Transparent pricing in art?  Is that even possible?

Establishing prices for contemporary art is a difficult proposition, especially when its your own.  I have found that emotional attachment to particular works can lead to unrealistic expectations.  To counter that, I have developed a protocol of assigning a points value to my work and multiplying it by what I call and “hourly rate” (though it has little if anything to do with the hours spent on each work).

Points are assigned for each of three different factors:

*Physical Size: 1 point per square foot (accounting for materials and physical movement).

* Ascending Color Elements: 1 point per (accounting for overall painting time and effort).

* Size of the Series: If the work is part of a series, 1 point for each work in the series, up to a max of 12 (accounting for the value that is added to individual works that are part of a series.)

Heres how it works for the  “Beyond Symmetry” Series:

Each work is 24 x 30 (5 sq ft). Each has 11 Ascending color elements.  The series size is 27.

So, add 5 points for the size, 11 for each Ascending Color element, and finally add the maximum 12 points for the size of series (even though the series has 27 works).

That adds up to 28 points.

That number is then multiplied by the “Hourly Rate”, which is currently set at $66.
(Why $66?  It is a number that accurately represents the time and value I put into the works).

The result for the “Beyond Symmetry” series is 28 x $66 =  $ 1, 848.00

Transparent!  Obviously, this protocol can’t apply to every piece of my art work, nor can it apply to the work I produced back in the 1980’s. But it will hopefully give those acquiring my new paintings a sense of the value behind the number, and an idea of how well their investment is doing as that  “hourly rate” increases over time.

This is where things get tested.

If you have a site or a venue you would like adorned with an Ascending Color original, please contact me.

Fee’s, along with everything else, are negotiable.

MJ Stumpf

MJS.art@MJStumpf.com

Studies of Seven 2014

As well as all the works on the NEW WORK: 2014 TO DATE pages, the paintings in the gallery below are also available for acquisition. Many of these are important works in that they map the development of the Ascending Colors method, as well as documenting the creative journey I was on back in the 1980’s. All reasonable offers will be gladly considered. I may be reached at MJS.art@MJStumpf.com.     (Click on images to enlarge)

The gallery below presents, in its entirety, “Intermission Series“, the 12 works that were shown at the second and final one man show in 1986. It is my hope that these works might somehow stay together, however, I suppose – 30 years on – I must be realistic about that prospect.

This page presents individual and a few paired works that have come out of the studio since my return to painting in Nov. 2014.  Some are emotional releases, some are studies, and some are merely creativity in search of a home. They are of widely varying sizes, themes and materials. Please contact me if you are interested in acquiring one or more. All offers will be gratefully entertained.  (Click Images to enlarge)

Note on the above: “Three Items Established” are two simple and small (16×20) images, but they are significant  in that with them I worked out the concept of Non-Personification, which is the basis for the Items category of painting that is currently of great interest to me.

Note on “Mastercraft Study” Parts 1-4″. This is not a series, but rather the four works began as a single work on a piece of pressed fiber board that was originally the back of a Chest of Drawers. The furniture makers name was”Mastercraft”. I didn’t particularly like working with the material, finding the surface inconsistently absorbent. Rendered as four works by a Delta table saw.
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Links to other New Work Pages:

Series: The Annual

Series: Beyond Symmetry

Multiple Series: “Items”

The word “Item” may be the perfect pronoun. It defines all thing without any hint of identifying the subject or gender. I struggled for some time with the idea that visual elements, in an abstract setting, need not be representative (Non-Personification). The solution was to use the term “items”. When defined this way, the ascending color elements in these works invite the viewer to choose whether or not impose their own definition, enabling the experience to be metaphoric or purely visual. While this creates a challenge for the viewer, it also greatly personalizes the experience.  Items will be my retreat, the place where I go when I need to paint but am hesitating on new directions. This will be my unending well.
(If you wish to understand how works are priced, please visit the “Pricing Originals” page.) 

Seventeen Items Seeking Order

This first version of the “Seventeen Items” series poses the question of what is truly being sought when, in a group dynamic, order is being sought. While order is in theory a desirable attribute for any gathering (be they family members or nation states), the order being sought must be clearly defined. If it is not, then the items seeking such order will inevitably seek not “true” order, but order that is most to their specific desire. The end is that there is not an end, only a continual seeking through time, evolution, and shifting political positions. The Alternative:  Having consensus around a plan, a vision, an understanding of what that “order” will be. Otherwise the future will just be an unending sequence of “One Item Seeking Order”.
Each of the four painting in this series is 40″ x 60″  and priced at $2442.

Five Items in Unison

The 5 works in this first “Five items in Unison” series were among the first works done upon my return to the canvas during the fall of 2014. The fact that I was experimenting as I worked to relearn the Ascending Color method is evident in the inconsistent utilization of paint and impasto. Each work is 16″x20″ and  priced at $792 each or $3750 for the series.

Three Heretical Items Contained

Three Heretical Items is a statement on how, in our daily lives, we all {metaphorically} try to force two dimensional objects to occupy three dimensional space, often with undesired results. The designs were decidedly intended to be a representation of our modern human condition, a place where we all seem to equally spend time as the contained and the containers. It is inevitably the everyday conflicts that we required to see ourselves on both sides of. 76×40 priced at $5280 each.

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Links to other New Work Pages:

Series: The Annual

Series: Beyond Symmetry

Individual Works

If you create a image template that has strict technical rules, then one would expect that the resulting images would show a level of symmetry as they progress.  Beyond Symmetry is a series of 27 paintings that explore the use of a highly defined set of parameters while creatively seeking to go beyond the expected through use of color selection and design. It is a disciplined construction where each work presents 11 Ascending Color elements divided into three sets of three colors and fourth set containing only a pair. The master template utilizes a defined center point and a descending frame that serves as a starting point to define the color field areas (the “settings”). The 27 works are divided into six theme sets of four works, and a seventh set containing only three. The themes are Brick, Night, Plum, Earth, Linen, Garden and Cloud.

The initial idea for this exploration came from a simple question I have wrestled since I first took an interest in non-figurative painting. That question is: Can geometry surprise? Searching to answer what may be an un-answerable question is a challenge I intend to study well into the future.

Beyond Symmetry:  Series begun in late 2014 and completed in mid 2016. Each of the works in the “Beyond Symmetry” series are 24″x30″, oil on canvas, and priced at $1,848 each. Purchasers will also be asked to cover nominal and reasonable shipping costs. Please contact me at MJS.art@MJStumpf.com.

Click on images to view larger.

From the Studio:

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Links to other New Work Pages:

Series: The Annual

Multiple Series: “Items”

Individual Works

“This Series of twelve significant works has heralded my return to Painting. These twelve works are produced with linen and paint that I have stored for 25 years, so putting those materials to purposeful use was important to me. Yes, this is the “Emotional Year”, the months as they pass divided in to what I have always felt were the three season: Winter, Spring-Summer, and Autumn. This view of the season may not be recognizable to someone from a place where the calendar changing means little. But for me, as the calendar changes so to does the weather, the color of our world, and most significantly, my outlook on a year as it transpires.  (Click Images to enlarge)

The Twelve work of “The Annual” Series are being offered for Gallery/Professional Sales  representation. Inquires can be made directly to MJS.Art@MJStumpf.com

 
M.J.Stumpf at work on “The Annual” , March 2015
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Links to other New Work Pages:

Series: Beyond Symmetry

Multiple Series: “Items”

Individual Works

Please Refer to the “NEW WORKS” pages for contemporary works (2014-present) that are a available for acquisition. 

Of the original 1980’s works, the following paintings are currently available for acquisition. All works are unframed. They will be shipped (insured) to any location in the continental USA. For other locations, purchaser will be asked to cover actual shipping and insurance costs. At this time, I am only accepting checks drawn on recognized banking institutions with a U.S. presence, and US Postal Money Orders.
Please contact:    info@MJStumpf.com

The Moment of Surprise

Title: Moment of Surprise
Oil on Canvas
24 x 30 in
1986
$4,700

American Values

Title: American Values
Oil on Canvas
20 x 24
1985
$5,600

Kiteknee

Title: Kiteknee
Oil on Canvas
40 x 40
1983
$6,800

The Norwegian Woods

Title: Norwegian Woods
Oil on Canvas
24 x 36
1985
$6,600