Pay attention to some rules when buying art as investment

Oakland Tribune, Aug 17, 2004 by Barry Caine, STAFF WRITER

IN May, Picasso's "Boy with a Pipe" fetched $104 million at auction. Not bad for an original investment of $30,000.

Granted, the owner's descendants had to wait five decades for the windfall. Patience is a necessity in the art game.

You had better have plenty if you want to invest in art, especially at the low end, meaning between $1,000 and $5,000.

Most experts say it will take a decade for your purchase to appreciate in value. And even then there are no guarantees.

"A work of art doesn't get better with age or worse in terms of artistic value," says Harvey Jones, senior curator of art at the Oakland Museum of California. "It just comes in and out of fashion. "I don't think age adds much to the quality of the thing. If it was good once, it's still good, which should be encouraging to investors. But you have to sometimes wait 100 years."

At least that's a reason to keep on living. Like the economy, the art market is on the upswing, the Wall Street Journal reports. New galleries are opening.

Regional auction houses are developing a secondary market for lesser-known artists whose works sell for less than $5,000. Sales of works at that price level have increased.

If you are tempted to try your hand at the art mart, here are a few tips and insights to give you an edge and, possibly, land you a Picasso, albeit a small one.

Opinions vary, so don't expect a consensus beyond: Do your homework, and buy what you like. "Then live with it," Jones says. "And don't worry about investment potential. If you develop a good eye, your estate will probably benefit.

Pay as much as you are able to get the best thing you like. And be prepared to keep it for a very long time."

Picasso vs. the fieldWe presented Gregory Ghent with the following: "Imagine you've been given $5,000 mad money and asked to invest it in art. What would you buy?"

The director of modern and contemporary art and tribal and Pre- Columbian art for Auctions by the Bay in Alameda, Ghent ponders the question.

He knows he's best off with a household name such as Picasso, Chagall, Henry Moore or Calder. They're more likely to retain their value or make a tidy little profit than a landscape painting by Joe Shmoe or a velvet rendition of dogs playing poker.

Ghent knows he can purchase a Picasso ceramic tile, bowl or plate, a Picasso gold, silver or bronze medallion, or a Picasso print from an edition of many for $5,000 or less.

Yet, given free rein, he would invest the money in a print by Peninsula figurative artist Nathan Oliveira.

"That would be my first choice, from Crown Point Press in San Francisco," he says. "They're new. He just made them. They sell for between$4,000 and $6,000 retail. If I had to sell it in a year, I probably would not get that much money out of it. If I hold onto it for 10 years, which I like to do anyway because it's art (I like), it probably will see an increase."

But to buy with the expectation that in 10 years he will double his money "is naive."

Ghent says other sub-$5,000 lesser-name artists and art with investment potential include ceramics by East Bay artist Stephen de Staebler; multiple prints by the late abstract expressionist Peter Voulkos of Berkeley, and Oliveira; vintage photographs; antiquities from the Americas; large-format color photographs; tribal art from Oceania and African currencies (jewelry, older beads, abstract metal shapes like blades or geometric shapes with reddish-green patinas).

Strategy

Decide how much you want to spend.

Do not exceed your limit, no matter how spirited the bidding may become. Nice pieces come up for sale all the time.

Peruse auction Web sites to see what's available.

There are hundreds of sites. Among them: www.auctionsbythebay.com, www.bonhams.com, www.butterfields.com, www.christies.com, www.clars.com, www.sothebys.com and, of course, www.ebay.com

FTPplanet.com lists a plethora of lesser-known sites, with reviews and ratings.

The sites also tell you how a certain artist's works sold in the past. That will help you gauge the value of what's caught your eye and, hopefully, tell you when to drop out of the bidding or just say "no."

Do an artist search on www.google.com to learn about upcoming museum shows, gallery shows or retrospectives, events that add to an artist's appeal and often notch up value.

Do your homework

Don't ever buy blind.

Before you put down a penny, do some research.

"See if the artist is listed in art-auction databases such as ArtNet and ArtFact or in 'Davenport's Art Reference and Price Guide,'" says Kathy Wong, fine arts coordinator for Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland. "It's a good idea to buy art if the artist has an established auction market."

Another good reference book is Richard Polsky's annual art-market guide.

Look up gallery or museum exhibition references as well as the reputation of the gallery or museum, she says.

"An artwork is a good investment if that artwork has been illustrated in an exhibition catalog," Wong says. "It helps the provenance (documented history) of the work. It makes the artwork more desirable."