TY - JOUR

T1 - How Does the Color Palette Affect the Pricing of Abstract Paintings?

AU - Борисов, Максим Александрович

AU - Колычева, Валерия Андреевна

AU - Семенов , Александр

AU - Григорьев, Дмитрий Алексеевич

PY - 2025/1/29

Y1 - 2025/1/29

N2 - The valuation of artwork is a fundamental issue in cultural economics. This study examines the impact of visual elements on a painting’s price. Several characteristics are evaluated such as its intricacy, points of interest, segmentation-based features, and local color features. The study also employs theories by Itten and Kandinsky, and applies mixed-effects models to assess how these characteristics impact the painting’s price. The influence of color is examined in the context of abstractionism, a highly complex art style, where the selection of color is crucial. Itten’s theory, the most acclaimed color theory in the art world, is used as a basis for this analysis since it has spawned various sub-theories and is the basis for teaching artists. A unique dataset of 3,885 paintings from Christie’s and Sotheby’s is used, and it is found that Itten’s color harmony has a low predicting power, color complexity metrics are inconsequential, and color diversity is a better predictor of the price of abstract art.

AB - The valuation of artwork is a fundamental issue in cultural economics. This study examines the impact of visual elements on a painting’s price. Several characteristics are evaluated such as its intricacy, points of interest, segmentation-based features, and local color features. The study also employs theories by Itten and Kandinsky, and applies mixed-effects models to assess how these characteristics impact the painting’s price. The influence of color is examined in the context of abstractionism, a highly complex art style, where the selection of color is crucial. Itten’s theory, the most acclaimed color theory in the art world, is used as a basis for this analysis since it has spawned various sub-theories and is the basis for teaching artists. A unique dataset of 3,885 paintings from Christie’s and Sotheby’s is used, and it is found that Itten’s color harmony has a low predicting power, color complexity metrics are inconsequential, and color diversity is a better predictor of the price of abstract art.

KW - Abstractionism

KW - Color theory

KW - Itten’s color wheel

KW - Mixed-effects

KW - Paintings

KW - Pricing

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/c4d85b91-a7ee-35a4-80f2-7b5266913474/

U2 - 10.1007/s10796-024-10558-y

DO - 10.1007/s10796-024-10558-y

M3 - Article

SP - 1

EP - 23

JO - Information Systems Frontiers

JF - Information Systems Frontiers

SN - 1387-3326

ER -