FUTURE ART COLLECTORS HANDBOOK

Investing in emotions

We all have the collectors’ gene inside us. Right from when we are very young we are taught to collect, classify and order. It doesn’t matter whether it’s marbles, stamps or stickers. It’s the same with art – it’s just another way of accumulating and ordering objects. What makes it different to cars, houses or clothes is that investing in art is investing in emotions. Once you’re hooked there’s no leaving this club, of which there are very many members all over the world.Not only are there few collectors in Ireland – most of the ones there are collect acclaimed Irish artists such as James Coleman (actually exhibited in IMMA) and foreign ones like Bacon, Christo, Wesselmann and Warhol. Few of them take risks and try to invest in up-and-coming, cutting-edge artists. So with a small budget the best strategy is simple: do the opposite.

For relatively small amounts one can opt for photographs, drawings and print editions, which are more accessible formats (video has become quite expensive). If, on the contrary, you don’t want to risk yourself with young artists, it is also possible to build up an interesting collection of big names at very economic prices. Although in Ireland this is not common practice, in many countries, and in particular in the UK, multiple editions are published with sets of 300 or 400 copies by very well-known artists. In the Serpentine Gallery, London, you can find Collector Editions with 5 works of Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Tadashi Kawamata, Oliver Payne & Nick Relph, Álvaro Siza and Sarah Sze for £386.60 incl. VAT. In Dublin, the IMMA has limited edition prints from Franz Ackerman, Dorothy Cross, Juan Uslé and other artists in a range from 300-3,500 euro.

As for storage space, there’s really nothing to worry about as photographs, drawings and print editions can be kept perfectly well in a portfolio folder, scrapbook or in a simple box in any dry corner of the house., assuming you´ve run out of wall space. If you intend to make a large investment in order to improve the corporate image of a company or create a foundation, you should take a look at the list of the top artists on Artfacts.net. These are consolidated artists, whose value increases constantly.

USEFUL HINTS

1. Only buy what you like (even if it is an investment) as you are going to have to live with it.
2. Educate your eye by visiting galleries, museums, and travelling. You have to keep up on what is going on. It only takes two hours a week. On Thursdays there are openings in galleries. Here you can meet the artists and enjoy a cocktail with people who have the same interests as yourself.
3. Take the plunge and buy works by unknown artists (even though they are not yet linked to an important gallery. This is where real surprises can be had in the future and it is the true test of the collector).
4. Establish a maximum price per work (if it is a series of works, you can increase the price a little).
5. Be patient, do some research. Keep up to date by reading specialist magazines such as Art Forum, Tema Celeste, Art in America, Circa or Frieze. If you are interested in knowing what is on offer in the Secondary Market browse through auction house catalogues (the most important ones take place in London and New York at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, respectively).
6. Don’t buy a single work (it is preferable to buy several works as a single one says nothing of its author. And in the case of a series of photos it is also better to buy the whole series, even though they are smaller, than to buy just 2 in a larger size).
7. Become international (you can do this by travelling to young art fairs such as Volta Show and Liste in Basel, art forum in Berlin or the Zoo and Frieze Art Fair in London where there are possibilities for everyone’s budget).
8. Consult experts (not just gallery owners, you can also work with young curators or art critics who are up-to-date and can inform you on what is going on).
9. Specialize and collect by genre (portraits, still life, landscape…) or based on other themes such as fashion, consumerism, speed, anxiety or whatever interests you most.
10. Don’t worry about space. You’ll find a way to store the art works.

By M.Mínguez
Photo: F.Otero Perandones