Artists Reputation And Prices of Artworks

Abstract

The price of an artwork depends on many factors, including aspects related to the artwork itself, sales or the artist. Among the artist-related price determinants, the artists reputation can be distinguished. The artists reputation is an intangible aspect which makes it a challenge to include it in art pricing models. How is this concept defined and operationalized in art market research? Artists reputation refers to two dimensions renown and recognition and is also linked to other constructs like fame or stardom. The following ways to measure reputation, among others, have been considered in the studies: the average price of an artwork, highest selling price, the number of artworks in an artists oeuvre, the prestige of institutions hosting exhibitions of artists artworks or the number of the artists name search on Google. Reputation is also relevant to various phenomena observed in the art market such as the death effect.