Give and take

We have always been big supporters of the idea that artists get some monetary return on the resale of their work. In our experience the rising value of art has little to do with the walls it hangs on or the people who come to own it. Instead the value is a recognition of what the work means to the culture and this determination is invariably based on the growing reputation of the artist plus their ongoing production. If that's the case, it has always seemed to us only fair that the person most responsible for this rise in value should get a share when that value is realised. So we are very pleased to see the Government through the Ministry of Culture and Heritage has issued a fascinating discussion paper on resale rights for visual artists looking at many international examples. You may also be entertained by the varying estimates on the size of the NZ art market each year (from Peter Webb's $40-50 million including both first sales and resales to an $80 million punt from John Daly-Peoples).

The Ministry's paper includes a heavy duty questionnaire that you can respond to. We can't promise to answer all the questions but we certainly plan to tackle some of them. You can read the discussion paper here.