Method, in two sentences
The figures below cover the 1,902 valuations produced by ArtValue between 27 May and 5 September 2026, across seven languages. These are estimates generated by our analysis engine from the photographs and details supplied by users — they are not realised sale prices, and they do not constitute a formal appraisal. Unless stated otherwise, quoted values are the upper bound of the estimated range. No personal data enters these aggregates.
1. A factor of 135 between median and mean
The median artwork submitted to ArtValue is valued at €950. The mean is €128,574. That gap is not a computational quirk — it is the shape of the market itself. A handful of seven-figure works pull the average upward while 87.5% of all pieces valued top out below €5,000. Only 1.5% exceed €100,000.
This is the central distortion in public discourse about art. Media coverage of the market rests on auction records, that is, on what has already been sorted, authenticated and judged worth a sale. Auction databases measure the survivor. This barometer measures what comes before the sorting: the painting taken off a wall, the print found in an attic, the canvas inherited from a grandmother. The distribution below is that one.
| Estimated upper bound | Valuations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under €100 | 23 | 1.2 % |
| €100 to €500 | 399 | 21 % |
| €500 to €1,000 | 546 | 28.7 % |
| €1,000 to €5,000 | 697 | 36.6 % |
| €5,000 to €20,000 | 154 | 8.1 % |
| €20,000 to €100,000 | 55 | 2.9 % |
| Over €100,000 | 28 | 1.5 % |
2. There is no headline act
1,253 valuations name an artist. They spread across 1,028 distinct artists — and 880 of them appear exactly once. The most frequently submitted artist, Salvador Dalí, accounts for just 12 requests, or 0.6% of the total.
Privately held art is, in other words, an almost pure long tail. There is no top ten capturing the bulk of demand: every household has its local painter, its landscape-painting uncle, its 1970s lithographer. That is what makes domestic valuation structurally hard — and why a comparables database built only on famous signatures does not answer the question being asked.
3. A third of people don't know what they own
649 valuations, 34.1% of the total, were requested with no artist name at all: from a photograph alone. These unidentified works carry a median value of €650, against €1,400 when a name is supplied. Identification does not create value, but its absence caps it: with no attributable signature there is no comparable, and with no comparable there is no defensible upper bound.
A second signal points the same way. Among the 104 people who answered our satisfaction survey, those who dispute the figure they received find it too low four times more often than too high (29 against 7). The sample is small and we offer it as an order of magnitude rather than a measurement: it points to a persistent gap between hoped-for value and market value.
4. This is not a French question
Half the requests come through the French interface, but the other half spread across English, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese. The question "what is this painting worth?" is asked in the same terms everywhere, and the orders of magnitude we observe do not vary significantly between languages.
What these figures do not say
Three limits, stated plainly. First, these are estimates, not transactions: we measure a probable market value, not money received. Second, the sample is made of people seeking an online valuation — it probably over-represents objects their owners are unsure about, and under-represents collections already followed by a professional. Third, the nature of the object (painting, print, drawing, sculpture) has only been recorded reliably since 4 August 2026: the breakdown by medium will come in a later reading and is not published here yet.
Reuse and citation
These figures may be reproduced freely, including commercially, on the single condition that you credit ArtValue and link to this page. The charts may be reproduced as they stand. Journalists and researchers: we are happy to answer methodological questions or run additional extractions.
Reading history
Every reading stays archived here. A citation that names a reading date therefore remains verifiable after the following reading is published.
| Reading | Valuations | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 August 2026 | 1,578 | €1,200 | €153,920 |
| 5 September 2026 | 1,902 | €950 | €128,574 |