Art and Commerce – The Opportunities for the Appreciation of Early Works of Art

Art and commerce are often intertwined, too often, many believe. Whether this opinion is accurate is highly debatable; just as in the business world, there are artists who succumb to the temptation of commercialism, sometimes perhaps to an excessive degree.

While the merchant who rose to become the richest in Germany by paying his employees as little as possible for as much work as possible is generally admired for his business acumen, an artist is often criticized simply for making a good living from his art. Yet,

in this case, he hasn't even reached the realm of commercialized art: the realm where prices are paid that would not only allow him to live comfortably, but also provide for his gallerist for life, and perhaps even the entire village where the artist has retreated to work.

This area of ​​"commercialized art" is unfortunately closed to the vast majority of artists. Regrettably, commercialized art, which focuses on selling the most fashionable artworks of the moment, is also largely inaccessible to the average person.

Anyone who follows this line of thought will quickly feel a pang of sadness: Can it really be that the art created by the most important and interesting artists of our time is reserved for only a select few? Some of whom it can even be assumed that they don't necessarily acquire their wealth in a way that deserves to be rewarded with the "most beautiful art in the world"?

Yes and no – because you don't have to simply accept this idea; you are free to develop a counter-strategy:

For example, you could save the money you spend on playing the lottery each week for a while. If you submit just one completed ticket every week (on Wednesdays or Saturdays), that's €12.25 per week, almost €50 per month, €650 per year. With that, you can buy quite a lot of art, for example, here at kunstplaza.

If you specialize in acquiring works by relatively unknown artists, there is a good chance that these artworks will increase in value later on.

While the odds of winning the lottery shouldn't exactly fill you with joy, at least not if you take the time to do a little math: The odds of winning the top prize (6 correct numbers plus the bonus number) were calculated by mathematicians specializing in combinatorics and are said to be 139,838,160 (around 139 million) to 1. The odds for winning the second prize (6 correct numbers) aren't much better: 15,537,573 (around 15 million) to 1 – of course, especially regarding the exactness of these numbers, as the lottery always so aptly puts it: All information is provided without guarantee!

You would therefore have to submit 139 million or 15 million tickets to win, but if you did exactly that, you would lose out. Only about half of the lottery revenue is paid out as winnings; the rest is distributed according to the state's lottery regulations: 7.5 percent goes to the lottery retailers, approximately 2.8 percent is retained to finance administration, 16.67 percent goes to the states as lottery tax, as does an average of 23 percent in earmarked concession fees, which are used to promote youth, the environment, culture, and sports. So, your lottery bets do support culture in our country, but only to a very small extent.

“But investing in young artists is just like playing the lottery!” those who don't understand the valuations used in the art market will object. However, if you look at the odds mentioned above, you don't need to be a mathematician to see that the chances of an early artwork appreciating in value are higher than winning the lottery.

When you invest in young artists, you also reap a completely different kind of reward compared to playing the lottery: you receive something of value, a work of art that will bring you joy every day.

In conclusion, it's up to you whether you succumb to commercialism in art or discover art for yourself, free from financial considerations. We would certainly be delighted if many lesser-known artists took the opportunity to present their art on kunstplaza.