Deutsche Version: Was kostet ein Ölgemälde? Preise für Originale verständlich erklärt
“How much does a painting cost?” is the question many people are too shy to ask. The answer online is confusing: auction records in the millions, “hand-painted” canvases for under €50, and gallery prices without explanation. This guide explains what really decides the price of an original oil painting, and shows how one painter, Lena Krashevka in Cologne, sets hers.
The short answer: an original oil painting by a living, exhibiting contemporary painter usually costs from several hundred to several thousand euros, depending above all on size and on the artist’s career. Lena’s originals cost from €930 for a small work to €9,600 for a statement piece of 160×160 cm.
A painting’s price is not the price of paint and canvas. It pays for:
Many painters price by size, because it is simple and transparent: a bigger canvas takes more time and material. Lena uses one rule for every painting:
Height + width in centimetres, times €30.
The rule is the same for every series and every subject. A Reflection painting costs the same as an abstract work of the same size, and the price is the same in the studio, on this website and as the artist price on platforms (which add their own fees). All 132 works available today follow it, so you can check every price yourself.
40×40 cm, €2,400. Every raindrop on the glass is painted by hand, in layers. The price is the same as for any other 40×40 cm work.
Reflection #54, 40×40 cm, oil on canvas, 2026, €2,400
The ranges for the works available today:
The smallest originals start at €930. A small work is a way to own a real painting, with the same care and the same hand as a large one.
Illusion #13, 18×13 cm, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2021, €930
A large work for a living room wall. Same rule, same price per centimetre as the small one.
Between Mind and Heart, 100×100 cm, oil on canvas, 2023, €6,000
A statement piece. At 160×160 cm it fills a wall on its own.
Illusion #20, 160×160 cm, oil and pearls on canvas, 2021, €9,600
Oil paintings take longer than acrylics, because oil dries slowly and is painted in more layers. In Lena’s studio the price still follows size only, whatever the medium. A print is a different product altogether: a copy without the texture, the layers and the uniqueness of the original. More on that in Original painting or print? What you really get for your money.
Buy a painting because you want to live with it. Prices of living artists can rise as their careers grow, and a painter’s prices rarely go down, but nobody can promise a return. What is certain: an original keeps its presence on your wall for decades, and it is one of a kind.
All available works can be filtered by price: under €1,500, €1,500 to 3,000, €3,000 to 6,000 and over €6,000. In Cologne you can see the paintings in the studio by appointment. Looking for something personal? See what a painted portrait costs.