2017 made art news with the attributed Leonardo da Vinci painting selling for an unheard-of price. This raises some interesting questions about the business of making and selling art historically and today. Was art always sold to the highest bidder? Was free enterprise historically a driving force in creating and selling Renaissance art?
We think of artists today as independent creators. Generally, they have leeway in choosing their subject, method, and we know the artists as individuals. Artists can sell their work on the internet, through galleries or by auction. This wasn’t always the case. Prior to the Renaissance most artists were craftsmen who were anonymous. Prior to 1200-1300 we don’t know the names of most artists who built the cathedrals, sculpted statues, illuminated manuscripts, made stained glass windows or altar paintings. Most Middle Ages art was religious in nature and made for or by religious institutions, monasteries, or royal courts.
From Craft to an Artist.
The Renaissance changed the business of art. During this period many artists gained status and inclusion in high level social circles. The rise of humanism in the 1400s contributed to this change. The humanist concept arose from the study of Greek and Roman culture, which opened up new ways of understanding and investigating the world. Humanism, although centered mostly in elite circles, contributed to artists transitioning from craftsmen to influential and respected artists. Humanism placed value on individual worth and dignity and viewed humans as rational beings. Although religious art remained a popular subject, non-religious subjects such as allegories and mythological subjects gained favor.
Cardinals, popes, dukes, princes, and wealthy merchants continued to be the patrons of the arts. Bankers, one of the more highly paid professions, were great patrons of art. The Medici family in Florence created wealth through banking and commissioned art from the very best. They were also enthusiastic humanists and included the teenage Michelangelo in their exclusive circle.
Florentine, portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Late 1400s or early 1500s. This painted terracotta bust depicts the head of the wealthy Medici banking family. A callous leader and humanist, the teenage Michelangelo lived in his household for two years along with two other Medici teens who would become Popes and his patrons. Michelangelo’s exposure to elite circles and humanist thinking had profound influence on his future commissions and artwork. Digital image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art Open Access Policy, CCO 1.0.
Royalty and the privileged continued to be the greatest patrons of art approximately until the French Revolution, which essentially disrupted the traditional patronage cycle. The Industrial Revolution, rise of the middle class and decline of monarchy also contributed to a marketplace change where artists self-selected subjects and then put their art up for sale. Of course, there were still patrons who commissioned portraits, landscapes, and narrative scenes. Art dealers played a more important role and acted as the middle person between the buying public and the artist.
Not a Free Market.
The concept of art as a capitalist enterprise was unheard of in the Renaissance. Free market theories and capitalist ideas that we live with today were alien concepts at the time. Prices for paintings were not determined by size, number of figures, or subjects. Unless the artist was Michelangelo, sought after artists at the top of the art food chain did not always earn the highest wages.
Pricing was more influenced by social relationships than economic free market theory. Status of the patron or the honor of working for a wealthy family influenced price, or opened up future commissions to new wealthy clients. High demand painters did not always garner the highest fees. Artist demand did not align with securing higher prices. Neither did the quality of the artwork always correlate to higher prices. Running a business in this way seems chaotic and unproductive to our sensibilities, but for artists and patrons it allowed for creativity and originality in compositions and techniques while maintaining the important social networking and hierarchy necessary to do business.
Domenico Ghirlandaio, Francesco Sassetti and Son Teodoro, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, about 1488. Francesco Sassetti was a banker for the Medici family and managed branches in southern France and Geneva. Teodoro is about nine years old. The provenance for the painting consists of seven known owners, from the Sassetti family to the Met. Ghirlandaio was a highly respected Florentine painter who completed other paintings for the Sassetti family as well as other Medici bank managers. The connections between artists and social circles was critical in obtaining commissions. Digital image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access Policy, CCO 1.0.
Big business.
Fast forward to today and art is big business in a free market society. Sotheby’s and Christie’s, the two largest auction houses, sell about $15 billion of art and luxury goods a year. That does not include private sales, only auction sales. Auctions by renowned artists have highly sophisticated marketing programs with the auction as a grand event. Postwar (World War II) and contemporary art are big sellers now. Buyers are from all over the world. Investors are keen to hold on to pieces until they can flip them for profit, not hang them above their couch.
Anyone who has watched the PBS series Antique Roadshow knows object worth changes over time, according to market trends and supply/demand. Grandma’s vintage plate may be worth…not much. But when an old master painting emerges after centuries of unknown location it is big news. A painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi, recently sold to a Saudi Prince for $450.3 million at auction. It is very debatable whether or not this is a da Vinci – and many scholars think it is not – but the astounding sale price says a lot about what is valued. The painting will be on view at the new Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi.
Supply and demand.
Famous artists such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Picasso have fetched $130-200 million for their paintings this century. The da Vinci sale is off the charts. Why? The quality of his paintings, a best-selling biography, a famous book and movie, The Da Vinci Code, all contribute to the mystic of the artist. Leonardo produced only 14 paintings in his lifetime; of Picasso’s 50,000 art works about 1,800 are paintings. Italian Renaissance master art rarely comes to market. Picasso’s high-volume production means there is potential for more supply in the marketplace.
The Metropolitan Museum of New York paid $45-50 million about thirteen years ago for a rare early Italian Renaissance painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna. The Madonna and Child, painted about 1300, was previously in a private collection. The sale was facilitated by Christie’s and at the time was the most the Met had paid for a painting. Since only about 12 Duccio (DU-cho) paintings survive, it was extremely rare to have one come to market. Not a household name like Leonardo, Duccio is art history 101 material, as he formed the basis of later Italian Renaissance art with a more naturalistic approach. Because the Louvre didn’t have a Duccio and might bid for the painting, it was a coup that the Met acquired this painting.
Duccio di Buoninsegna, Madonna and Child, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Tempera and gold on wood. The painted surface is only 6x9 inches and the bottom frame has candle burn marks. Digital image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access Policy, CCO 1.0.
To circle back to the Leonardo Salvator Mundi, the sale price remains mind-boggling without consensus on authorship by scholars. Today’s art business is big business, with online bidding, buyers from the Middle East, Asia, India, China, Africa, as well as western countries. Duccio’s painting had all the necessary requirements for a large sale price: a rare and valued artist, documentation, provenance, connoisseur consensus, and forensic analysis. What was lacking was the magic and cultural power of a da Vinci.
Surely, the previous owner of the Salvator Mundi must sleep well at night.
Sources
O’Malley, Michelle. Painting Under Pressure: Fame, Reputation and Demand in Renaissance Florence. Yale University Press, 2013.
Vogel, Carol. “The Met Makes its Biggest Purchase Ever.” The New York Times, Nov. 10, 2004.