There’s an old, morbid joke that in order for an artist to see a significant increase in the value of her work, all she has to do is die. Underlying this dark humour is a deep-seated belief among the public at large, and among some artists, that once an artist passes away, their work will invariably increase in value.
This belief is based on a limited understanding of how the deceased-artist art market works, and on some limited examples where the value of deceased artists’ art has indeed increased dramatically post-mortem. All one has to do is peruse recent auction records to see examples of sales of work by deceased artists for tens, or even hundreds of millions of dollars to have this idea reinforced.
Unfortunately, in most cases, a false correlation is being drawn. The artwork isn’t selling at elevated prices solely because the artist is deceased. The art is selling because there is high demand for the work. The artist’s demise is a factor, sure – the supply of the work is now limited to existing work, and if the demand is higher than that supply, prices will rise – but dying won’t, on its own, increase demand for the art.
Our misperception of how the market works is driven by the fact that we only hear about the cases where the value of the work skyrockets. We’re unlikely to read a headline that says, “Artist Dies, Artwork Continues to Sell at About the Same Price it did When the Artist was Alive.” Ultimately, this headline would likely be more universally applicable.
I recently received an email from a RedDot reader on this subject.
My good friend and painting-buddy passed away of a severe form of leukemia. I’ve painted alongside him for almost eight years. He fought the cancer for two years. He was a prolific plein air painter and produced countless pieces over the years. He told his wife he’d like me to curate his work. Now that the emotional dust has begun to settle, his wife and I are getting ready to dig in to the project. I’ve never done this before. I chatted with a friend of mine who gave me some thoughts on organizing such a project. I wondered if you might have some advice for me. With such a large task, I’d like to be thorough the first time through. [My friend] advised to note the date, medium, location where the painting was done, price, and include [the artist’s] narrative which almost always was included with his paintings. During his last 6 months or so, he posted a painting/day on Facebook and wrote detailed narratives to accompany each painting.
The next question has to do with potential posthumous sales. [The artist’s wife] is of the mind that reserving his paintings will result in their increase in value. The money to be gained isn’t her motive, but rather reinforcing or enhancing the current value. Is it always the case that the art of a deceased artist increases in value? Might it be wise to release some for sale in batches from time to time as opposed to just sitting on the collection. Is there an optimal period of time before such artwork should be made available to the public for purchase?
My reply:
First allow me to say that I’m sorry to hear of your loss – it sounds like [the artist] was a great mentor and friend.
Cataloguing and inventorying all of the work is a good way to begin. I might suggest that in addition to all of the items you mentioned, it would also be a good idea to index the subject-matter of each piece so that you can easily cross-reference and group the work.
How well known was [the artist]? Did he show in galleries? How many collectors had bought his work over the years? All of these factors will play in to how the work values posthumously. Unless an artist is widely collected and the work is in high demand at the time of death, it’s unlikely that there would be a big bump in value. For high-demand artists the bump comes because the supply is suddenly cut off but the demand is strong. For most other artists, passing has very little impact on demand, but it can decrease the likelihood that a gallery would be interested in showing the artist’s work if they weren’t already doing so.
Was Bob represented by galleries? Where would you be trying to market the work?
I haven’t yet received a reply to the questions I raised, but I think you can see where I’m going with the questions. I do think that regulating the release of new work is a good idea if there is a network of galleries in place with the ability to market the work, and a collector base established to create the demand.
I’ve seen instances where the value actually decreases because the artist’s estate and existing collectors flood the market immediately after the death of an artist.
The greater difficulty comes if there wasn’t much existing demand for the artist’s work. It is exceedingly difficult to create a market for an artist who is no longer producing. Buyers have no reason to expect that demand that wasn’t there during the artist’s lifetime will suddenly materialize upon his death.
Some Tips for Making an Artist’s Passing Easier on the Family and Estate
For all of the reasons listed above, it’s critical that an artist work to sell as much of his or her work while still alive. I would also argue that you will enjoy the sales more while you are alive 😉
In addition to actively promoting your work and building an audience, I would recommend doing the following in preparation for your passing.
- Keep an accurate and complete inventory of your work, including photos, dimensions and descriptions.
- Include your wishes for the disposition of your artwork after your passing in your will. Include detailed information about any bequests of specific works.
- Discuss with an estate/tax planner the financial implications of the transfer of ownership of your work on your passing. Passing your art on to family members or others can incur a significant tax liability for the beneficiaries. The IRS may try to tax the value of your work at its full retail value, a potential disaster for your family.
What Do You Think?
Have you had the chance to see what happens to the value of an artist’s work upon the artist’s death? Do you have plans in place regarding the disposition of your work when you pass? What would you recommend to the artist who wrote me, or to family that’s trying to decide what to do with a deceased artist’s work? Please share your experience and thoughts in the comments below.
I find it amusing that there are some who actually believe the romantic concept that the death of an artist generates demand for their work. One factor to consider is that certain styles of work fall in and out of fashion as well. I have seen the demand for some artists work (who were successful in their life) dissipate upon their death simply because the public lost interest in it down the road. Just the opposite can be true as well. A good example of this is the English artist Henry Scott Tuke. He had fallen into obscurity until a few notable collectors started collecting his work. It was the musician Elton John who is most responsible for elevating his status, by becoming a major collector of his work. Good work will always endure. It may fall in and out of fashion, however it will never be elevated simply upon the death of the artist. Good article Jason.
It’s kind of depressing that the IRS tax code allows taxing at retail upon death but offers only costs of materials on donating works to a nonprofit. “Heads I win tails you lose” taxing scenario.
Agreed – this is an issue that needs to be addressed in the tax code. The artist’s estate should only be taxed when, and if, the artwork is sold.
I remember as a child growing up hearing a story about an Arizona artist named Degrazio he painted faceless children .,he became very famous selling mainly prints and things like greeting cards etc. when he died the tax burden was so high that the family couldn’t afford to pay the Govt. They wound up burning everything in a large bonfire to avoid taxes. Which is a total shame his art was very sweet.
It was taxed at full retail price. Yet if you donate a piece of art to a non profit, you can only write off the cost of supplies. 🤔 it’s just not right. There’s no encouragement to be an artist in the USA .. wanting to be an artist is looked down upon by higher ups, when we should feel embraced and supported The earth without art is just EH
“E. art. H”
Thank you for this informative post, Jason. I have been thinking about some of these issues and this helps me know how to proceed.
It seems that fine artists who had some recognition in their lives have a better chance at strong post-mortem sales. Sometimes, as the Ray Wiggs Gallery points out regarding H.S. Tuke, that could come decades later. Some notorious charlatans emphasized what a great investment their art was in life… but buyers were real disappointed when the value of his heavily franchised work collapsed after his death. Most of us will be lucky to be a footnote. When a customer asks if your art is a good investment, tell them yes, if you and your family enjoy seeing it every day. People should buy art because they love it, not because it would be a good investment.
My mother was a professional artist for 60 of her 82 years, winning over 300 awards in her lifetime. She stopped exhibiting and teaching workshops about 5 years before her death in 2017. After the estate was settled I began the task of organizing hundreds of originals created between 1950 and 2016, many of them award winning (NWS, AWS, etc.) paintings. I gathered her publications, CDs of paintings, sketchbooks, workshop brochures and her CV.
An artist friend told me about Jason and Reddotblog; I am using Artsala to help with the inventory and website. Carole had an inventory on a very old computer system (think floppy disks) so I started from scratch. I currently have about 45 paintings showing in 4 galleries.
Many of the galleries that Carole Myers previously worked with had closed or changed hands. I put together a retrospective exhibit last year featuring 42 curated works that was up for 2 1/2 months at the Nave Museum in Texas. This was during the pandemic but the show was very well publicized; 6 paintings sold.
My advice to artists is:
Document your gallery contacts and collectors (names, emails, phone number, address)
If you don’t have a digital portfolio consider making one. Jason has a great tutorial, it only took a couple of hours to put together. Engage a friend’s help if needed
Make sure your inventory method is known to your heirs
Take your heir or executor to your gallery openings and group exhibits when possible. I went to several shows over the years with Mom. I was able to reach out to a few of her peers for early advice regarding protecting and storing art. Recognizing names of artists that were peers has helped me in the search for appropriate galleries.
If you teach workshops make note of your students that are successful in galleries.
As far as the original question in this post: “Does the value increase or decrease?” It depends on what buyers are looking for. Her early works are considered “Mid-Century” now so have increased in popularity and price . One of them was featured in the Architectural magazine “Dwell” earlier this year. Carole’s award winning paintings have been selling at the same or slightly higher prices than her 2010 gallery prices.
I have been an art dealer and agent for artists for over 40 years, an intermittent professional artist, and a writer about art. What happens to art prices after an artist passes is an area I have researched – both for my own self-interest, and for clients – for a long while. Here are some actual articles I have found interesting, some with real statistics in them. And after all, without real statistics, we’re just guessing. https://www.artbusiness.com/postprice.html ; https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-death-effect-artists-prices-occurs-alive; https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp2237.pdf – this one is a formal scientific study, that distinguishes betwen “top artists”, “accomplished artists” and “journeyman artists” and also between age at death; https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-value-of-artwork-after-an-artists-death-1540173601 – this one is from the Wall St. Journal. Thanks Jason, for raising this topic.
Thanks, for clearing that misconception up Jason my wife was sure she had a way to increase the value of my paintings.
Harry
My late father in law passed away suddenly in 2019. He was a prolific Canadian artist with an abundance of work throughout Canada and the USA. We are at a total loss of what to do right now. We’ve been cataloguing his work from the 1060s onwards until Parkinson’s took over in the 2000s. We have debates gallery ajkws6, auctions etc, not sure if we are going about it the right way at all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
As both a late carrear artist and a dealer my experience is most artists works will not rise in value. unfortunately most will fall into obscurity unless there is considerable push by the family/heirs, galleries, collectors. Dealing in secondary market art the reality is what might have sold for5000 during their life can be found for 500 on the local auctions in a very short time. as generations change the art of the past becomes what the parents and grandparents wanted not what reflects the taste of the current generation. the only long lasting art investment is if you appreciate the pieces that you own. i buy and sell estates of artists and dealers all the time with varying results.
A friend of mine passed away years ago. She was very popular with a large amount of friends. She had started a successful co-op gallery, to which I belong, fifteen years before her passing. We collaborated with her grieving husband to hold an event featuring many of her paintings and honoring her for creating the gallery. We sold many of the paintings that evening. I have kept in touch with him over the years since her passing and he hasn’t sold much of her work since the event we held. Evidently her passing didn’t increase the value of her work.
Thanks for another informative post.