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Artworthy: How to be savvy buying art Scene: You are on a trip in a foreign city where you see a regional artist exhibiting in the street. While you normally do not purchase art at home – too frivolous or too expensive – you decide this will be a lovely reminder of your trip. Is this money well spent? We have all been in this position at some point in our lives. I’ll share the criteria I utilize when evaluating an art purchase for myself – including a spontaneous impulse – as well as that for appraising a client’s art in depth. But first, let’s look at the underlying assumptions that govern art purchases. Learn about yourself. What are your priorities as a collector? Is your art for pleasure or do you hope it will appreciate? Might you like to sell it in future to purchase something new? Or is this a work you want to have, hold, and pass down. Either way is OK. You know enough to decide. The single biggest obstacle to buying art is that we do not trust ourselves. We feel we need education first – which may be pertinent, but not always. We may end up making no decision at all, or rely the services of an art advisor or galleryist to help us. This is fine. But we ourselves are capable of developing an eye for art that is worthy – with consideration of key factors. Exercise both sides of the brain. Although art is intuitive and personal and aesthetically based – and therefore women are good at purchasing(!) – we need to get in touch with our inner investment adviser as well. When we first see an object, what is our impression of it? Does it speak to us? Retain that impression while investigating other elements, both tangible and intangible, that collectors, auction houses and galleries use to uncover value in art. The Tangibles: 1) Art historical background: What is the biography of the artist and his/her credentials? 2) Prominence: Is this a known name, with a reputation and market status? 3) Medium and technique: Is it an oil painting, drawing, watercolor, etching, bronze? A general rule is that an oil painting on canvas is likely to have more value than that on board, which will have more value than a print. A drawing, even if it is a study for a finished work, remains unique and by the artist’s hand – hopefully with a signature or initials – and therefore has inherent value. Works on paper remain a great, affordable way to access known artists. 4) Date: Was the work executed at the height of the artist’s powers, or was it when he or she was impaired by time or substance? There may be several peak moments in the artist’s oeuvre that are documented, as in Picasso’s painting, to cite a ready example. 5) Dimensions: Generally, a large work is more valuable than a smaller one executed by the same artist, in the same period and medium, all other factors being equal. 6) Signature and inscriptions: A signed piece is always more valuable than an unsigned piece, and attests to its authenticity. The veracity of the signature may also be tested. 7) Authenticity – Unquestionably the first prerequisite to any purchase. 8) Provenance: From whom did you obtain the piece? The artist? A collector? Was this source of note, part of a historical narrative that enhances the worth of the piece? 9) Rarity: Is this a unique piece? Or did the artist generate many similar pieces? 10) Bibliography: Is the work or the artist referenced and is there an exhibition history? 11) Condition: What is the condition of the piece? Does it or will it require conservation? 12) Comparables: Do you know at what price level this artist’s, or style or period of work typically sells? Are you paying a fair price? Or, is your initial investment too high? The Intangibles: 1) Quality: Examine the degree of complexity in the piece, both in execution and concept. Does it engage many levels? Does it go beyond Wow – readily appealing or striking – to say something more? Will it engage you over time? 2) Context: Within the artist’s body of work, is it the best example? Or, within the genre – of small alabaster busts, for example – is it the best example? 3) Relevance: Does this work and its genre relate to the times? For example, is a contemporary floral study as important as an interior that depicts figures in dialogue or a photograph of an urban landscape? What imagery informs us – either symbolically or through exact representation – about the period? What styles or mediums would be associated with the time? 4) Seminal: Does this work incorporate the most known elements by this artist? A Warhol Campbell soup can for example, will have more value than a study of an obscure object by the same artist. 5) Resonance: Is this style and period resonant or desirable in today’s market? Has the market for 19th c. British etchings of royal children for example, gone into a trough, no matter how charming? Is this style and period likely to have resurgence? 6) Current interest among collectors: Beyond a general compatibility with the tastes of our times is the outgrowth of a hot market formed by a buying frenzy for an artist or period. If yours is within this current craze, is this potentially the best time to buy? Summary: The art market is in a stage of heated prices and expansion. More people are becoming collectors, and there is more return on investment than ever before. Before making a purchase, think about these assumptions and the criteria. And let’s discover areas of collecting where values are still underappreciated so that we can gain both value and pleasure over time. There are still values to be found at auction. Have you found the best venue in which to buy art, in location and format? That is a subject for next time! Copyright by Diane Dewey, June 18, 2007 No part of this article may be reproduced without written permission. The Author: Diane Dewey, Art Appraiser Diane Dewey has ten professional years of art museum experience, eight with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and nearly two years with the National Academy, both located on Fifth Avenue in New York City – representing among the finest European and American permanent collections in art. Ms. Dewey completed her appraisal studies at New York University’s Intensive Appraisal Program in the top percentile of her class along with her certification exam through Uniform Standards and Practices. Her appraisal projects include a 123-object fine art appraisal spanning major contemporary, modern, impressionist works, sculpture and antiques; a 174-object museum exhibition photography collection ranging from early 19th c. prints to contemporary video stills; an American Impressionist and Hudson River School appraisal for a Connecticut collector, as well as a recent assignment to appraise 57 works of 20th c. painting, sculpture and works on paper, the collection of a former New York art dealer and decorator. Ms. Dewey holds an undergraduate degree in Honors, Arts from Villanova University, as well as a certificate with honors from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. She is a member of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, the Historical Society of the town of Greenwich (Bush Holley House), the Swiss American Women’s Council and the Stamford Business Group. On a personal note, Diane was born to a Swiss father and a German mother and was raised by her adoptive parents in the United States. She is married to a Swiss, Peter Baenninger, president of Davidoff of Geneva, North America.
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