Art collecting is easier than most people think. Here are 3 rules you should follow if you want to try your hand at it.
By Anastasiia S. Kirpalov, MA Art History, Modern & Contemporary Art
Art collecting as a hobby is usually associated with wealthy dynasties and tycoons who keep their capital safely invested in expensive art. However, as the art market keeps growing, it becomes more democratic and beginner-friendly. Today, every art lover can afford to keep a collection, limited only by their finances and storage space. While some collectors see art as a safe investment, others insist on collecting out of sheer love. Read on to learn more about art collecting and its basic rules when it comes to paintings.
 1. The First Rule of Collecting Paintings: Educate Yourself!
Paintings are perhaps the most popular and obvious domain of art collecting. No matter what your final goal is, collecting is an intellectual hobby that involves knowledge and expertise. Some collectors hire art historians and curators to manage their paintings for them. Although such help can be useful when you are trying to keep track of a vast and expensive collection, it also removes part of the fun that comes with this hobby.
Â
To become a good art collector, you have to educate yourself on the history of art, materials, and techniques. For instance, if you decide to collect 19th-century art, you should get familiar with the mindset of artists and the public of the time to get insights into the creative process and reception of the works. Learning the way of thinking of your artist, their biography, and their significant features will help you narrow your focus and avoid getting fooled by art forgers. Moreover, interacting with your collection and learning its secrets is the most exciting part: take your time to examine the brushwork, the paint layers, and the contours peeking from underneath, as they can teach you a lot.
Ladybug, by Joan Mitchell, 1957. Source: MoMA, New York
2. Recognize an Investment Piece
If you plan to profit from your collection at some point in the future, you may want to turn your attention to safer pieces of art, rather than those made by young, unknown artists. Many art collectors, especially those who can afford to spend millions on their collections, see art as a prospective financial investment. Therefore, they buy the so-called ‘blue chip’ art—safe and well-researched objects made by established artists, which would inevitably increase in value year after year. A trendy contemporary artist might fall out of favor in a year, but a Picasso or Pollock would still be desirable.Of course, miracles happen. Sometimes forgotten artists get a posthumous rediscovery, with their work’s prices unexpectedly soaring. In 2022, archivists discovered a previously unknown series of watercolors by Hilma af Klint in Switzerland. The owner, Swiss poet Albert Steffen, did not pay much attention to them, yet after the great revival of Hilma af Klint’s oeuvre, a private museum in the US bought the collection for an undisclosed, yet generous, price. Still, a successful collector should not count on miracles. Good investments require knowledge, effort, and calculations.
Â
Typically, a good art investment would be a work made by a well-known and well-researched artist, of stable quality and with enough data behind it to prove its authenticity. One medium-sized work is better than a dozen sketches. Larger works are harder to handle, and thus less likely to find a new owner quickly.
The Blue Room, by Suzanne Valadon. 1923. Source: Centre Pompidou
3. If you plan to profit from your collection at some point in the future, you may want to turn your attention to safer pieces of art, rather than those made by young, unknown artists. Many art collectors, especially those who can afford to spend millions on their collections, see art as a prospective financial investment. Therefore, they buy the so-called ‘blue chip’ art—safe and well-researched objects made by established artists, which would inevitably increase in value year after year. A trendy contemporary artist might fall out of favor in a year, but a Picasso or Pollock would still be desirable.
Of course, miracles happen. Sometimes forgotten artists get a posthumous rediscovery, with their work’s prices unexpectedly soaring. In 2022, archivists discovered a previously unknown series of watercolors by Hilma af Klint in Switzerland. The owner, Swiss poet Albert Steffen, did not pay much attention to them, yet after the great revival of Hilma af Klint’s oeuvre, a private museum in the US bought the collection for an undisclosed, yet generous, price. Still, a successful collector should not count on miracles. Good investments require knowledge, effort, and calculations.
Â
Typically, a good art investment would be a work made by a well-known and well-researched artist, of stable quality and with enough data behind it to prove its authenticity. One medium-sized work is better than a dozen sketches. Larger works are harder to handle, and thus less likely to find a new owner quickly.
I hope you have enjoyed the post.
Feel free to comment.
Comentarios