What determines the value of an art piece?

Dar es Salaam. Evarist Chikawe is a self taught artist who has been painting for the past two decades, his works have earned him a great deal of popularity locally and internationally.
Some of his works have been featured at the Salzburg Summer Academy whereas some have graced shelves at the Berlin exhibition.
At the Vijana Vipaji art studios Chikawe,41, is working in solitude on some exceptional pieces that he is set to exhibit in November as part of a celebration of his journey in the world of art.
He is enthusiastic of what the prospects hold because he believes that he has grown both as an individual and an artist/ painter during the years.
The pieces that he has completed so far are breathtaking as they range from abstract to landscape.
But what will really determine the price of these beautiful works of art is just as complex as the drawings themselves.
While the obvious answer is that art, like anything, is worth what a willing seller will sell it for and a willing buyer will buy it for.
“It is not about the size of the work; fine art is the most subjective commodity of all which means the value of art is also totally subjective.  In the end it all comes down to perspective,” he says.
 Accordingly, there are a lot of factors that go into creating value in an artist’s work beyond the cost of materials and the time it took to create it and they all center directly on creating and influencing the perception of value in the eyes of the collector.
“Sometimes what you might deem as your best piece could struggle to get buyers whereas the ordinary pieces fly off the shelves because it is all in the collector’s eyes,” says the 41-year-old.
He says there is a piece that he thought was very ordinary but to his amazement a willing buyer was ready to offer Sh2 million without hesitation.
Galleries and art dealers are still the primary marketing force within the art world. It takes a particular skill to be able to convert such a subjective commodity as art into significant amounts of cash.
Being a successful gallerist takes more than using pure selling skills to sell art to their list of wealthy clients.
Rebecca Corey is the director of the Nafasi Art Space in Dar es Salaam where they have an art studio and host multiple exhibitions throughout the year.
 As important as it is, nurturing an artist to the top of the market is about reputation building. That entails placing their artistic works in the proper collections, the appropriate group shows, and the right museums.
The challenge for the emerging artist is to gain the attention of the most highly respected gallerists and then convince them that they are worth of their attention and their efforts.
 While talent is a critical component, a premier gallerist is also going to consider how marketable the artists work and the artist is.
“The artist’s profile matters a lot,  how well the artist has been received and promoted already can have a significant impact on the price decision and can separate one artist from the crowd vying for attention,” says Rebecca
Rebecca’s statement is corroborated by Clara Mduma a gallery manager at the Vijana Vipaji Art Gallery also in Dar es Salaam.
“With the art market continuing to show strength celebrity artists who make it to the top now command sometimes unbelievable prices for their work.

Once an artist gains celebrity status this new power means they can dominate the exhibition circuit and will be courted by museums and institutions,” says Mduma.
Though all they do is advise the artist on the pricing given one’s profile she says other factors such as originality and connection with the audience are major factors.
With the explosion of the social network over the past decade there has been a birth of a new phenomenon, that of the celebrity artist.
Today’s artiste instead of living a creative life solitude in their studio…free from the trappings of modern society, celebrity artists now hang with pop stars, fashion designers and various media types.
Still this kind of power can be fleeting, particularly if an artist gets carried away by the arrogance of their own success.
“The truly influential artists today are those who set their sights beyond the advancement of their own careers and use their status to extend their network within the upper crust of the art world’s institutions,” asserts one pundit.
‘Artists’ Fine Art Gallery’ believe that collectors are the single most important force in the art world. Without collectors, gallerists wouldn’t exist and artists would be working in graphic design studios or craft fairs. Still collectors are less visible than the other major forces within the art economy.
Collectors are the economic engine that fuels the entire art world… and it’s what they’re prepared to pay that sets the limit for what an artist can earn. So, how do they decide what to buy and how much to pay?
To a large degree, they are influenced by the gallerists they have come to trust. Art dealers naturally take great pains to keep their client lists confidential and many collectors are passive investors, taking advice from dealers as often as acting on their own personal taste.
Yet when collectors become personalities, their choices become public statements of their interests.
After all, money is power, and collectors who choose to exercise that power independent of the influence of dealers can have a significant influence on an artist’s value in the market.
According to ‘Artists’ Fine Art Gallery’, the more artists can keep themselves in front of art collectors the more likely they are to develop the kind of following that can propel them into the limelight and the value of their art upward exponentially.
“Until an artist can catch the eye and the interest of a leading gallerist to team up with them to promote their art at the highest levels of the art world, they need to shoulder that responsibility and accept the roll both as artist and marketing manager or engage people who can support that effort and that’s where we come in.”

Additional information from Artists’ Fine Art Gallery