Gong Yan

GY: I seldom cooperate with galleries, so it’s hard to price my art. People interested in my work may consult an art gallery for advice. They will find out roughly what a work like this, with my age range, my development path, etc, will be worth, and then they will decide whether the work is suitable.

Gu Wenda

GW: This question should better be directed at the market. You may not achieve the expected effect if you worry too much about this question.
DQ: Then how do you value your work?
GW: I seldom value my work.

Hu Jieming

HJ: I hope the price is set objectively by others, rather than by me. I feel society’s recognition is more important.
DQ: How about value?
HJ: I hope that my works will be of greater value, but it cannot be decided by my own wish. There is always an objective valuation of your work.

Huang Kui

HK：If I have run out of money I give them lower prices. If I have money, I will make the prices high. But I also price them according to the market situation. If everyone is charging USD150 thousand, then of course you should not price yours at USD50 thousand. Value and price are not equivalent. If you want to enter the market, you must follow its rules. But it is not the same if you do not enter the market.

Jin Feng

JF: I think an artist needs to cultivate his own market. He cannot raise his prices just because everyone out there has raised his prices. He need to be objective and psychologically prepared to follow the market. He has to objectively evaluate the pricing of his works and cannot adjust it whatever way he likes. For example, if when you first started out your works were able to fetch a high price at auction, you will continue to follow this price level throughout. This is how bubbles are created..

Lu Chunsheng

LC: Well, I have not touched on it myself. I heard that many people’s works can be sold at a very, very high price, and that some people’s works can sell especially well. I think it has nothing to do with the art work itself.
LC: This has something to do with the market, and nothing to do with the art work itself. It does not mean that the better the work is, the higher the price will be. It is so for some people, and not so for others.

Liu Jianhua

LJ: It depends on whether there is any customer. If there’s a market, you can raise the price a bit. If not, high prices mean nothing.

Li Lei

LL: When there is someone who wants to buy the work, it is reasonable. Of course probably no one wants it after a while, and then the price drops. This is also normal. This is a market economy. Supply and demand determines the price.

Li Shan

LS: Every artist considers his work excellent. I think so too. The reason for this is that when my artwork is immature, I think it’s the best. Ten years from now, when I look back on the artwork I make today, it still seems immature, yet the best.

Luo Yongjin

LY: I don’t price my art. The market sets the price. My works cannot be priced at whatever amount I would like them to be. Artistic value….. it is another difficult question. The work has higher value if I think it is a good work. However, my valuation may not represent its real value.

Liang Yue

LY: I don’t care about the prices of my works but whether I am satisfied with them. If I am satisfied with it but the price in the market is not high, it is not a problem. It could be that other people are doing better than I.

Qiu Anxiong

QA: The pricing depends on your evaluation of yourself, for example, how many exhibitions you have participated in, the quality of those exhibitions. In fact, in many cases, you are not the one to price the art. It is priced by the market. If I price my work at 1 million yuan, who will buy it?

Qiu Deshu

QD: I think the price of a work is not equivalent to its artistic value. I feel that I want an appropriate price level and not something too high. I want more people to be able to appreciate my paintings, and to afford my paintings.

Shen Fan

SF: I think the prices of my works are much higher than their value. (Laugh…)

Song Tao

ST: The market is strange. Each market has its own system. The markets in Europe and the US are very different from that of China. In China we discuss Chinese issues. What is the highest price a Chinese artist can fetch? And we also hear a lot of information. Lots of works are sold at too high a price or too low a price. China’s market is actually not normal.

Shi Yong

SY: I have never set the price. I leave it to Lorenz (Lawrence?). When he thinks the price can be higher, then it goes up. I don’t know at all; I really don’t know, and even Lorenz doesn’t know sometimes and he may have to discuss with others. As for value, I have always considered my works valuable. But it is only my personal opinion!

Wang Nanming

WN: Pricing is a process of “socializing”. Pricing a work of art is a process that enables it to enter into a relationship with society. If somebody uses market value to substitute academic value, then we end up with a very dangerous art history.

Xiang Liqing

XL: We follow the market in Beijing. When people in Beijing go crazy, we follow suit and go crazy a bit.

Xu Zhen

XZ: As I said just now, I do not measure art in monetary terms. That is why I said art is valueless. But to price an artwork, we have to let the market mechanism work on it, let it develop through comparisons with other works, and let it rise slowly.

Yu Youhan

YY: Price has nothing to do with value, I think.

Yang Zhenzhong

YZ: It is hard to say. To most people, the works have no value at all. Sometimes I feel that they are all garbage, but they still have a price. Sometimes I have the feeling that my works are of great value, but their prices are not high.

Zhang Enli

ZE: Just a few days ago, my work which was quite good was sold at only 1000USD. I felt that it was not right.

Zhou Tiehai

ZT: One is about the price, and I think it is reasonable. If the price is too high and nobody buys it, it would be meaningless. Now it is in a reasonable state. We raise the price gradually.