? Especially when those works have changed  

hands so many times that it’s difficult  to identify where we might return them,  

and to whom? Meanwhile, the stolen works’  financial value may continue to grow or shrink,  

based on the changing tastes  and priorities of collectors.

And here’s another tough question:  who does the art market benefit?

Many valuable pieces cycle  from collector, to dealer,  

to auction and back again — accumulating  more value along the way, in what some  

critics call the gallery industrial complex.  A small handful of players profit handsomely,  

while the majority of participants  in the world of art make very little.

This includes most artists, who typically only  see profit from the initial sale, what’s called  

the primary market, and not from any of the sales  that follow, which we call the secondary market.

This practice stretches all the way  back to those early Dutch art dealers  

in the 17th century, who bought  works and sold them for a premium.

Contemporary artists have found numerous ways to  critique the gallery industrial complex. Like,  

check out this series, called “Fakes” by the Cuban  artist CB Hoyo. By loosely copying works that  

have sold for millions and scrawling pointed  messages across them, Hoyo pokes fun both at  

status-seeking collectors and the system that  provides luxury goods according to their whims.

And Hoyo isn’t alone in his critiques. Take  the anonymous English artist Banksy. In 2018,  

his work, Girl With Balloon, famously  self-destructed immediately after  

selling at auction for 1.4  million dollars. It was an  

intentional move meant to criticize the  excessive spending of the art market.

But many predicted the stunt would only make the  painting more valuable – and they were right. The  

piece, renamed “Love is In the Bin,” sold for  25.4 million dollars when it went to auction  

again in 2021, despite or perhaps because  its bottom half is in pieces. Some critics  

have argued that this undercut Banksy’s act of  rebellion, but others say it only reinforced  

his original message: the art market can  be a wild and recklessly lavish place.

We’ve seen that the art market has  never been static, and it’s sure to  

keep changing in the centuries to come.  Is it likely to continue benefiting the  

richest of the rich? History says yes, but  a girl can always dream. In the meantime,  

there’s plenty of art out there that sells for  less than that hypothetical budget of $35 million.

In our next episode, we’ll dive into the ways that  

art and activism have often gone  hand in hand. I’ll see you there.

Thanks for watching this episode of Crash Course  Art History which was filmed at the Indianapolis  

Museum of Art at Newfields and was made with  the help of all these priceless people. If you  

want to help keep Crash Course free for everyone,  forever, you can join our community on Patreon.