Commodity

"In classical political economy and especially Karl Marx's critique of political economy, a commodity is any good or service produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the market. Some other priced goods are also treated as commodities, e.g. human labor-power, works of art and natural resources, even although they may not be produced specifically for the market, or be non-reproducible goods."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_(Marxism)

Though today a commodity is a good or service put out on the market to be exchanged with money, during ancient days a commodity was an exchange of goods to goods or service to service.

For example goods like gold, silver, copper etc., were trade with coal, iron, timber. And also exchange of labour.

Looking at an artist's work as a commodity;

Jackson Pollock

As an artist he was the person who works were based on the abstract expressionist movement. Which wasn't well valued among the consumers who bought his paintings. His work scored for their uniqueness. As his way of working on paintings as gazing at the blank canvas until the picture reflects on the canvas from his brain then start painting by spilling of liquid paint in various motions using sticks, towels, buckets etc., according to his feelings and image on his mind.

His method became a famous and valued among consumers for the style and energy of his physical and mental expression applied to his work.

A commodity becomes successful when it meets the right marketeer. In Pollock's case his wife was the one who promoted his work to the art market and found the right dealer for Pollock.

he was an individual art maker often contrast to other artists such as Andy Warhol, he had people under him to work for him, produced works of mass production, and sold his work to the right people without an intermediate. Jackson Pollock's work was produced to people who valued and admired his work for it's uniqueness and own way of making art.

But there can be difference between an artist and other artists or producer of goods when it comes to define their work as commodity. An artist can have the freedom to make a piece of artwork for his or hers own satisfaction and the it will not be valued as a commodity until it's put out to the market. In this case, the individual will have self satisfaction of making the good or service. Where as when a good is produced or made under a given order or instructions, the producer won't have the same self satisfaction and the good will be put out in the market as a commodity straight way.

According to that all of Jackson Pollock's works were not a production of commodities when he enjoyed it first by painting it and gaining satisfaction from his work produced. There are many other artist who had also practiced the same thing. Other famous artists such as Michelangelo who was under lot of influence by the church and higher powers in his society when he produced most of his work for the church, he worked under order and instruction of the church and higher power, which didn't give him much freedom and self satisfaction when he produced his work. which is similar to mass production of commodities made in factories for consumers satisfaction.