One concept that stood out to me during last class was: who assigns value to art and how does the monetary value affect our views and opinions of it? John Berger touches upon this subject in his book Ways of Seeing when he talks about why people made oil paintings. He talks about how the rich commissioned the work to display their property and wealth. Most of the artwork that is displayed in museums and galleries today has a price and can be bought for private use or for display in a different gallery. Art changes hands often and some collectors will go to great lengths to acquire certain pieces. It made me question how the prices are determined and who determines them. One reason a piece may have a higher price is if it holds historical significance. The Mona Lisa is one of the worlds most famous paintings and is surrounded by great mysteries that contributes to it’s estimated value. But is it the world’s most beautiful or skillfully done painting? That is a question that can stir debate among the people who have different opinions about beauty and skill. Another reason artwork may be assigned a high price is if it has personal or sentimental value to the artist or the owner and thus they would not agree to sell it for anything less than what it is worth to them. There is a system to appraising art that connoisseurs and art historians may use to determine the value of the art piece. It is logical to assume that many people who view art will consider the price when they are browsing a museum. Some may assume that if an artwork costs a lot of money it must be important, beautiful or worthy and wether they agree with them or not they will devote more attention to it. I connected this concept to my experience at National Association of Women Artists exhibit. One painting in particular caught my eye. It was a simple watercolor painting of a staircase that didn’t seem to reflect any particular beauty or special skil but despite that it was worth $50,000. I was fascinated why a paiting would cost so much when most artwork in the gallery war no more than $5,000 and there were, in my opinion, far more interesting and beautiful pieces. It stirred a lot of discussion and as the gallery keeper approached us, she proposed that perhaps the artist placed such a high price on the art piece just to keep the viewers guess what made the painting so special. That perhaps, it wasn’t the most beautiful piece in the room but the price tag attracted attention and raised many questions, when in fact, the artist was likely not looking to sell the piece at all. This is a plausible explanation that only makes the topic more complex and interesting. What is art worth? Does the art work determine the price tag or does the price tag determine how much the art work is worth?