The question comes up in four situations: to insure, to sell, to divide an estate, or simply to know. The answers are not the same, and that is the first thing to understand.
There is not one value, but three
The same work has three different values on the same day, and they can vary threefold.
Replacement value is what it would cost to acquire an equivalent piece from a professional. It is the highest, and it is the one your insurer cares about.
Market value is what a buyer would agree to pay today, in normal conditions. That is the one that counts for a sale.
Liquidation value is what the work would reach in a quick sale, without choosing the moment. It is the lowest, and it is often the one that applies in a hurried estate.
So when someone quotes you a figure, the first question to ask is: which value are you talking about.
Who can value
The auctioneer. He values free of charge with a sale in view, and the valuation is then a market range, often cautious. For a document that can be relied on, he charges for an expert report, generally a few hundred euros.
The specialist expert. A member of a professional body, he produces a written report and puts his liability behind it. That is what insurers require for agreed value and notaries for an estate.
The gallery or the agent representing the artist. He knows the body of work, the prices practised, and what has sold recently. His valuation is the most accurate on a living artist, and the least neutral if he is also the seller. That is our case, and we say so.
Free online valuations. They have one use: giving an order of magnitude in five minutes. They have another, less openly stated: capturing works to sell. Take the figure as an indication, never as a value.
What makes the value of a contemporary sculpture
Six elements, in this order of importance.
The artist and his trajectory. An artist whose work is documented, exhibited and cited is worth more than an artist without traces, at equal quality. It is unfair and it is how things are.
Uniqueness. A unique piece is not a cast numbered to eight copies. Both our artists make only unique pieces, which simplifies valuation and removes the risk of finding the same one next door.
Provenance. The chain of owners since the studio. A work that arrives with its original invoice, its documented page and, where there is one, the certificate of authenticity, defends itself better than a work with no papers. The difference in price is real.
Condition. Patinas evolve, wood moves, that is normal. A badly done restoration, on the other hand, costs a great deal in value. Never have a piece repainted without asking the artist or his agent.
Size and subject. At equal quality, a piece of fifty centimetres sells more easily than one of two metres, because the pool of possible buyers is larger.
The date. An artist’s pivotal periods carry more value. That still means being able to date the piece, which requires serious documentation.
How we value, in practice
For a work by either of the two artists we represent, we proceed in four steps.
We identify the piece in our catalogue, which immediately gives the year, the dimensions, the material and the first
It is free, it takes a few days, and it commits you to nothing. If you wish to sell, we tell you frankly whether we can do it and on what terms.
We do not value works by artists we do not represent: we would have nothing serious to say.
What to send us
Four photographs, from the front, the back and three quarters, in natural light against a neutral background. The exact dimensions, height, width, depth. The approximate weight if you can measure it. And every document you hold: invoice, certificate, correspondence with the artist, an old photograph of the work in place.
A signature, an inscription or a number under the piece should be photographed close up. That detail is often what identifies a work with certainty.
The trap to know about
Be wary of any valuation far above the market, especially when it comes with an offer to list the work for a fee. The mechanism is well known: you are quoted a flattering price, you pay listing or catalogue fees, and the work never sells.
A serious professional is paid on the sale, not on the hope of a sale. That is the model we apply, and we explain it in our article on what an artist agency does.
Going further
If your question is about the purchase price rather than resale, we set out what makes up a price in how the price of a work is set. And if your plan is to insure the piece, the guide is insuring a work of art at home.