"Lyn J. Mangiameli" wrote in message

Following on Arch's comment:" I've come to wonder if----art isn't really
in the purse of the beholder and affordable art is a non sequitur."

I'd just toss in this only obliquely related observation, coming from a
position of one who never sells his turnings, but has purchased the
turnings of others, including the "big" names.

Folks purchase artistic turnings for many reasons, including a genuine
appreciation for (if not visceral connection to) the object itself,a
desire to be some how elevated by an association with a striking object or
the artist's reputation, a belief that the work will increase in monetary
and/or artistic value (a game in and of itself), and the point I wish to
most make here, a desire to support the continued production of an
artist's work.

The latter means that the price one pays is not an attempt to obtain a
"fair market price" for the current value of the work itself (however that
might be valued) but a willingness to pay more than than that intrinsic
monetary value as a desire to increase the likelihood that the artist will
produce more works of comparable or increased artistic value. Sure, some
artists will produce works regardless of whether they can eat well,or have
a decent automobile, but for most, the best way to insure that an artist
can be free to offer their artistic expressions is to see to it that they
can maintain a decent quality of life doing so. That, my friends, means
being willing to pay more than what you might be able to obtain some item
for elsewhere. Interestingly, I don't find the willingness to do so being
all that related to the income of the purchaser, indeed, it seems to me
that often folks of limited financial means have more empathy for the
artist than those much more financially well off.

Shortly after WWII, my parents bought a painting from the quintessential
struggling artist, a young black man with immense talent and almost no way
to market his work. Their empathetic viewpoint was apparently quite similar
to that which you've stated above. Ultimately the painting became quite
valuable as the artist's output was somewhat limited--he eventually had to
find a 'day job'--and he died short of his 40th birthday. My folks sold the
painting about 20 years ago, finding it to be more a liability hanging on
the wall than an asset. The cost of insuring it became insurmountable.

The point of this is that your desire to help the turner continue to produce
is valid, and no doubt the reason some people pay more for turnings than
that which might be considered financially reasonable. But it really has
little to do with the market for turnings in general. Please set me
straight on this if I'm incorrect, but I make my preceding statement with
the assumption that fine turnings by even the best in the business don't
realize the same level of appreciation that paintings and sculptures by
renowned artists do.

Max