IMG Lobby, Cleveland, Ohio Artst: John Pearson

When encountering artwork, people often ask some of the following questions.  Who is the artist?  When was it made?  How was it made?  What does it mean?  There is, however, one other popular question regarding art that people of all ages and all backgrounds tend to ask:  how much is it worth?  This question is not as easy to answer as the preceding ones, because the answer depends on the intersection of three fluctuating elements: art collecting, art history and the art market.

Art collecting is the basic foundation for how values are assigned to artwork.  Those who collect art include individual collectors, corporations and museums.  While individual art collectors may pay the same high prices for artwork as corporations and museums, the function of these collections differs greatly.  Most simply, individual art collectors collect for themselves, while corporate collectors and museums collect for their institutions and a public audience.  Individual collectors may someday deposit their artwork into museums, but collecting categories tend to be more rigid in corporations and museums than for individual collectors.

These collecting categories are directly related to art history.  It is art history that defines which artists and artwork are valuable to our society and are deserving of further study.  In some sense, once a work of art becomes famous, its intrinsic value increases, as does its financial value.  Art history, however, does not happen overnight.  It is a process that involves weighing the impact an artist has had on the art world, based on exhibitions, reviews and influence on other artists.

Art history and art collecting together influence the art market.  Although the art market depends on art history and encourages art collecting, the foundation of the art market stems from a basic economic rule: supply and demand.  It may seem greatly disrespectful for the value of artwork to increase after an artist is deceased, but again, market value assignments depend on rarity.  Once an artist is no longer living, the supply of their artwork becomes limited and their artwork increases in value.

This short essay does not fully answer the question it posed in the first paragraph regarding how value is assigned to artwork.  It does, however, offer insight into the systems of art collecting, art history and the art market that together inform individuals, corporations and museums what artwork to buy and how much to pay.  However, looking at financial value alone when determining the success of an artist is not sufficient.

A successful artist should have artwork in important museum and gallery exhibitions, as well as in museum and corporate collections. These factors are just as important to make an artist successful as the actual sales and again, demonstrate that art collecting, art history and the art market collectively and systematically answer the question, “How much is that art worth?”

Teresa M. DeChant, DeChant Art Consulting, LLC

 Christina Larson, MA  Case Western Reserve University

After more than 35 years in the economic and community development field, Don Iannone has mounted the creative path as a practicing artist and author.

Don’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Anthropology, and graduate studies in Organizational Behavior and Economic Development. Very recently, he completed a Master of Arts Degree in Consciousness Studies, with a concentration in how our consciousness gives rise to art, and how art shapes our consciousness of the world.

Don is a fine arts photographer living in Bratenahl, Ohio. His niche is using photography as a source of insight, contemplation, inspiration, and healing for people, communities, and organizations.

Don has authored two books of poetry and two books combining his poetry and photography. He is working on two new combined photography-poetry books, which will be published later in 2011. Many of Don’s photographs have been exhibited in Greater Cleveland hospitals and organizations, and displayed on a wide variety of organizational and artistic websites. His photographic work has been used by creative art therapists in the hospice, healthcare, and mental health fields.

Don is available for lectures and workshops on his photography. Also, his photographs are available for public and private exhibitions.

Learn more about Don’s photography on these websites:

• Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/don-iannone

• Wisdom Workers: http://www.wisdomwork.net

• Visual Advantage Photoblog: http://doniannonephoto.wordpress.com

• Visual Advantage Photography: http://visualadvantagephoto.com

Don Iannone’s Contact Information

Don Iannone Photography
Two Bratenahl Place
Suite 14D
Bratenahl, Ohio 44108

Phone: 440.668.1686
Email: diannone@ix.netcom.com

Audra Skuodas’ artworks have become her voice and often reflect her inner psyche. She paints the yin and the yang, the spiritual and the material, the body and the soul. Her good and evil theme is evident through out an often seemingly innocent array of subtle colors and patterns. The use of the color red found in either line or dot form, often interrupts the composition in an almost threatening or demanding way.

Audra Skuodas was born in Lithuania during the Second World War. She was nearly four years old when she fled with her parents to a displaced-persons camp in Germany. She was 10 before they left the camp and immigrated to America, settling in the Midwest. Skuodas received a bachelors and masters degree of art from Northern Illinois University.

In Audra’s earlier works she exhibited more figuratively representative pieces. The figures were encased within geometric constructs, not as a decorative effect, but as a evocatively symbolic effect. The work has for many years been defined by the value she refers to as the law of limits – that invisible phenomena of tension and attraction which maintains the cosmic order. Harmony – disharmony. Sensitization – desensitization. Excess – sustainability. The drawings, paintings, and books, have been realized under the overriding criteria of Vibrational Vulnerability – the invisible phenomena of incremental cause and effect. Audras work seeks to harness the sensorial tactility of sound embodied in vibration.

She has exhibited her work widely, frequently at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art. She has twice before been a visiting lecturer at Oberlin and is married to the painter John Pearson, Young-Hunter Professor of Studio Art. The couple has two children, Cadence and Jason.

Below are selection of Audra Skuodas artwork which are available for purchase through DeChant Art Consulting, LLC. For interested buyers please contact Teresa DeChant at (216) 276-0087 or email dechantart@gmail.com.

60 x 60 , Acrylic on Canvas, $8,500

60 x 60 , Acrylic on Canvas, $8,500

Cosmic Connections

For more information on Audra Skuodas’ artwork please contact DeChant Art Consulting, Teresa DeChant at (216) 276-0087 or email dechantart@gmail.com.

Photo Credit: Herb Ascherman

River’s Edge, 48x96x4″, wood, paint

Using nature as my springboard, I create optimistic, energetic and playful images. Content is of primary importance in my work. Most recently I have used the “leaf shape” as my sculptural foundation. Layering and adding a variety of materials helps embellish and define my carved wood sculptures. 

Working in a variety of materials (bronze, stone, stainless steel and wood), I am not restricted to just one process. This gives me the freedom to explore exciting combinations while creating my sculptures. I am constantly expanding my artistic vocabulary and look forward to the challenges of developing new sculptural images.

I have successfully completed many public and private art commissions, as well as community service projects. Working with a committee and the energy created by the exchange of ideas is a process I enjoy and excel at.

Work for Sale

Vases

Charlotte Lees works with layering of materials such as in this artwork, Vases. Paint transfers were used for the vase images, wood carvings to create shadow and depth and paint and mesh for texture.

Vases
Wood, paint transfers, mesh
“35 x 11 x 2 “
$995.00

Woodland Nymphs I

Her abstract work is imaginative and whimsical. She has a talent for taking everyday object and creating them into something extraordinary. In her piece “Woodland Nymphs” you can see how she used the leaf shape as her foundation, creating flow and movement in her artwork.

Woodland Nymphs I
Wood, paint. bark
60x16x2″
$2900

For more detailed information please go to my website charlottelees.com or contact me at sculpturebylees@sbcglobal.net.