Friday, September 16, 2011

Collecting Art as an Investment

When it comes to collecting art, art lovers have many reasons for pursuing the hobby. Art is beautiful, it incites emotion, it can have deep sentimental value to a person and it also allows an individual to express who they are with the pieces they keep in their home.
If you love art, and love the adventure of collecting pieces, why not turn your hobby into a lucrative side project? Putting your money into a high interest savings
account certainly makes a great deal of financial sense but collecting art can be an additional investment for the long term.
The following are just a few tips that can help you to get the most out of investing in artwork. 


Image Source: http://www.artmarketblog.com/2008/06/05/investing-in-art-market-businesses-artmarketblogcom/



Know What to Look For: When shopping for art to be used as an investment, it’s incredibly important that you have a good idea of what to look for. For example, the most beautiful piece of art in the world will be useless as an investment if it doesn’t meet a variety of criteria.


For one, the art needs to limited, as in there should only be a few prints/copies/etc of the piece available. Next, the artist should be considered an “up and coming” artist. In other words, he or she should be on the cusp of popularity, as you can usually ensure a massive increase in worth on pieces from such artists. By knowing what to look for, you can drastically increase your chances of making a worthwhile investment.



Avoid Personal Preference: One of the most important things you can do when looking for art to use as an investment is to leave your personal preference at the door. Remember that investing in art is about more than choosing that which appeals to you, as this characteristic simply isn’t going to add to your ability to turn an investment on art. Rather than focusing on personal preference, take into consideration elements of the artwork that make it worth investing in.




Avoid Entering into Large Investments: If you find a piece of art that is already highly sought-after, chances are you’re going to end up paying a great deal of money for it. This is never a good idea, as your chances of turning a profit on such a piece of art are quite low.

That said, you should strive to purchase art that is relatively inexpensive when you buy it, as you’ll have a much better chance of turning it into a large profit over the course of a decade or more.


Shop Around: Become a regular art exhibit visitor and keep up with what’s happening in your local art scene. You can build up a large network of artists, collectors and investors this way. Sign up to receive newsletters, join various social media networks and stay abreast of what’s happening now in the art world.



This way you’ll always be up-to-date with the who, what and where of the art landscape, increasing your chances of acquiring valuable pieces that you can turn in to a long term investment.

2 comments:

Frank Zweegers said...

Interesting post!

Urban Interest said...

Interesting post. I also think art is a good investment these days of crisis. Arts is very stable in value.