Collecting: for love or money…
Art Basel in Basel 2018. Photo © Art Basel
In the art world, the summer is quiet, with many galleries closing for part or the entire month of August. Come September, the art world comes back to life beginning with the New York Fall Fairs including Armory, Independent and Art on Paper which open in just a few days.
With Fall auctions approaching, I wanted to share some insight about the state of the art market which has experienced a cooling as a result of general economic conditions like inflation and rising interest rates.
While the art market, specifically works over $10 million, have experienced a significant reduction in sales in the first half of 2023, there are still many opportunities for purchasing high quality works of art (and at much lower price points). Some would argue, if you have liquidity and a keen eye, this is a buyer’s market and an opportune moment to acquire work and build collections. On the balance of buying art for love versus investment (a question I am often asked), Artnet’s Editor-in-Chief, Andrew Goldstein, had this to say in a recent podcast:
“If you’re an investment minded collector, you’re automatically setting yourself up to have a greater chance of failing, than if your a collector who goes out and meets artists who you admire, whose style you really appreciate, whose work you want to live with, and that you factor in the investment consideration as - ok, so this artist has also this kind of trajectory, they have an increasing number of museum shows, they have interest from these kind of tastemaking curators or collectors, and then buy them with your love of the art in foreground and the investment in the background, you have a lot less to lose.”
When you look to buy art, I highly recommend selecting art made by an artist whom you find exciting, who is making work that you would personally enjoy living with, while keeping the investment potential as a secondary bonus factor in the background, as mentioned above.
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