Investing wisely in art in the hope of a solid capital gain on resale requires you to determine the areas in which you will buy. It all depends on the strategy you are considering: investing in safe values that generate regular profitability with lower risk; focusing on modes of artistic expression that are increasingly appealing and will eventually generate a reasonable capital gain; or looking for speculative artifacts that could increase in value significantly… but also be worthless. It is therefore a question of taste, but also of character. Depending on the tactic you are considering, here are three sectors to explore.
Prints by great masters, a wise investment
According to the Artprice database, the annual rate of return on paintings has averaged 6.82% over the past six years. But paintings by big names acquired for more than €100,000 bring in 12% per year. A logical difference: the artist’s fame gives the work part of its value. If you don’t want to take risks, you must therefore have the means to acquire a painting by a well-known painter.
If this is not the case, turn to another, more accessible sector, whose annual profitability is around 8%: prints by great masters. The valuation of these works is based on the progression of the rating of their most beautiful paintings. This time, there is no need to break the bank to get one. Prices start at 2,000-4,000 euros for names as well-known as Miro, Zao Wou-Ki, Léger, Dali, Calder, Magritte, Picasso, Soulages… and go up to 20,000-50,000 euros for certain prints. Be careful: go exclusively through a gallery or auction house because fakes are rife on the Internet.
Animal sculpture, a real growth value
If there is one area that is not experiencing the crisis, it is animal sculpture. Whether it is bronze, terracotta or plaster, the craze is real. Some prices are thought-provoking. A bronze by Rembrandt Bugatti, Three panthers walking, was sold on June 5 at Bonhams for 3,678,400 euros, a record amount for the most sought-after animal sculptor in the world, far removed from average market prices.
Fortunately, today we can buy for reasonable amounts the works of lesser-known artists, such as Antoine-Louis Barye, Edouard-Marcel Sandoz or Pompon, while hoping for nice profits on resale. For example, five or six years ago, we could find at auction the famous Fennec Sandoz for 12,000 euros. Today, it costs between 17,000 and 20,000 euros. This constant increase concerns all artists and should continue as demand is strong.
Contemporary art, a highly speculative investment
When we see the price of works by certain painters presented in major contemporary art fairs increase by 30 to 100% from one year to the next, we are tempted to buy, dreaming of considerable gains. But to do this, we need to know the market, the trends and the enthusiasm of major collectors who call the shots with the support of renowned galleries.
Don’t think that you can find the next Basquiat for 2,000 to 5,000 euros either. Several tens of thousands of euros are needed for a gallery’s promising foal, and keep an eye on his progress. If you bet on the right horse, you will hit the jackpot. But trends in contemporary art change as quickly as fashion. An artist who is adored today can quickly fall into oblivion, like your hope for added value. Reserved for the most daring!
An article from the special report “The best investments for the start of the school year”, published in L’Express on September 19.
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