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Author Topic: Peter Lik Declares Himself God  (Read 95103 times)

Mark Ogden

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Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« on: February 22, 2015, 07:19:45 am »

Very interesting and highly skeptical article about Lik and the dubious investment quality of his work from this morning's New York Times.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/business/peter-liks-recipe-for-success-sell-prints-print-money.html?hpw&rref=business&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0
« Last Edit: February 22, 2015, 07:23:03 am by Mark Ogden »
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JohnBrew

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2015, 08:29:54 am »

The article pretty much follows my experience many years ago purchasing "investment" fine art.  :'(

WannabeTilt

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2015, 10:40:10 am »

Excellent piece, thanks!

Nick
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JoeKitchen

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2015, 10:44:36 am »

I have to wonder what the resale value of his work is?  (Any stats on that?) 
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jjj

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2015, 10:53:22 am »

Buy art because you like it. Buying art or indeed anything for investment purposes usually ends up with most people out of pocket.

Lik is a smart businessman, whether or not you like his photography.
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2015, 11:07:31 am »

I have to wonder what the resale value of his work is?  (Any stats on that?) 

It is in the article. Tiny.

Justan

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2015, 11:20:26 am »

Good article. It would have been great if they described the sales process in greater detail. Someone needs to visit a gallery and record the session.

Alan Klein

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2015, 11:52:23 am »

How many pictures did you all sell recently?   Rather than knock Lik, you might want to learn some of his business techniques if you want to sell your work.  He obviously knows what he's doing in a big way.  It seems strange to castigate success of a fellow photographer who's worked hard and dedicated himself.   

langier

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2015, 12:05:47 pm »

+1
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jjj

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2015, 12:08:51 pm »

How many pictures did you all sell recently?   Rather than knock Lik, you might want to learn some of his business techniques if you want to sell your work.  He obviously knows what he's doing in a big way.  It seems strange to castigate success of a fellow photographer who's worked hard and dedicated himself.   
I find it ironic that photographers who typically complain about not making enough money in today's world will complain even more about someone who is doing exceptionally well.
Interestingly, comments where people have actually seen Lik's prints in person say it's a lot more impressive than as a 400px shot online, which is how most people judge Lik's work.
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Mark Ogden

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2015, 12:10:50 pm »

Nobody is begrudging Lik and his sales.  But it crosses an ethical line to insinuate to a prospective buyer that the work has an investment value that clearly is not there.  That's the "business technique" of a bullsh*t artist.
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JoeKitchen

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2015, 12:17:45 pm »

How many pictures did you all sell recently?   Rather than knock Lik, you might want to learn some of his business techniques if you want to sell your work.  He obviously knows what he's doing in a big way.  It seems strange to castigate success of a fellow photographer who's worked hard and dedicated himself.  

Hope that is not directed towards me.  

I have to say, I was not taking a jab at his work, and it does seem that he is a rather good business man.  

I did attend a recent "Business of Fine Art Photography" talk by a very successful gallerist in NYC.  I am not a fine art photographer and have no interest in making a living from that.  I prefer commercial photography.  I attended because the talk was free to ASMP members, I was sure (and there was) plenty of overlap in advice for both fine art and commercial work, and it is good to be social.  

The person who talked discussed the importance of developing (or having really, not sure if you can develop it) value in the second hand market place.  Reason being, you want to eventually develop a value for your limited prints that will eventually increase the amount of money you can sell your work for.  He brought up Lik's work and said he currently feels there is no value in the second hand market for it, however it is obvious he is making a lot already.  

So, I was wondering, from seeing that talk, what is the resale value of his work?  It was not a jab.  

Anyway, is he good?  Who knows; we'll all be dead by the time the world truly decides upon that.  In the mean time, he makes one great living.  
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jjj

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2015, 12:18:06 pm »

Nobody is begrudging Lik and his sales.  But it crosses an ethical line to insinuate to a prospective buyer that the work has an investment value that clearly is not there.  That's the "business technique" of a bullsh*t artist.
I think the article states that sellers are dissuaded from using that as a sales tactic. What he does do is set it up so that if you buy early you get a piece at a bargain price and as some people like bargains, they feel like they get a great deal and as other people like to spend large sums they get served too when they buy later. That's the clever bit. Selling the same thing to several markets

People whinge about Lik regardless of all that anyway.
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jjj

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2015, 12:20:05 pm »

Anyway, is he good?  Who knows; we'll all be dead by the time the world truly decides upon that.  In the mean time, he makes one great living.
So who would most people rather be, Van Gogh or Peter Lik?
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JoeKitchen

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #14 on: February 22, 2015, 12:21:36 pm »

So who would most people rather be. Van Gogh or Peter Lik?

Of course, Peter Lik.  However, worldview of centuries, and artists, past does not work that way.  
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jjj

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #15 on: February 22, 2015, 12:43:15 pm »

Of course, Peter Lik.  However, worldview of centuries, and artists, past does not work that way. 
I'm sure the destitute artist will be glad that in years to come other people and not necessarily his family will make large amount of money from his creations.
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #16 on: February 22, 2015, 12:43:43 pm »

... a very successful gallerist in NYC...discussed the importance of developing... value in the second hand market place.  Reason being, you want to eventually develop a value for your limited prints that will eventually increase the amount of money you can sell your work for...

Where would you rather have higher value, in the primary or secondary market? If you are the artist, surely in the primary, as you do not benefit from the secondary market price increase. It may or may not, eventually, "increase the amount of money you can sell your work for." Original buyers, auction houses and gallerists (if they take a cut) prefer the higher secondary market, of course.

Alan Klein

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2015, 12:45:52 pm »

According to the article he has sold $420 million dollars worth of photos.  I don;t know the accuracy of that number.  But he has galleries throughout the world that have to cost a fortune to run.  I stopped by one in Oahu while on vacation; ran through on my own as my wife waited outside.  The photos were very good, presented very [professionally in an admirably looking gallery that has to cost a lot of money to rent in Honolulu with sales people, and the interior decorations of the store were excellent and expensive.  He knows how to market.

The way he raises prices as the number of a particular photo decreases is used by many sellers.  Creating rarity to sell art at higher prices is a well established procedure.   Here's a guy who can sell his photos while the rest of us complain we can't sell ours because photos have gotten so cheaply available because of digital photography and the Internet.   I would recommend to anyone interested in learning how a pro does it to visit one of his galleries and see.  You might pick up a few pointers.

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #18 on: February 22, 2015, 12:56:47 pm »

I find it ironic that photographers who typically complain about not making enough money in today's world will complain even more about someone who is doing exceptionally well....

If photography were a country, it would have experienced a transformation in name (and essence) from Mediocristan to Exremistan. In Mediocristan, most photographers were making a decent amount of money, not too high, nor too low, but around a median. In Extremistan, however, only a handful of photographers would make a huge amount of money, while the rest would be fighting for survival.

JoeKitchen

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #19 on: February 22, 2015, 01:00:58 pm »

I'm sure the destitute artist will be glad that in years to come other people and not necessarily his family will make large amount of money from his creations.

Now your twisting my intentions and using a red herring to further your argument mixed with a little bit a satire. 

Sure, the destitute artist would not be appreciative that in years to come, others not related to him, would make large sums of money off of his work.  But I am not discussing the feelings of the artist, you are. 
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