Pricing Guide — Artrise Journal
How to Price Your Art
A Complete Guide for Artists (2026)
The Problem
Why Artists Underprice Their Work
Most artists arrive at a price the same way: a rough guess, a glance at what someone else is charging, and a quiet hope that a buyer won't flinch. The number feels arbitrary because it is. And arbitrary pricing — almost always — skews low.
The consequences are real. Underpriced work trains collectors to expect bargains. It signals inexperience to galleries. It makes scaling impossible: you cannot raise prices dramatically without disrupting existing collector relationships. And it keeps artists in the position of producing more and more work simply to stay afloat.
Pricing is not a guessing game. It is a craft — one that galleries learn and deliberately keep opaque. This guide makes it explicit. You will find a formula that accounts for your real costs, a framework for adjusting by size and medium, a strategy for raising prices, and a list of the mistakes that keep talented artists underpaid.
In this guide
01
The pricing formula
02
Pricing by size
03
Pricing by medium
04
Researching comparables
05
How to raise prices
06
Common mistakes
01 — The Formula
Materials + Time + Overhead + Margin
The most reliable pricing formula for original artwork has four components. Each one serves a distinct purpose. Leaving any of them out produces a number that cannot sustain a professional practice.
01
Materials
Add up every direct material cost: canvas or paper, stretcher bars, primers, paints, varnish, frames if included. Track this per piece, not in bulk estimates. A 60 × 80 cm oil on linen may use €40–€80 in materials alone once you account for quality pigments and linen ground.
02
Time
Set an hourly rate you can defend — a minimum of €25–€40/hr for emerging artists, €60–€100/hr for mid-career. Multiply by realistic hours: painting time plus drying, sanding, varnishing, photographing, and administration. A 20-hour painting at €35/hr = €700 in time alone.
03
Overhead
Overhead is the cost of making art at all: studio rent, insurance, equipment depreciation, website, software, photography, professional development. Divide your annual overhead by the number of works you produce per year and add that figure to every piece.
04
Margin
Add 20–40% on top of your cost base. This is not profit — it is the buffer that allows you to negotiate with galleries (who take 40–50%), offer small discounts without loss, absorb slow months, and reinvest in your practice. Without margin, you are working for nothing.
Example
A worked example: 60 × 80 cm oil on canvas
Once you have a formula-derived base price, cross-check it against comparable work in your market. If your number is significantly above comparables, investigate why — often it reveals that your hourly rate is above what your market currently supports, or your overhead is uncommonly high. If it is significantly below, your prices are too low.
02 — By Size
Pricing by Size: A Linear Framework
Collectors expect prices to scale with size. An artist who prices a 120 × 90 cm canvas at the same level as a 40 × 40 cm immediately signals inconsistency — which undermines confidence in every price on their list.
The simplest approach is a per-square-centimetre rate. Calculate the area (width × height) and multiply by a rate you determine based on your formula. Apply it consistently across your body of work.
| Format | Area (cm²) | At €0.18/cm² | At €0.30/cm² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 × 30 cm | 900 | €162 | €270 |
| 40 × 50 cm | 2,000 | €360 | €600 |
| 60 × 80 cm | 4,800 | €864 | €1,440 |
| 80 × 100 cm | 8,000 | €1,440 | €2,400 |
| 100 × 120 cm | 12,000 | €2,160 | €3,600 |
| 120 × 150 cm | 18,000 | €3,240 | €5,400 |
Your per-centimetre rate will be unique to you — derived from your formula, not from this table. What matters is that you apply it consistently. Once you have a rate, pricing any new work takes seconds: measure, multiply, round to a clean number. Collectors who own several of your pieces will appreciate the coherence.
One important exception: very large works (above 150 cm on any side) often warrant a modest discount per square centimetre. The absolute price is already high; keeping the rate strictly linear can make large works prohibitively expensive relative to what the market will bear.
03 — By Medium
How Medium Affects Price
Medium changes three variables simultaneously: material cost, production time, and perceived value. Oil on linen generally commands more than acrylic on canvas at the same size — not arbitrarily, but because linen is more expensive, oil painting is slower, and the art market has historically priced it higher.
Oil on Canvas
High material cost, slow drying, durable. Mid-to-high market positioning. Per-centimetre rates typically €0.20–€0.45 for emerging artists.
Oil on Linen
Premium material signals serious practice. Expect 15–25% higher pricing than oil on canvas at the same size. Strong collector and gallery acceptance.
Acrylic on Canvas
Fast drying, versatile, lower material cost. Price honestly — do not try to match oil pricing without comparable technique/reputation. €0.14–€0.30/cm².
Works on Paper
Paper is cheaper than canvas; pricing should reflect this. Watercolour, gouache, and pastel on quality archival paper: typically 40–60% of canvas pricing at equivalent size.
Mixed Media
Price on materials + time as normal, then adjust upward for complexity. Collectors respond well to distinctive, legible techniques — price novelty only after you've built a track record.
Prints / Editions
Edition size directly determines price. A run of 10 signed prints commands more than a run of 50. Multiply your print cost by 5–8× minimum. AP (artist proofs) price 20–30% higher.
If you work in multiple mediums, establish a clear pricing hierarchy and communicate it. Collectors who own your oils should understand why your watercolours are priced lower — it is a function of material and market convention, not quality.
Artrise Toolkit
Ready to price your work properly?
The Artist's Pricing Toolkit puts this framework into a ready-to-use system: pricing calculator, size-rate tables, market research methodology, and the language to talk about prices with collectors and galleries — everything in one place.
Get the Toolkit — $1904 — Market Context
Researching Comparable Work
Your formula gives you a cost-based floor. Market research tells you whether the ceiling exists. Both matter. An artist who prices purely on cost — without any market awareness — may be pricing at €400 for work that comparables sell for €800, or at €1,200 for work that a saturated market supports only at €600.
Effective market research means finding artists at a comparable career stage, working in a comparable medium, with comparable exhibition history, and noting their prices. This is not copying — it is establishing a reference range. Your formula is what makes that range sustainable for you specifically.
Where to look
Gallery websites
Regional commercial galleries showing artists at your career stage. Price-listed works give you direct comparables. Take note of medium, size, and whether pricing is publicly visible.
Art fair archives
NADA, Untitled, Liste, and regional fairs publish booth artists. Many galleries list prices at fairs. This is one of the most reliable sources of real-market pricing data.
Online platforms
Artsy, Saatchi Art, and Singulart show prices across large catalogues. Search by medium and size. Weight this data carefully — the highest-volume platforms skew toward accessible price points.
Artist network
Other artists are often the most honest source. Peer pricing conversations — conducted with discretion — give you real information about what is actually selling at what prices, not just listed.
The price is not a reflection of how much you love the work. It is a claim about its place in a market — and that claim, made confidently and consistently, is what a professional practice looks like.
05 — Raising Prices
How to Raise Prices Without Losing Collectors
Price increases are not events — they are a process. An artist who doubles their prices overnight loses collectors and credibility simultaneously. An artist who raises prices 15–25% annually, consistently, is building a market.
Raise at natural transition points
After a solo show, after a significant collection acquisition, after institutional recognition — these are the moments when a price increase reads as progression rather than opportunism.
Grandfather existing collectors
Notify your established collectors before any public price increase. Offer them access at the current price for a defined window. This is both respectful and commercially sound — it creates urgency without pressure.
Raise in tranches, not leaps
15–25% per year is the range that serious collectors expect and accept. A 100% jump in a single year requires an extraordinary justification. Incremental consistency builds trust in the price as a signal of quality.
Never discount publicly
Discounts on listed prices teach the market that your prices are not real. If someone needs a concession, offer it quietly — through a payment plan, a small work at existing prices, or a private courtesy. Keep your list prices intact.
06 — Mistakes
Common Pricing Mistakes
01
Pricing emotionally
Charging more for works you love and less for works you're less attached to creates an incoherent price list. Collectors notice. Emotion is for making the work; the formula is for pricing it.
02
Pricing below established gallery artists to seem 'accessible'
Accessibility is not a positioning strategy. It attracts buyers who are primarily motivated by price — not collectors who will follow your career. Price your work where your cost structure and market comparables put it.
03
Failing to track costs
Without accurate material costs per piece, your formula is fictional. Spend one week tracking every material purchase per work. The number is almost always higher than artists expect.
04
Inconsistent pricing across platforms
Your Instagram shop, gallery representation, and direct sales should show identical prices. Price inconsistency reads as desperation, undermines gallery relationships, and confuses collectors.
05
Not accounting for gallery commission
If a gallery takes 50% and your price doesn't factor that in, you are working for free or at a loss. Your retail price must cover costs, margin, AND the gallery's cut — or you need a separate pricing structure for direct and gallery sales (which requires careful management).
06
Waiting until the work sells to revisit pricing
Review your prices every six months against your formula, your costs, and the market. Don't wait for a crisis — either prices held steady while costs rose, or you've had significant career development that your prices don't yet reflect.
Artrise
Price your work with the same confidence you bring to making it.
The Artist's Pricing Toolkit gives you the complete framework in one place: the formula, the calculator, market research guides, and the language to discuss prices professionally with collectors, galleries, and curators. Built for working artists who are ready to be paid properly.