Shadowing Practice: What makes art so expensive? | CNBC Explains - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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How do you put a dollar value on a piece of art like this?
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Or this? Or this?
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It’s a billion-dollar question.
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Well, more than that actually.
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It's estimated around $50 billion in art was sold worldwide last year.
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Compared to stocks or commodities it’s hard to measure how much art is worth.
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Why? For many the value of art lies in the eye of the beholder.
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Meaning one piece of art could be worth a lot to one person and nothing to someone else.
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You can get a sense of the ranging valuations of art in just one gallery.
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From one piece costing in the thousands of dollars.
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All the way to a Picasso in the millions.
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What makes a Picasso worth millions?
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One reason is simple economics: Supply and demand.
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Wealthy art buyers, whether they’re Picasso enthusiasts or investors looking for a place to store their money, all want to get their hands on a Picasso. But there are only so many Picassos left in the world.
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The supply shortage drives up prices as buyers outbid each other.
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So sales in the high-end art market come from a select group of in-demand artists whose work, like Picasso’s, is considered scarce.
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The most expensive pieces of art sold across sectors last year were from artists who are no longer alive.
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Even in contemporary art, 25 artists accounted for nearly half of public art auction sales in the first six months of 2017.
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Put another way, the art market is like the professional golf market.
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A handful of professional golfers make a lot of money, millions of dollars, when they win.
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But there are many more golfers in the field who earn just a fraction of those winnings.
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The price for a piece of art isn’t just about the artist’s reputation.
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There are other factors at play, like the art’s size and genre, its condition, the prices of similar pieces and where the work has been exhibited.
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Art Fairs, like Frieze here in London, are an important venue for new buyers and they're likely to stay that way.
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Sales at art fairs hit an estimated $13 billion in 2016, an increase of 57% since 2010.
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But half of art dealers in one survey said the costs associated with exhibiting at art fairs are a top business concern.
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This piece sold for around $20,000 and that’s considered a good value.
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Even new buyers willing to spend thousands of dollars can be put off by the idea that they need to spend millions to be part of an exclusive club of art collectors.
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It’s the million dollar buyers generating headline after headline of record sales in the art industry.
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The top end of the art market is dominated by a select group of players who are pretty private about their business.
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Which can make it tricky to value how much they’re actually spending on art.
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More and more art sales are conducted in private which attracts high net worth investors.
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These wealthy buyers are also lured by tax breaks for art donations or the prospect of making big returns on a piece of art.
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Galleries, dealers and auction houses can be tempted to cater to high-end clients who pay millions of dollars for art, and who keep coming back, instead of to the average Joe.
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You can see this trend in a chart showing the value of art sales, the total dollar amount, versus the volume of sales, the number of transactions, in global fine art auctions last year.
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Art that sold for more than $1 million accounted for nearly half of the market’s value in less than 1% of transactions.
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China has been driving a lot of the growth in high-end art sales since the financial crisis as it mints new millionaires and billionaires looking for places to invest their money.
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China ranks third in global art sales after the U.K. and the U.S., and those three countries combined make up 81% of global sales by value.
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Just because some art costs millions doesn’t mean you have to pay that much.
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A worthwhile investment can be art that you like for just a couple of bucks.
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Hey guys, it's Elizabeth. Thanks so much for watching.
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Check out more of our videos over here.
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We're also taking your suggestions for future CNBC Explains so leave your ideas in the comments section.
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And while you're at it, subscribe to our channel.
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See you!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “What makes art so expensive?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sales, dollar, piece, value, buyers. This video has 45 sentences and 736 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:26. The speaker talks at a natural 166 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| buyer noun | /ˈbaɪ.əɹ/ | A person who makes one or more purchases. |
| golfer noun | /ˈɡɒlfə(ɹ)/ | Someone who plays golf. |
| investor noun | /ɪnˈvɛs.tə(ɹ)/ | A person who invests money in order to make a profit. |
| headline noun | /ˈhɛd.laɪn/ | The heading or title of a magazine or newspaper article. |
| exhibit verb | /ɪɡˈzɪbɪt/ | To display or show (something) for others to see, especially at an exhibition or contest. |
| dealer noun | /ˈdiːlə(ɹ)/ | One who deals in goods, especially automobiles; a middleman. |
| beholder noun | /bɪˈhoʊldɚ/ | Someone who observes or beholds; an observer or spectator. |
| enthusiast noun | /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/ | A person filled with or guided by enthusiasm. |
| outbid verb | /aʊtˈbɪd/ | To bid more than (somebody else) in an auction. |
| cater verb | /ˈkeɪɾɚ/ | To provide, particularly |
| scarce adjective | /ˈskɛɚs/ | Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand. |
| lure noun | /lʊə/ | Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or pleasure. |
| millionaire noun | /ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/ | Somebody whose wealth is at least one million (10⁶) currency units (usually understood to exclude holders of hyperinflated currencies). |
| worthwhile adjective | /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/ | Good and important enough to spend time, effort, or money on. |
| valuation noun | /ˌvæ.ljuːˈeɪ.ʃən/ | An estimation of something's worth. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| drive up verb | To cause or force a price, quantity, rate, etc. to increase. |
| put off verb | To postpone, especially through procrastination. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, doesn't, isn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: enthusiast /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: valuation /ˌvæ.ljuːˈeɪ.ʃən/, shortage /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/, fraction /ˈfɹæk.ʃən/, donation /doʊˈneɪʃən/, genre /ˈ(d)ʒɑnɹə/
- Long words — get the stress right: enthusiast /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/, millionaire /ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/, valuation /ˌvæ.ljuːˈeɪ.ʃən/, commodity /kəˈmɑdəti/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like buyer, golfer, investor.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.