Monday, November 24, 2014

www.bellgiointernationalgallery.com
How To Buy Art
I can help you learn the art of collecting the right art!
Buyer Be Aware
what kind of art are you purchasing.
Art has become a commodity ,we are now hearing about funds that are carrying art,wine ,diamonds or precious metals. Sotherby's last year just had close to a billion dollar month
But has art always been a commodity ?
Investing in art, what does that mean?
There seems to be a lot of confusion with this term . I hear it everyday. I get asked about investing in art at least several times a week. I myself invest in a lot of art.
But this is a very tricky term . Why ? Because like any other commodity ,we look at supply and demand.
But there is a difference with art, " It is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it". This is usually based on a secondary market.
But let see, not in all cases. See legitimate galleries and successful artists want to hold value . We want to see talented artists create value on there work .We like to see a nice increase in the art over the years to come. I try to encourage my clients to buy originals.  They will hold more value in the future,  much more than a giclee or print.
See when we are buying art either through a gallery or an auction ,we usually run into  two types of buyers. We have a buyer that loves the piece for the pure emotional connection, can't wait to hang the piece in there home .They look at the art for long term .The icing on the cake is if the artist does very well and the art increases in value. So we look at this as a long term purchase.Then years later they may want to sell, liquidate or pass down. Then we have the buyer who feels they are buying art for an investment. They are seeking art for a secondary market value. They may want to flip the piece quickly or wait a few years . Some may store the art and never showcase .
Well we know that a lot of the old masters works are selling for millions. We all hear how much these masterpieces have been selling for, Picasso, Monet, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and now Pollock ,Warhol's,  Rothko and many more . But the last ten years maybe more, we are seeing an incredible increase in modern day contemporary artists whose works are selling for large sums of money. Could this be the next big trend. Well we did see a bubble with art in the early 90's and like any bubble it deflates . We saw a decline . But we are starting to see this incline happen again, why?
Well my theory is the internet and I do not mean buying art on the internet .I mean we can learn about the artist. See what they are working on .We can reach out to them, communicate with them .We can track their prices .Who is buying there art and why. I believe now we are buying the art and the artists career. You can read up on an acclaimed artist .See where there career is going .Who they are doing commissions for, A perfect example are artist doing commissions for country, government, ambassador relations or corporations .We can see who is acquiring this art.
So we do not have to wait for an artist to pass before we see an incline in value on the art and on the artist. We are seeing values of art go up to 200% within a 5 to 7 years

But Beware!
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One red flag is price jumping to quickly within months. This game is played a lot with edition art . for example giclee's and prints.
The exception would be bronze sculptures .The reason bronzes, the editions are still considered originals even though they a have an edition. Each one will look a little different from the process and the patina. The medium is one of the most expensive processes in the art world .The foundry work alone is a craft and quite an expense for the artist. So yes this work goes up quickly because of the cost of materials ( metals ) and the long process to create a piece.

We all can get fooled with hype at times .
Do not get sucked into buy now because tomorrow it will be twice the amount. Please if investments were that great .We would be hearing about these artist on CNBC or in the Wall Street Journal and the Rupert Murdoch' s of the world would be buying this art. Trust me this art deflates on the secondary market dramatically. I am not taking anything away from these artist or there talent .They could be taking great photo's or painting great art. But most of the time the artist is inflating prices to create an urgency into buying his or her art .If you feel like you are being sold a timeshare in a gallery most likely you are. you are overpaying for your art.
These are my opinions. The best is to always do your research with this type of art.
Posted by Steven Rothman www.bellgiointernationalgallery.com