Buying art at auction has been tricky and for those of us working in the art world we don't always know when it will turn, settle or spike and for what paintings. Most auction houses today are selling the schlock of the art world because those willing to sell a sketch by Van Gogh are not the ones with the Turner stashed in the closet. The schlock are pieces bought in the past 20yrs when markets were up and money was easy and by people who didn't know the art market and now want their money back. The idea of investing in the piece was not for the love of the piece it was for the name of the artist which was assumed to carry its own price. The investment theory of 'buy low-sell high' is overwhelmingly ignored when speculation and emotion get involved and many investors were caught 'buying high' and are now 'selling low'.
So what are collectors to do? Strictly speaking the more conscientious the collector, the ones waiting for the big steal, the more they lay in wait for things such as the very likeable Picasso's 'Nude, Green Leaves and Bust' to come up for air. This particular piece sold for $106.5 million at Christie's this month, setting a new world record for the highest price for a painting ever. These are today's elite collectors. They're educated and well aware of the market. Big name artists' works appear in auctions all the time these days, but the pieces that bring big price tags are the good ones. However, who's to say this Picasso hasn't also been 'bought high', at the peak of the market and will never be as valuable, monetarily, as it is today.
So what are collectors to do? Strictly speaking the more conscientious the collector, the ones waiting for the big steal, the more they lay in wait for things such as the very likeable Picasso's 'Nude, Green Leaves and Bust' to come up for air. This particular piece sold for $106.5 million at Christie's this month, setting a new world record for the highest price for a painting ever. These are today's elite collectors. They're educated and well aware of the market. Big name artists' works appear in auctions all the time these days, but the pieces that bring big price tags are the good ones. However, who's to say this Picasso hasn't also been 'bought high', at the peak of the market and will never be as valuable, monetarily, as it is today.
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