One of the missing elements toward treating art as an asset is the absence of a revenue stream that might help determine an objects value. With no underlying economic value, an artwork is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

The Art Newspaper got some numbers from Anne Baldassari, the head of the Picasso Museum in Paris, on what it earns from loaning its collection. Baldassari uses the income to refurbish the museum’s physical plant but it does begin to suggest that blue chip holdings can–and will–begin to produce regular revenue streams:

Baldassari revealed the museum raised between €1m and €3.5m a year since 2008 from the touring exhibition “Masterpieces from the Picasso Museum”. It has visited eight cities so far, including Madrid, Helsinki and Tokyo. “We have made [in total] €16m,” she said, adding that the museum levied different charges for loans. “The tariffs vary according to the number of works, the team [involved] and the expertise.”

In 2005 the museum lent paintings and sculptures to Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie exhibition “The Private Picasso” for a €700,000 fee, a museum spokeswoman confirmed.