Myth #2: Art is a Good Investment

While it may be true that art can be a great investment, I cringe at the idea of most people buying art for that reason. Let me tell you a true story to illustrate my point.

Many years ago, when I was a struggling student, I heard about an exhibition of prints by Marc Chagall, who had long been one of my favorite artists. I drove 200 miles to see this exhibition as it was the first time it was anywhere close to me.

I was enthralled. I spent hours there. I'm sure I was drooling. The gallery was wonderful; the pieces exquisitely lit.

While I am enjoying my own private heaven a man came in with his young son. I overhear him...it wasn't difficult due to his volume...telling his son that this is a great artist to buy! I start to smile, thinking I was in the company of another Chagall lover. I expected to hear him speak of the stories in the work, the emotion, the depth, the symbolism. Instead he says to his son, "this is an old man who will die soon and then the prices will sky rocket...buying now we can make a lot of money!"

I visible shook my head as I continued to drool over one print in particular... a print that cost as much as a small house I had considered buying before deciding to return to school.

Suddenly an elderly woman was ushered into the room. She must have been "somebody" as there were not one, not two, but three salespeople with her! The were busily showing her around the gallery and talking up the pieces, their value, the depth, lots of true and good advice. She however was not impressed. As they walked by a storeroom where another salesperson was getting something I heard her exclaim, "oh, now that one I like!". Curiosity got the best of me and I had to see what got her so excited, when none of these masterpieces had, and in the storeroom was a poster in garish bright colors from a much lesser artist.

I remember thinking at the time "some people do not deserve to have money." But you know what? At least she knew what she liked. For her, buying art probably isn't a good investment. Based on the little I saw, the works she likes won't go up much in value, so she should put her money in stocks, bonds, or real estate.

Buy art because you love it. Not because it might (there are no sure bets) go up in value. Then, if you buy it, love it and enjoy it AND it goes up in value, you have an added benefit. The icing on the cake, so to speak!

Buying investments is always tricky. And salespeople in galleries are just that--salespeople. They have a vested interest in your buying what they are selling. Now, the good ones will help educate you and steer you in the best direction for you, your finances and your collection. They can help you to know what might be a good purchase and what is probably not. Never let yourself be talked into buying a piece of art by a salesperson.

If you are buying for an investment purposes, it must be an original (a print is considered an original if that is how the work was created--as opposed to a print which is a reproduction of an original painting) and it should be authenticated if possible. Even then it might not be a great investment.

Sometimes people think an "up and coming artist" is a great investment. That is only true if the up and comer has some staying power, and you have time on your hands.

Yes, there are people who find million dollar paintings at garage sales for a few bucks, but those are very few and far between--which is why we hear of them! There are far more people who overspend on reproductions by a "name" artist, buying into the notion that they will be worth a fortune some day.

Here's a rule of thumb for you...if a product is a reproduction it probably isn't worth much, and if it is mass marketed it is worth even less down the road.