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I've often wondered why and how it is that some artist's work is considered to be more valuable than others. What is it about their work that deems it to be in demand, wanted and desired by collectors? Is it their technique, their style? 

Some of it, quite honestly, I find to be comparable to the work of others artists creating in the same genre. And yet, for some reason, their work draws more attention.

Having read articles on this subject, I recall one stating that connections, the right connections, have something to do with it. I've read a number of articles on the subject and here is one article that provided some insight.

In the article, a question was asked: "Who creates value in a piece of art?" At first glance you would think the people who buy the art. The collectors. Why should they buy or collect it if it doesn't have value to them in some way? 

The article goes on and another question is posed: "What drives their decision?" I suspect there could be any number of reasons as to why someone decides to buy one piece of art and not another. The article quotes Todd Levin, director of the Levin Art Group. He states, "Since cultural goods are essentially taste-driven, a whole different set of criteria for consumption and purchase exists other than those normally associated with performance-driven [functional] products. Central to this distinction is the fact that taste is random but nonetheless loaded with social meaning."

Taste. I looked up the definiton and the one most closely related to this topic read, 'ability to judge aesthetically the faculty of making discerning judgements in aesthetic matters.' We all have the ability to make discerning judgements in aesthetic matters. But it still doesn't answer the question as to why one artist's work is deemed more valuable than another's. 

I came to the next paragraph, and this is where I began to see the answer to the question. It read, 'But for those of us interested in why some cultural production is held in high esteem and sells for large sums of money, the question remains - If taste is indeed random, how does a consumer actually form his/her idea of taste? And if cultural and artistic success is so unpredictable, who is most important in creating a more certain chance of success? The great mystery is why a certain person buys a certain thing. This is where we arrive at the critical function of what I do for a living... We invest in art because it has been given value by experts - someone or some people whose very job it is to crown an artwork or artist or artistic trend or movement with the approval and cachet that makes it worth buying in the first place. These people, people such as myself, are the gatekeepers, the tastemakers or "the connectors", to use Malcom Gladwell's term... Connectors have enormous power over consumption - they virtually define taste and create status.'

This explains a lot. I thought having the right connections made all the difference in the world and this confirms it.

One more statement that the author reveals is that 'connectors act to pick winners and as such give consumers the cue to what to purchase in a nobody knows world.' It appears that a small group of people are telling the rest of us whose art is worth more. We don't know why other than the fact that this group has decided it to be so. 

I'm not sure what qualifies them to be "experts" on cultural tastes, and in particular, art. I find the world of fashion to be similar. A handful of designers put out their lines and before you know it everyone follows suit. And we all want to own and wear apparel made by that designer.

Whether we like it or not, it sounds like we have our decisions made for us in these areas. I can't say that I always agree as my tastes differ from many of those gatekeepers.

So what to do? Since taste is such a nebulus thing, I think it depends on what an artist's goals are. Creating art is such a personal thing. It is an extension of who you are and how you perceive the world.  No two people see it the same. 

That being said, there will always be a trend. Something falls out of favor and there is something to replace it. I'd prefer not to be a trend. I'd prefer there be those individuals who like and enjoy my work for what it is, even if I'm never found to be in that elite group. 

Stay true to who you are. Create art that says, 'This is who I am and how I see the world around me'. Because no else can do what you do.