Art is one of humanity's oldest forms of expression, showing that there is an an inner need to draw, paint or mould as a means of creating something that will be perceived by others as beautiful. Evidence shows us that art served as an early form of expressive langauge long before the creation of writing. And from the ruins of early civilisation, we can see that people began collecting works of art, incorporating them into their cache of personal possesions. As social order advanced, and as a class systems developed, those with money and power became patrons who often supported many artists and craftsmen, collecting their works for both pleasure and capital gain. And so it is in today's reality that collecting art serves both our aesthetic need as well as being professed of as a means of adding to one's personal fortune. For those who have never made a serious fine art purchase, the thought of going into a gallery and spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a single piece of work can be daunting. ArtBook of the New West offers its readers some guidelines to assist in making your first purchases and perhaps setting you off down the road as a collector of art.

 

As a new collector, never buy a piece of art with the expressed purpose of considering it to be an investment. The most important question to ask yourself before making a purchase is, "Do I love this piece of art?" Buy the piece because you are truly captivated by it and wish to display it in your home or office. Yes, it is true art can be a good investment, but one needs to be knowledgeable before embarking upon such a purchase for purely speculative purposes. And once there is some assurance that the artist in question is one whose work will go up in value, like the stock market there are no guarantees.

 

Learn about the artist before making a purchase. Ask the gallery for a biography, or go online and seek out the artist's web page. Even if you are captivated by a piece work, it is important to see if the artist's background merits the price being asked. If an artist is showing in several galleries, and if the artist has been showing there for some time, clearly there is a following, and this speaks well to the price being asked. How many awards has the artist won? What major exhibitions or shows has the artist participated in? Did the artist study formally or is he/she self-taught? These are important questions to have answered before making a purchase.

 

Take a photograph of each purchase and then keep it with the original invoice in a safe file, preferably outside the home or office where the art is displayed. Also contact your insurance agent and have each piece put on a schedule for claim purposes. Remember that unless you become an active collector, backing up your purchases with careful research, you should treat the buying of art as a form of enjoyment. If a particular piece does go up in value and you sell it for gain, that is a nice bonus, but it should never be the primary focus in buying art.

 

ArtBook of the New West