Why is Fine Art Expensive—Part 1, Overhead

We are occasionally asked why fine art is so expensive. People have asked, for example,
“How much does a piece of canvas and a few paints cost? It can’t be more than a few dollars for the materials.” There is more to it than materials, however, and I can think of three things. First, running a small business involves overhead; second, making an oil painting requires specialized skill; third, the final product is unique. This post is about the first of these, overhead.

Artists need to work for a living. To be a good painter requires time in front of the easel—a lot of time. It also requires canvas, paint, thinner, and frames. All of this needs a place to go. In other words, an artist needs some space in which to work. Even a modest and frugal artist needs a small studio. And studio space is not free. In order to stay in business, an artist needs to pay the rent. This is overhead. And, if you buy a painting, you need to pay your share of this overhead. Let’s say that an artist can find a very inexpensive space for a couple hundred a month—OK, even $150 per month for a little closet. That means you need about $1800 for a year of being in the fine art business. Now, let’s say you can sell ten paintings during the year. The first $180 of the cost of each of those paintings goes to rent. It sounds like a lot, I know, but these are hand-made pieces. If you bought a massed produced widget, you would have to pay some overhead, too, but for ten million widgets, each of them need only contribute a penny to the rent. And, don’t forget about the cost of utilities. If you have to pay for electricity or propane on top of your rent, the cost of overhead goes up.

In addition, like any professional, a painter has to be available. That is, she needs to have a phone, an email account, and, in this day and age, a webpage. Buyers, collectors, gallery owners, and others want to be able to reach you. Artists are not hermits. They need to meet people and return phone calls. What does this require? A cell phone? A DSL subscription? A computer? Probably all of that. And, if you are going to respond to requests for sketches and studies from prospective buyers, you may need a scanner, a printer, and a digital camera, too. I don’t think art buyers want to be involved with an artist who cannot or does not return phone calls, or have access to email. These are required professional tools today and artists are professionals. So, what does it cost? We pay what I suspect is a relatively low rate of about $80 per month for a cell phone and an internet connection. A computer, camera, and a printer? You might scrape by on $1200 or $1500 total for the basics. And these should last for a couple of years, so you can divide the cost over 20 theoretical art sales. But, still, you can add another $100 or $150 per painting for communications overhead.

Art buyers sometimes want to know why oil paintings cost so much. One thing to consider is the cost of overhead associated with running a professional business. To have a studio, pay your utilities, and maintain modern communications costs money. For a painter, the way to make this money is to sell paintings. When you buy a painting, you are helping the artist to cover his or her overhead. It is the same with any business.