In the world of the art market the value of a work of art, as well as the rating of an artist, are exclusively determined by the buyer. The expert only gives an estimation of the value of the item for sale, which most of the time is very low compared to the selling price, and because of that, the only person who has the power to decide the true value of that item is only the Buyer. Regarding Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, several estimations of this "priceless" painting have turned the painting into a myth. According to some experts, its value would be around 1 or 2 billion euros, unfortunately they don’t specify if this would be the starting price or the selling price, and this information would make a huge difference.
In both cases the price is ludicrous, because these experts forgot to take into account essential factors such as the purchasing power and the willingness of a buyer to make such an investment, because once bought at 2 billion euros, it is hard to believe that the value of this work of art could increase exponentially and that someone else would be willing to shell out such an amount.
Translation of the LCI article:
$ 450.3 million. Or 382.3 million euros. The "Salvator Mundi", the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci not owned by a museum, this Wednesday shattered the record for the most expensive canvas in the world. What would happen to the Mona Lisa? The Madonna is obviously not for sale. But what would be its value if it had to be estimated? According to expert firms, its value is obviously "immeasurable". The Mona Lisa is priceless. But if it was nevertheless necessary to give one, the Expertissim cabinet, specializing in antiquity and works, estimated it in 2015 at ... 2 billion euros, making Vinci's oil the most important work. most expensive in the world.
The question regarding Mona Lisa’s estimation is a frequent one, and in 2018 someone asked me this question on the Quora platform. My answer was then based on a pragmatic analysis, going from concrete reasons to the most abstract reasons, justified by the museum authority of the painting. And here's the excerpt:
Recently, after taking a step back from the sale of Leonardo da Vinci's latest masterpiece, Salvator Mundi, experts from several renowned art institutions published on Google Arts & Culture a new estimation of $660 million, an estimation that agrees with my 2018 point of view.
To consider that the history of art makes the price of a painting is, ultimately, a very utopian approach to economic reality and to the reality of the art market. The prestige of a work of art, and finally even of a masterpiece, is not enough to determine its price ex nihilo. In the art world, every priceless painting has a price, and its price is none other than the price that the buyer is willing to pay.
Links:
https://www.quora.com/profile/Corina-Mila
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/sAVhFizZbAwNJA?hl=fr