On Sunday I asked our church what makes a piece of art valuable? I learned the 10 most expensive paintings are valued from $168 million to more than $450 million! What could make a piece of canvas and paint worth so much?
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One of the top 10 paintings most valuable paintings is Paul Cezanne’s masterpiece “The Card Players.” It is worth $250-300 million. On the right is Rembrandt’s “The Standard Bearer.” It was listed at $198 million.
Below is another in the top 10. It is a Jackson Pollock work titled “Number 17A.” I used to have my elementary students do splatter art like this painting! Pollock’s is worth $200 million! I don’t see it, but Cathy “gets it” and sees a beautiful work of art.
Below is another in the top 10. It is a Jackson Pollock work titled “Number 17A.” I used to have my elementary students do splatter art like this painting! Pollock’s is worth $200 million! I don’t see it, but Cathy “gets it” and sees a beautiful work of art.
These very different paintings are all extremely valuable! So, what makes a work of art a masterpiece worth hundreds of millions of dollars?
Here are some of the things I learned in reading about famous paintings.
1. The creator of the masterpiece makes a huge difference in what it is worth! Masterpiece creators like Cezanne, Rembrandt, and Pollack have great skill, technique, and their works have a reputation of excellence.
2. The history of the masterpiece can add to its value. Often masterpieces are discovered as hidden treasures. Many have survived wars and other disasters. What a painting has experienced in its lifetime makes for a better story and can add to its value.
3. The way the masterpiece captures and uses light. Great art is really all about the light reflecting off it. I don’t want to get too geeky in this blog, but the impact of a painting is determined by how our brains interpret the light our eyes receive from the painting.
Honestly, even before I studied what makes a painting valuable, I knew the most important factor in determining whose work made the top 10 list of most valuable pieces of art. What is it?
4. The highest price someone was willing to pay for it!
The price someone paid for each painting set its value on the 10 on the list.
The main point from my message Sunday?
Here are some of the things I learned in reading about famous paintings.
1. The creator of the masterpiece makes a huge difference in what it is worth! Masterpiece creators like Cezanne, Rembrandt, and Pollack have great skill, technique, and their works have a reputation of excellence.
2. The history of the masterpiece can add to its value. Often masterpieces are discovered as hidden treasures. Many have survived wars and other disasters. What a painting has experienced in its lifetime makes for a better story and can add to its value.
3. The way the masterpiece captures and uses light. Great art is really all about the light reflecting off it. I don’t want to get too geeky in this blog, but the impact of a painting is determined by how our brains interpret the light our eyes receive from the painting.
Honestly, even before I studied what makes a painting valuable, I knew the most important factor in determining whose work made the top 10 list of most valuable pieces of art. What is it?
4. The highest price someone was willing to pay for it!
The price someone paid for each painting set its value on the 10 on the list.
The main point from my message Sunday?
You were created to be God’s masterpiece.
Ephesians 2:10
Ephesians 2:10
I wanted everyone in our church to know they were created by God to be His masterpiece. I want you to know the same is true for you. We are more important to God than any painting on the top 10 list. Even though they are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, God cares more about you and me.
Cathy and I started blogging for Lent. Why is Lent important? Why are Holy Week and Easter so important? Because it is a time to remember that God sent His Son Jesus to pay the ultimate price for you, for me, and for the whole world. If the value of something is decided by how much someone is willing to pay, God thinks you are very valuable.
Cathy and I started blogging for Lent. Why is Lent important? Why are Holy Week and Easter so important? Because it is a time to remember that God sent His Son Jesus to pay the ultimate price for you, for me, and for the whole world. If the value of something is decided by how much someone is willing to pay, God thinks you are very valuable.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
That is the good news of the gospel.
But it is not the end of the gospel story. We are saved for a purpose. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10)
God created us as His handiwork to be shared with others. He created us to share His goodness and beauty with others.
I asked people as they left Sunday to remember they were God’s masterpiece and to go out into the world and look and do good for Him. I also told them not to get a fat head! Paul reminds us that it is the artwork’s creator who deserves the credit, not the painting.
But it is not the end of the gospel story. We are saved for a purpose. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10)
God created us as His handiwork to be shared with others. He created us to share His goodness and beauty with others.
I asked people as they left Sunday to remember they were God’s masterpiece and to go out into the world and look and do good for Him. I also told them not to get a fat head! Paul reminds us that it is the artwork’s creator who deserves the credit, not the painting.
This picture shows the most valuable painting in the world being displayed.
I found its subject fascinating, so I thought I’d share it.
This Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece is titled Salvator Mundi. The subject of the most valuable piece of art in the world is Jesus, the Savior of the World.
You were created by God to be a masterpiece. You are more valuable than any manmade art, even this $450,300,000 masterpiece. Lent is a great time to remember why that is true.
I found its subject fascinating, so I thought I’d share it.
This Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece is titled Salvator Mundi. The subject of the most valuable piece of art in the world is Jesus, the Savior of the World.
You were created by God to be a masterpiece. You are more valuable than any manmade art, even this $450,300,000 masterpiece. Lent is a great time to remember why that is true.
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