Investing in Fine Art

Very cool! If you collect what you love, you can never make a bad decision. I have not yet “graduated” to purchasing something fine like this, but it is certainly in the plan. My art collection now is decent, but very personal to me.

Expensive is probably relative, but I have bought some fine art over the years. Although I view it as an investment, I never thought of the art pieces as something I would sell. Maybe, it is because art is a personal choice and has some emotions associated with the purchase.

I tend to stick to more “DIY” type artwork (decals or homemade paintings on canvas). I did purchase one original hand painted oil painting though (actually a 5 piece painting.. or a sunset) from Overstock.com for $300. It fit perfectly in my dining room – so I couldn’t resist. I still can’t believe I spent $300 on it though….

Pretty cool artwork Eric. I have not taken this step yet, but do personally enjoy beautiful artwork and look forward to the day I make these types of purchases. Most of my artwork is inexpensive & purchased while traveling to remind me of a time of enjoyment in my life. I see artwork as an “investment with benefits” – as you actually get to enjoy it on a daily basis, similar to real estate.

The other day I was reading about investing in wine. My grand father ha d portrait of an Indian maharaja. my uncle sold it the local museum for a huge amount a few years ago.

My wife and I bought two signed, numbered Artist Proof Giclees of Michael Godard’s work while we were in Hawaii getting engaged, in 2005. I’d just popped the question the night before and we were strolling through Honolulu when a different piece of art caught our eye in a gallery. We went in just out of curiosity. Once inside we came across a display of Godard’s work and were immediately captivated by the vivid color on black, gallery wrapped frames. The whimsical subject matter was different than what I’d ever considered to be fine art. But, we got to talking to the very nice sales gal and she educated us on Michael’s ‘Don’t Drink and Draw’ series and we loved them. We enjoyed a glass of bubbly while deciding we might actually buy some fine art. When it came down to it we opted to go for wine themed pieces rather than martinis. We also went for the largest size. We couldn’t decide on just one either, and ended up becoming the proud owners of #74 of 300 of “Fat Bastard” and #310 of 400 of “7 Deadly Zins”. Throughout the purchase process we’d told our sales gal that we’d just been engaged and she offered to have Michael do a dedication on the back on “Fat Bastard” for us. Due to Michael’s schedule at the time, it took nearly 5 months for us to receive the giclees after purchase. In that time, our sales gal kept in contact with us, and when Michael visited the gallery she had him do a dedication for us on an archival grade sheet of paper. This was sent to us while we were still awaiting our giclees. “Fat Bastard” did arrive with a dedication on the back as well. Both hang proudly in our dining room along with the framed original sketch. I wired in special dimming accent lights for each. They are as stunning as the day we received them. I’ll gaze at each at length every once in awhile, but just with a passing view, they bring me joy. “7 Deadly Zins” has appreciated handsomely, but I couldn’t part with it or “Fat Bastard”. They mark a point in our life neither will forget. We were a young couple in love, just starting our life together. We’re still very much in love today, and someday our son (now only 7 months old) will inherit these two pieces. They’ll hopefully be as special to him, having grown up with their constant presence. Sure they’re worth money, but that’s not why we bought them. I do wonder if I may ever see the originals of each, if they’re in private hands or if someday they’ll surface in a museum. I’d like to see them some day.