In 2018, the very beautiful Enchanted Owl by Kenojuak Ashevak (1927-2013) was resold for $185,500. When it was created in 1960, the stone engraving was sold for $24. In visual arts, time often gives value. If the Inuit artist had lived in the European Union rather than Nunavut, her heirs would have received 5% of this resale, or $9,275. But in Canada, the resale right for visual artists, although promised and re-promised by the federal government, is still not in place.
And it was not on the big menu in the last budget. Too bad for the artists.
“When we discovered the federal budget last week, there was general disappointment at the Regroupement des artistes en arts nationaux du Québec” (RAAV), confides its general director, Camille Cazin.
“We have been campaigning and discussing with various government stakeholders for more than 15 years to have the resale right adopted,” recalls M.me Cazin. This right allows visual artists to benefit from the value that their works can gain over the course of the market. In the approximately 90 countries where it applies, artists receive royalties, between 5% and 8%, on each sale other than primary.
When a country adopts the resale right, it allows its artists to benefit from it on sales made in other countries that apply it. The heirs of Mme Ashevak could thus receive royalties on the works it sells in Europe, for example.
Canada is late. All member countries of the European Union have had legislation since 2006. Many already had one before the Union directive, including France, which introduced it in… 1920. However, “the Canadian government is committed to two mandate letters”, those of the Ministers of Heritage and Innovation in 2021, “and launched a major consultation on the subject of the resale right last December. What more is needed? » says the director in a desperate tone.
South Korea passed its resale right law last year. New Zealand will begin collecting royalties for artists next December.
The more time passes, the more money escapes Canadian artists. Example ? Three days ago, a sculpture by Joe Fafard found a buyer at a Cowley Abbott auction. His pretty little ceramic cow, barely bigger than a trinket, was sold for $4,800. The heirs of the Saskatchewan artist will not receive their $240. The issue is not this amount. Since the mid-1990s, 277 works by Joe Fafard have been sold at auction. The total cost last year was more than $337,000, according to Artprice. The resale rights would therefore have been around $16,850.
During his lifetime, Mr. Fafard campaigned for the resale right. A buyer who resells a work can make a splash of money — or at least make an appreciable profit — he told RAAV and the Canadian Artists Front (CARFAC). “Sharing such a windfall with the artist who is the main source by offering him a modest 5% discount does not seem very generous to me, but it would be a start. »
Joe Fafard, who died in 2019, would not have been able to benefit from it.
Open wallet
“Many Canadian artists support the resale right, and their works are regularly sold, from one season to the next,” says the CEO of the RAAV. In 2023, the total amount of works resold by Claude Tousignant (1932-) was $165,000, again according to Artprice. That of the creations of Rita Letendre (1928-2021): $792,000. For Kent Monkman (1965-), who is younger and whose works entered the market more recently, $104,000, underlines Mme Cazin. “The longer an artist’s career, the more striking the potential loss. »
For RAAV and CARFAC, the resale right “would be an undeniable help for seniors and indigenous artists. It would strengthen Canada’s alignment with international copyright practices and harmonize the Canadian art market with that of other countries.” “By distributing to artists the share of the economic value they create, the resale right would encourage creativity in the long term,” continue the groups.
Marcel Barbeau (1925-2016) also campaigned for the Canadian resale right during his lifetime. “One of the works I produced in 1956, which I gave to a friend, was sold by one of his heirs at an auction for $75,000. » This work is Open, sold in 2008. “This resale did not bring me a penny…” the painter confided to the RAAV. “Some people get rich thanks to my works while at 85 years old, I find myself in a situation of great insecurity. » With a resale right, Mr. Barbeau could have received $3,750.
In the United Kingdom, where royalties have been collected since 2006, 81% of artists use them to pay for living expenses, and 73% for artist materials. In Australia, since 2010, $13 million has been paid to more than 2,600 artists and estates; more than 65% of beneficiaries are indigenous artists.
If the resale right has its opponents, more so among dealers and collectors who fear a collapse in sales, the example of Australia is convincing, according to the RAAV. Its art market, comparable to that of Canada, has seen its sales grow since 2010.
Playing at the statue
What’s blocking it, then? Camille Cazin sighs on the line. ” It’s a good question. Unfortunately I don’t have the answer. There is clearly a desire on the part of the government, which is not working. » Especially since the plan is ready: the management company COVA-DAAV could be responsible for the collection and redistribution of royalties.
During the last survey on the economic conditions of visual artists in Quebec, in 2022, we saw that 54% of artists earn less than $30,000, recalls Mme Cazin. “A third earn less than $20,000 and live below the poverty line. The already precarious situation of visual artists has only gotten worse over the last ten years. It’s time to act ! »
So what’s blocking it? Canadian Heritage and the Ministry of Innovation did not further explain the factors at play. “The government invited Canadians to share their experiences of the art market in Canada through a public survey which will took place between November 9, 2023 and December 21, 2023,” replied David Savoie, media relations at Canadian Heritage.
“The Government of Canada is working to establish a resale right. The objective of the survey was to collect market data to better understand the art market in Canada. Questions regarding art buying, selling and creating practices in Canada and around the world were asked and participants are helping the government obtain valuable data on the functioning of the art market in Canada. »
“The government has analyzed the survey responses and is now considering next steps. » The duty wanted to explore this aspect in more depth, but his request for an interview also remained unanswered.