Art History
What makes Art Valuable
Today museums ‘collect’ art from ancient times to modern works.
The most ancient art wasn’t art when it was made. The use of Pictographs almost 100,000 years ago in cave was an early communication system. The 32 or so symbols found over and over in European caves from 100,000 years ago were symbols created by humans based on positions the mouth made when a human mimicked an animal. So the symbols represent animal sounds not words.
The basis of art value is based on what was the artist trying to communicate.
Art artifacts from recent ancient times, the past 10,000 or so years, often show the addition of artistic flair to utilitarian items. Artisans adorned common daily items such as vases with art. Today we view these artifacts in museums as art, yet they were just commonly used daily items.
Most recently, typical modern art was developed through a commission system, it was created by elites and today the elites still use a commission based system for modern artists to toil under.
500 years ago an elite land owner perhaps a Lord or a King or the Church commissioned an artist to create ‘art’ for their castles, estates and cathedrals.
In that era, almost everyone was a plebeian, a commoner, mostly a tenant farmer working land owned by an elite. The worker paid a commission to his Lord who owned the land. The elites land had a local market where a few traded items from a skill or a craft. The markets were controlled through a commission or tax upon the trade from that lands elite owner. Metal workers and glass blowers created common daily items such as glassware or bottles and items using metals, knives, axes, forks, etc.
Someone taught the skill of art, would be hired by an elite to create art on their walls, maybe on panels and the age of the modern artist began. It was a person commissioned by an elite to create what they desired to see in their estates.
While the elites today control most wealth there is, the commission system of the elites is still in place. As elite wallets bid over $100 Million for ‘art’ in auctions previously controlled by a small amount of auction houses paying a commission to the auction house upon an elites purchase.
Instead of the elites paying the artists a commission as was done 500 years ago, the elites now pay the auction houses the commission now called an acquisition fee often.
Artists have for over a century sold their ‘art’ in artist studios, perhaps they developed relationships with galleries paying the gallery a commission to sell the artists works.
Some gallery artists might of had exhibits in galleries and even modern museums.
Over the years a small amount of ‘auction houses’ developed a reputation amongst the elites of finding ‘art’ for modern elites to ‘invest’ in.
Nothing has really changed in 500 years. The elites still pay commissions only it’s to a few auction houses. Some may directly commission a modern artist to create a work on their whim.
Artists still toil away in artist studios trying to create a living. The modern world is full of plebeians toiling in the offices of big companies owned by the elites.
The plebeians may have $500 to waste on art. Usually it’s a print from a modern celebrity artist.
There’s a huge class of professionals, lawyers, doctors, etc. That might invest $5,000 to $50,000 into art created by living artists who usually have gallery representation in big cities.
The artists now pay the galleries a commission often 50% to sell their works.
It’s still a commission world for artists. 500 years they were paid the commission by an elite. Now the artist pays the gallery a commission to sell to the professionals. A few galleries do work with auction houses of the elites, most do not.
Today due to covid, art galleries and museums are closed or empty.
The auction houses of the elites are setting online sales records.
The elites are paying record commissions in online auctions.
Artists now need online art studios.
Galleries need online exhibits as do museums.
The future of online art auctions is
The reason is they control sales of the Sollog Art Collection endowed to the TOH museum decades ago.
Sollog’s art works have skyrocketed in value due to his world famous prophecies. Decades ago in the dawn of the internet his art increased in value selling through his online studio, and as prophecy after prophecy came to pass the market set the value of his works that are now all priceless.
You can still get a marker work of art by Sollog if you are not an elite.
His oils are now for only museums or the cream of the elite class.
Sollog has never needed a gallery. He sold his art to his collectors online for decades.
Lucky early Sollog oil collectors got rare works for $10,000. Today Sollog oils start at $100 Million.
There’s great new emerging artists at Art Auctions .Shop
Some rare Sollog markers are also there.
If you are a gifted artist that wants to offer your oils at Auction contact them. They reject most artists. It’s their right to do that.
If you are chosen then your work will be offered at auctions to the users of the 1 Media Network of over 300 sites where the top link on 1 Media sites now promote Art Auctions .shop
The artists pay nothing to Art Auctions .shop the buyers pay the house commissions to buy Art deemed worthy of being offered on the site.
A business model where artists get 100% of the sales amount of the auction.
The elites have always paid commissions for art.
Get used to it if you want to collect art by emerging artists.
