There’s a lot more to investing in art than price-tag and potential return suggests Stefano Carboni, the Director of the Art Gallery of WA (AGWA). It’s a volatile, unpredictable market and aesthetic appeal combined with emotional investment makes it even more complicated.
“Just like investing in shares, it’s very difficult to know where the art market is heading at any given time. If you’re going to do it seriously you need to monitor the trends and one good way of doing that is to keep close tabs on what’s happening at the commercial galleries.”
“They’re constantly on the lookout for emerging artists and consequently a great source of useful information.”
“A young and talented artist may well prove to be a good investment but, generally speaking, an established artist will probably yield a more stable return. There are cases of meteoric rises in value followed by a slump and then sometimes an artist will come storming back on the investment market.”
“It’s well known that dying can be a great career move but the upward spike may well only be for a short period.”
“It would seem to be the time for Australian artist Brett Whitely. His works are consistently getting much more at auction houses than the expected estimate so now would definitely be the time to sell a good Whitely.”
Look to WA artists
“The works of local artist Miriam Stannage return quite consistent values and more of her pieces are coming onto the market. But the returns are not as high as a Brett Whitely or even some other WA artists such as Guy Grey Smith.”
The fact that Perth is a relatively small pond can have some benefits.
“One of the good things about niche investing, whether that’s within a defined locale or a specific medium such as glass or ceramics, is that it’s much easier to become an expert in that field. If you can get to know the strengths and weaknesses of a particular artist it’s very beneficial.”
“A lot of investors, mainly those with a considerable sum to invest, utilise the expertise of an expert curator.”
“In spite of the much-publicised sales that yield huge returns, such as the recent sale of a Leonardo da Vinci for $450m, the art market is far less glamorous than most people think. The bottom-line is that the more you know about a particular work the better.”
Stefano turns his gaze towards AGWA and its collection.
Headliners for 2018
“We have an interesting year of exhibitions coming up in 2018, including Renaissance and Baroque works from an Italian private collection that has never left Florence before. We’ll also be showing some Scandinavian artists and a wonderful display of Chinese ceramics.”
“We’re certainly pitching at a younger market with things such as the Heath Ledger exhibition.”
“Here at AGWA we have to be mindful of the value of our collection and the decisions we make before acquiring a work of art. We’re spending taxpayers’ money in some cases, but around 80% of our acquisitions comes from donors.”
“I place much more emphasis on artistic value but we’re a public institution so we do have to keep an eye on the dollar value of our works of art. It’s an asset that belongs to the people of WA, after all.”
It’s not just the mining sector with an eye on the bottom line, says Stefano.
“There’s no doubt that it’s a tough time for many organisations, both public and private, with financial cuts and efficiency drives all over the place so we have to be both focused and creative. We have specific projects that we finance through the ‘Tomorrow Fund’, which is explicitly designed to acquire contemporary art.”
“It’s a joint AGWA and State Government project in which, if we can match the latter’s $10m donation with our own fundraising we receive another $5m. It operates very much like an endowment fund and we’re very pleased with the way it operates.”
View from the roof
“We have some other initiatives such as the development of AGWA’s rooftop area. It’s a wonderful civic space that hasn’t been looked at in this way before. We’re certainly aiming at increased community engagement with initiatives such as a restaurant and open-air gallery.”
“If a doctor felt moved to donate some money they could have their name on the rooftop gallery. We have many ‘special donors’ who do this sort of thing and the intrinsic value to the community just can’t be measured in dollars.”
Finally, Stefano has those inclined to dabble in the art market.
“I would caution against anyone collecting with profit as their prime motive. If that’s the case you’d probably be better off buying houses! There should always be an emotional investment when you’re buying works of art.”
“The only certainty is that there are no guarantees when it comes to investing in art. It’s a fluctuating market and it always will be.”
As way of an endnote, the AGWA collection comprises 17,725 works of art with an approximate value of $370m.