From Modern Art Obsession…
3. Hiroshi Sugimoto photographs at Gagosian Gallery have had their prices reduced from $450,000 to $360,000. Gasp… like what is that?
Even at $360,000, MAO would consider that price to be totally RIDICULOUS for a new Sugimoto photograph! While MAO loves some of Sugimoto’s work.. there’s NO WAY in any sane world, anyone but a total fool would pay $360,000 for a single Sugimoto photograph.
We love this Gagosian press release quote..
In 1980 he began working on an ongoing series of photographs of the sea and its horizon in locations all over the world, using an old-fashioned large-format camera to make exposures of varying duration….
By returning to the same subject repeatedly, he reveals the subtleties that he…..
Perhaps, That “HE,” Sugimoto, hasn’t managed to do anything new or original in years? Except raise his prices beyond reality? Ok.. maybe MAO is being a bit harsh.. So no disrespect to Sugi…but we’re just saying…Hmm..it’s something to think about. Should a single newly printed Sugimoto photo sell for more than the average price of a house in most parts of the U.S. ? Maybe MAO is missing something..? like an extra $360,000 to burn on a new and dull Sugimoto photograph.
Personally I think Todd Deutsch’s approach is more understandable,
In a few days I turn 40. In a few months our fourth son will join the family fray. Time to rethink where things are headed. I am growing weary of weighing the pros and cons of edition sizes, where to send packets, trying to decide which competitions to enter, and on and on. Strategy, strategy, strategy. Position, position, position. What I am learning is that I am really not that guy. All the effort comes at the expense (emphasis on ‘expense’) of what I love about making and looking at photographs. Of course I still want the pictures I make to be seen, but right now I am looking for ways to be more like myself in the process. More emphasis on rhythm, less emphasis on melody.
So, I have decided to occasionally offer small prints for sale. 11 x 14 inch c-prints. No editions. Just prints. As many (or as few) as the world wishes to soak up. And cheap, too. 30 clams including shipping. (Larger versions of many of the images will still be available in the editions we have grown to expect. After all, there is a place for those as well.)
Although maybe somewhere in between would be the ideal?
