An honest cost breakdown for a 120×150cm oil on linen, finished in a Nairobi studio in 2025: stretcher bars and linen run KES 18,000. Pigment and medium, KES 9,000. Studio rent allocation (per piece, 8-week build), KES 28,000. Photography for documentation, KES 6,000. Insurance during transit, KES 4,000.
The piece will ticket at USD 4,800–6,200 to a gallery in Lagos or London at primary. The artist nets less than half of that after commission. None of those numbers are unique to Nairobi — they are simply rarely written down.