Anyone else on these forums interested in art? I have always been a fan of contemporary art, but I fell into collecting by accident. I bought a bunch of Banksy prints when I was in college, and used the proceeds to fund my graduate education. Since then I have used the profits to also pay for law school and start a decent collection of my own.

My screen name comes from the Artist Dash Snow, and my profile picture is a photo of three works by the artist Cory Arcangel. Most of the art I like is probably a bit extreme for most people, but unlike golf, it actually puts money in my pocket sometimes.

I'm interested to hear if anyone else is interested in collecting art. Given the cities listed on profiles, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few collectors on this forum. Anyone feel like sharing what artists you collect?

I have been interested in art but have not a refined eye by any measure.

How does this work in terms of buying and selling for investment purposes? How liquid is this?

It's very illiquid and highly speculative. I would not reccomend buying from anywhere besides New York, London, and Los Angeles. Even within those cities it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. Buying from the auction houses is your safest bet (Sothebys, Christie's, and Phillips), but the buyers premiums are usually around 25% so you need at least a 50% gain in order to recoup and make a little bit.

That being said, art is an amazing investment because you are essentially making a bet that the upper class will make money at a faster rate than the other classes. A Basquiat painting purchased in the 80's would be worth exponentially more than an equivalent of Apple stock purchased at the same time (think $10k to $10 million in 30 years). But the trick is finding the artist who will do that.

I admittedly got lucky when I started purchasing signed Banksy prints for $50 to $100 in the early 2000s. Those appreciated almost 1000% in just a couple of years. Like any investment, some things I sell at a loss, some things I break even on, and some things I sell at a profit, but art have paid out much better than anything else I have ever invested in overall.

Beyond an investment standpoint, art is also a lot about pride. Like fancy golf clubs, fine wine, or exotic cars, art is about owning something that someone else can't get. Envy is the reason I figured some folks on this forum would also be have art collections of their own.

If this is something that piques your interest, then I would be happy to send you some information (books, websites, contacts) to get you started. Just let me know where you live so I can tailor it to your location. Art and golf are really my two passions, and practicing the law is just a day job.

Edited June 28, 201311 yr by Dash Boogie

Antiques, fine art, instruments are all great investments. Unfortunately it takes a lot of research, a lot of failure, and a lot of luck. I'm into Chinese antiques myself which some pieces do end up paying off but all the junk I've been either tricked into buying or bad judgement calls sorta even out. You start getting into a community of collectors which really does help and slowly train your eye to spot the good and the bad. I purchased a rhino cup some years back and luckily sold it before it was highly illegal to own. That was easily a 400% ROI. This day in age, especially with the wealth overseas, it's like the housing market...ridiculous.

I see it growing here in Hong Kong and China ... including some local artists. I am however still very ignorant in this field.

The Chinese contemporary art market has been on fire in recent years, very reminiscent of the 1980's Impressionist market (fueled by Japan).

Dash,

Its probably hard to pigeon hole any artist but if pressed for an answer, what are the essential things to look for in a collectible art piece that should appreciate? I presume there is a difference for paintings and sculptures?

As a general rule of thumb, paintings on canvas appreciate faster than all other mediums. When fealing with individual artists however, the more significant an artist's work is to their overall career, the more likely it is to sell at a premium.

When I buy art myself or reccomend art to others, I look at it almost like I would a stock. I want to know who else owns works by the artist, what galleries represent the artist, where the artist went to school, what museums the artist has shown in, and the previous auction prices for the artists work. I also consider where the artist will fit into the historical narrative by reading reviews of the artist's shows, and scholarly articles about the artist's work. Then I compare the quality and price of the work I am interested in buying to the quality and prices of works sold in the past, and I consider the speculative premium I am willing to currently pay based on my prediction of the artist's career trajectory.

Sorry for typos. My last post was written on an iPhone.

My wife and I have been buying art for several years. Not necessarily the NY, LA locales but when we go somewhere special we frequently buy a piece. Our incentive is more for the appreciation of it adorning our walls than the feasibility of it appreciating in value. Most of our stuff is original art with a few serigraphs/prints here or there. Unless you are trained and want to spend the time studying buy art to look at not to trade, at least that is my opinion.

My wife and I have been buying art for several years. Not necessarily the NY, LA locales but when we go somewhere special we frequently buy a piece. Our incentive is more for the appreciation of it adorning our walls than the feasibility of it appreciating in value. Most of our stuff is original art with a few serigraphs/prints here or there. Unless you are trained and want to spend the time studying buy art to look at not to trade, at least that is my opinion.

That's my orientation towards art now. Its what catches my eye regardless of who created it.

I have an old college friend that now has a contemporary art gallery in Dallas (well, now it's actually an institute). He got me into some artists a few years ago and I bought some of his artists. One of my faves is James Nares of NY. He builds his own brushes and uses a harness system where he hovers over a canvas and does his work with one long stroke. Sounds simple, but sometimes takes him dozens or even hundreds of tries before getting it like he wants. Here's mine of him:

It's not hanging crooked, just bad photo!

Edited August 13, 201311 yr by Miuramaniac

It's beautiful! My kinda style!