Art: for love and money
Last week, we hosted another of our Inside the Tent events (a series of evenings where we invite some of our clients and special guests to hear from other successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders from our network on topics of mutual interest).
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Our theme for the evening was art appreciation and insight from the perspective of three different entrepreneurs in the art world: gallery owner, art consultant and artist.
The event was held at the fabulous gallery of our friend and neighbour, Nicholas Metivier. Art consultant, Robin Anthony offered advice on how to start building a collection. And special guest of the evening, John Hartman, one of Canada’s best known contemporary artists, thrilled us with an advance look at his new works (the official exhibit opened Thursday May 27th and runs until June 19).
Listening to all three speakers, what struck me was just how similar the role of the artist is to the role of the entrepreneur, (see earlier posts about how entrepreneurs really succeed).
Said Hartman: “I knew early on that I enjoyed landscape painting. So I studied all of the great landscape painters. And I learned to handle the materials and tools for landscape painting. But beyond that, I really needed to think about, ‘how am I going to bring an original idea to landscape painting?’ Because as an artist, how you see the world and how this is different from how others see it is what your contribution is.”
Hartman also said, “Your original idea may not always be successful in the beginning. You need a belief that it’s the right thing. But when you find your way of working, it can seem too easy, too obvious. Why hasn’t someone thought of this before?”
Ultimately, Hartman says, “the best way to measure feedback about the quality of your original idea is: have you sold any paintings?”
Hard work, vision and original thinking, unshakable belief in the opportunity, taking your offer to market… so many parallels with the entrepreneur.
The panel also had some words of advice for those interested in collecting or investing in art.
- It’s the wild, wild west. Unlike stock market investing, for example, art collecting is a totally unregulated industry. The art world is complicated and you need to spend the time and energy to educate yourself and work with people you trust.
- Getting started. A good first question to ask yourself is, ‘what do I enjoy looking at?’ This could lead you in several directions you might want to explore. The Internet is a good source for research. As are art fairs, auctions and galleries in your own city and places you travel. If you want to circumvent some of this work, finding your own art consultant or reputable dealer whose expertise you trust might be one answer.
- Trying to pick ‘the next….’ is unlikely to be successful. Both Metivier and Anthony agreed one of the most common questions they are asked by would-be investors is, ‘where do I find the next emerging artist?' It’s also one of the most difficult to achieve. There are so many variables that impact art value: historical reference, scarcity, recognizability, fad and fashion, that a casual collector is unlikely to have sufficient information to correctly predict value. Their best advice is to buy what you love. Investing will not likely bring the most pleasure you will derive from your art buying experience.
If you want to know more about the subject, you can also check out the CFA Institute website which has a webcast presentation The Art Market: A Finance Perspective from Jeffrey Horvitz, well known art collector and vice chairman of the Morleand Management Company, a U.S.-based family office. Although some of it relates to U.S. tax treatment, he gives a good presentation on valuing art and making wise investment decisions in this beautiful asset class.
