Altitude and Attitude

Do you ever wonder how they come up with the exorbitant prices for art?  I just read an article that suggested setting a price per square inch based on costs and “an amount that’s appropriate for your reputation.”  Well that’s neat but I connect to a different kind of story.

A friend of mine was an artist.  She did very large, colorful, spiritual, impressionistic pieces of which she had many in her picturesque condo by the beach in the San Diego beach town of Encinitas.  Years before, in a different economy, paintings like these were selling for around $17,000 plus a piece in art galleries.  I LOVE learning behind-the-scenes information and asked her to share with me her experiences in the art world.

She pointed to a smaller piece on the wall and told me how she had initially priced a similar piece around $7000 (I estimate the prices from memory but you will get the idea) and it didn’t sell for ages.  Then one of her spiritual teachers told her of “alititude and attitude.”  It is the idea that a higher price (altitude) holds a higher status (attitude) and that is what collectors identify with.  She tripled the price tag on her piece and it sold within weeks.

Are you influenced by higher prices in this way?  What is an example?

(Bats in Chinese Art, Wikimedia Commons)