Exhibiting your work or works from your collection helps to increase awareness of the work, attract scholarly interest in the work, and enhance its art historical and monetary or resale value. Museums, both public and private, government buildings, libraries, art centers and cosmopolitan areas are good art exhibition locations. 

Showing Art to Increase Value
How do I increase the value of a work of art?
What else impacts the value of my work of art?
Is location important?
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Showing Art to Increase Value

The focus of many of the Art Advice columns is purchasing art for investment. This column will concentrate on the importance of displaying art (and the sales and exhibition records for art) in terms of investment value. I discuss smart investing in another Art Advice column.

How do I increase the value of a work of art?

Exhibit it. In addition to the other information about a work of art, exhibition credentials are important when assessing the value of a work, too. A strong exhibition record or a history of the work's inclusion in exhibitions is of value. Exhibition frequency, awards, and exhibition design placement remains pertinent when assessing art value. If you find that you are purchasing works of art by an artist who does not show work with much frequency, be advised. Good artwork is shown in exhibitions. It is also true that works of art increase in value each time that they are exhibited. This is one of the reasons why major collectors are interested in exhibitions and relationships with museums and galleries. If a work is discussed or reproduced within a publication (e.g., in an accompanying catalogue or brochure), the work's value increases even more.

The artist whose works you are buying should be showing  work not only in shows hosted by their dealer but also in regional art shows, area art exhibitions, juried art exhibitions, college and university galleries, community art museums, competitions, etc. There are many artist organizations that host exhibitions and feature the work of fine artists. Don't let anyone tell you that there are no good shows in which to exhibit work. Every artist knows that an exhibition record is paramount to success. Any dealer should be able to provide a collector with a complete listing of an artist's exhibition record. Whether you are making a purchase or trying to decide about making one, you should be able to review an exhibition record in which an artist has shown his or her work. Many dealers include this type of investment information with your purchase as a rule of thumb. Any respectable art dealer, and there are respectable ones, should be able to give you this exhibition information proudly and with ease.

Be cognizant of where an artist shows his or her work. Many collectors are unaware that an artist who shows repeatedly at the same gallery, (like at his or her dealer's gallery), is probably not showing work in other venues.  Showing art in a broad range of venues with various audience profiles is important when assessing value. Consider that if you don't see a particular artist showing his or her work in at least a few venues.

Is location important?

As they say in real estate, it's location, location, location. While art is not the real estate game, the importance of location remains primary. You may want to ask about where an artist shows his or her work before you purchase a work of art. Artists showing in exhibitions in major cities, major museums and galleries, artist colonies, art centers, or cultural environments, more often than not, offer more value to collectors.

Also, an artist whose work is consistent, producing good work after good work, helps to increase the value of all of his or her work. It means that the art is usually a sound investment. Artists dedicated to an established and mature style help to increase the value of their work, too. A work of an artist's mature period, painted during the mature stage of production for that artist, proves, in some cases, more important and valuable than other works by that artist.

For example, it is financially advantageous to own a Renoir that was painted while he was working with Monet at the artist colony of Argenteuil. For Renoir, the paintings produced during the height of Impressionism from the period of circa 1870 to 1875 (when he was painting with alongside Monet at Argenteuil) are more valuable than works from the 1890s when Post Impressionism and the paintings of Gauguin and Van Gogh were the rage. Renoir, though still painting in the last decade of the 19^th century, was past his Impressionist prime by the 1890s. In terms of value for Renoir's paintings, his mature work or paintings produced during the 1870s consistently bring higher prices than work produced at other times of his career despite the quality of works produced in late career.

What else impacts the value of my work of art?

Fellow collectors and collections impact value. Collections, both public and private, are also of interest when considering a sales record. For example, if you have a piece by an artist whose work is in a major private art collection or a public collection, library, museum, university or college gallery, the value of all of the artist's work (and your piece by that artist) increases in value. Your fellow collectors and the scope of their collections help to increase the value of your piece and overall, your collection. It follows that it is good for your collection if a work by an artist represented there is also in the collection of a major museum. Even if the artist is obscure and your work is not well known or popular, the position of the artist within a major collection helps to maintain value for your piece. This is not a hard and fast rule but it is of interest when appraising pieces or assessing value.

Like other columns, this Art Advice column was provided in response Masterpiece Technologies Inc.'s visitor inquiries and questions. I certainly appreciate your questions and feel free to contact me with additional advice topics.

Dr. Lori
Director, Masterpiece Technologies Inc.