If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

Main content

What makes art valuable—then and now?

By Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
For artists working in the West in the period before the modern era (before about 1800 or so), the process of selling art was different than it is now. In the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance works of art were commissioned, that is, they were ordered by a patron (the person paying for the work of art), and then made to order. A patron usually entered into a contract with an artist that specified how much he would be paid, what kinds of materials would be used, how long it would take to complete, and what the subject of the work would be.
Not what we would consider artistic freedom—but it did have its advantages. You didn't paint something and then just hope it would sell, the way artists often do now.
Patrons often asked to be included in the painting they commissioned. When patrons appear in a painting we usually refer to them as donors. In this painting, the donor is shown kneeling on the right before the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Jan van Eyck, The Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele, 1436, oil on panel, 141 x 176.5 cm (including frame) (Groeningemuseum, Bruges)
Patrons often asked to be included in the painting they commissioned. When patrons appear in a painting we usually refer to them as donors. In this painting, the donor is shown kneeling on the right before the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Jan van Eyck, The Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele, 1436, oil on panel, 141 x 176.5 cm (including frame) (Groeningemuseum, Bruges)

What was the status of the artist before the modern era?

One way to understand this is to think about what you "order" to have made for you today. A pizza comes to mind—ordered from the cook at the local pizza parlor—"I'll have a large pie with pepperoni," or a birthday cake from a baker—"I'd like a chocolate cake with mocha icing and blue letters that say 'Happy Birthday Jerry.'" Or perhaps you ordered a set of bookshelves from a carpenter, or a wedding dress from a seamstress?
Does our culture consider cooks and carpenters to be as high in their status as lawyers or doctors (remember we're not asking what we think, but what value our culture generally gives to those professions)? Our culture creates a distinction that we sometimes refer to as "blue collar" work versus "white collar" work.
In the Middle Ages and even for much of the Renaissance, the artist was seen as someone who worked with his hands—they were considered skilled laborers, craftsmen, or artisans. This was something that Renaissance artists fought fiercely against. They wanted, understandably, to be considered as thinkers and innovators. And during the Renaissance the status of the artist does change dramatically, but it would take centuries for successful artists to gain the extremely high status we grant to "
" today (for example, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, or Damien Hirst).
Left: Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1333, tempera on panel, 184 x 210 cm (Uffizi Gallery, Florence; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0); right: soup can (detail), Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962, synthetic polymer on thirty-two canvases, each canvas 20 x 16 inches (Museum of Modern Art, New York; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Left: Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1333, tempera on panel, 184 x 210 cm (Uffizi Gallery, Florence; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0); right: soup can (detail), Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962, synthetic polymer on thirty-two canvases, each canvas 20 x 16 inches (Museum of Modern Art, New York; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

What we value has changed

Medieval paintings were often sumptuous objects made with gold and other precious materials (like Simone Martini's Annunciation). What made these paintings valuable were these materials (blue, for example, was often made from the rare and expensive semi-precious stone, lapis lazuli). These materials were lavished on objects to express religious devotion or to reflect the wealth and status of its patron. Today the value of a painting is often the result of something entirely different. Picasso could have painted on a napkin and it would have been incredibly valuable just because it was by Picasso—art is now an expression of the artist and materials often have little to do with the worth of the art.

Essay by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Want to join the conversation?

  • female robot grace style avatar for user Klearner
    Who was Jeff Koons?
    (15 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • purple pi teal style avatar for user KyL0VV
    What makes art nowadays valuable? I mean when it is not its material and the craft itself, what is the value then? There may be many answers and I appreciate you to comment or give a definition for today!
    (8 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • duskpin ultimate style avatar for user Matheus Ribeiro Santi
      It's symbolic value perhaps, or it's aura. See, usually art is not seen anymore as a representation or copy of the reality, it doesn't try to imitate the world, we have photography for that. Art has it's own world, it's own universe of symbolism and significations. I think it has a lot to do with the aesthetic theory that you have in mind as well... Some of those theories see art as transcendental, a connection with something else; others see as a vision of this world, as a sign of it; there are those who think that art isn't all of that, that it's some sort of imitation and that we shouldn't make a big deal of it. Of course, we can also discuss the economics involved in it today; some lines of thought see art as another way of social domination, so it would be valuable as a means of differentiating who can and who can't consume art... I don't know if we could give a precise answer to that question because we're still trying to figure it out...
      (11 votes)
  • piceratops seedling style avatar for user fatima.pirralha
    What is a blue collar work?
    (3 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • starky ultimate style avatar for user Steven Zucker
      The terms "white collar" and "blue collar" create a distinction between types of work. People who work in an office environment are considered white collar while someone who works with his or her hands, perhaps in a machine shop or yard is considered blue collar. So, for example, someone who works as an accountant would be white collar while a welder would be considered blue collar. This distinction can be misleading and can create false assumptions regarding the relative value of white vs. blue collar work and so, in my opinion, should be used cautiously.
      (10 votes)
  • leafers tree style avatar for user Roberto Hiroshi
    "Just because it was Picasso" ok... But how those artists get to be that valuable? Does it take years after the artist death as it commonly happens on Literature?
    (1 vote)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user BubbleMonkeys2013
    Who were Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, or Damien Hirst?
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • piceratops seedling style avatar for user sinanoezel
      Koons is a contemporary artist known for making sculpture of common object. You may know his most famous work "Balloon Dog" which appears like a giant balloon sculpture (it came to life in one of the "Night at the Museum" movies. The reason he is mentioned in this article, dealing with art value, is that at one time he held the record for highest priced art sold at auction by a living artist. I'm not sure, but he may still hold the record.
      Andy Warhol (/ˈwɔrhɒl/;[1] August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. Many of his creations are very collectible and highly valuable. The highest price ever paid for a Warhol painting is US$105 million for a 1963 canvas titled "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)".

      Damien Steven Hirst (born in 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists, who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest living artist, with his wealth valued at £215m in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List. In September 2008, he took an unprecedented move for a living artist by selling a complete show, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, at Sotheby's by auction and by-passing his long-standing galleries. The auction exceeded all predictions, raising £111 million ($198 million), breaking the record for a one-artist auction as well as Hirst's own record with £10.3 million for The Golden Calf, an animal with 18-carat gold horns and hooves, preserved in formaldehyde.
      (8 votes)
  • blobby green style avatar for user Nicole White
    Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. I have seen very expensive art that did nothing for me and I have found pieces for 50 cents in thrift stores that I am actually in love with. Is art judged by fads are is there a clear way of determining the value of art other than the monetary value of the materials it was created with or the popularity of the artist who created it?
    (4 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • piceratops seed style avatar for user Karen Koch
    whats like the strangest thing used to make art with.
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • female robot grace style avatar for user Brynne V
    Something I wonder, as a digital artist, is how digital art will evolve/if we will ever see it in our modern museums. Based on how prevalent technology is to our society, do you think we'll soon see digitally painted/created art featured in our museums?
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • piceratops seedling style avatar for user msantana2000
    who decides what is real art and what is not .............and how can they know .......
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • hopper jumping style avatar for user evvia
    Why is Damien Hirst considered an 'art star'? Surely there have been more well known and influential artists in the past few decades.
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • piceratops tree style avatar for user Arthur Smith
      He's an art star of the post modern era because he is well-known and influential - quite in fact. While there are others out there, the style of work that's paraded around from this time period is mostly more of the same - look up Tracy Emin or the Chapman brothers. All of a sudden, Hirst doesn't look so bad ;)
      (2 votes)