A new piece written for the Telegraph:
The art market is not as transparent as most – you can’t see an artist’s share price rise and fall in the same way as stocks and you can’t tally the price by looking at materials and labour.
First World Problems is a new column by Telegraph Luxury in which our experts advise readers on their lifestyle dilemmas, on subjects from jewellery to dining. It is published every Tuesday at 7am
Greg Rook, art advisor
14 JANUARY 2020 • 7:00AM
“My wife really likes a painting at a prestigious local gallery, but I think it seems much too expensive. What am I actually paying for? What does the artist get and who pockets the rest? How do I know it’s worth what they’re asking for? JK, Oxon."
Earlier this year a client asked me to look at a painting that was being sold at his prestigious local gallery. I went to see the work and couldn’t recommend it. It was being sold by the kind of chain gallery that you find in Mayfair, Marlow and Tunbridge Wells. The kind of gallery that caters for wealthy customers with walls to fill, and the work they sell is more luxury good than fine art. The gallery’s focus is the sale rather than the quality of the art they sell.
To some extent the value of a work of art is what someone is willing to pay for it, but for a more objective measure we can start by looking at the gallery selling the work. Some are reliable sources of interesting art, but there are hundreds of galleries, of all size and status, that offer work that is essentially just furniture or decoration.
They pretend the work is more significant than it is and make fantastic claims, but the artists will never be seen in a museum, or receive critical acclaim, or be an investment. No matter how impressive the gallery space, or how well turned out the staff, the work is not good and time will bear this out. You’d be spending a fortune on the fine art equivalent of fast food.
So if you can find them, what are you paying for in credible galleries? What is surprising to many is that even the best will take 50% of the sale price. This seems like an enormous share - after all it is the artist who has made the work, but speaking as a poacher turned gamekeeper, as an artist for 20 years, I’ve always been happy with this split.
A good gallery will put on month long shows for each of their artists and will take them to expensive art fairs, presenting their work to museums and institutions. They have to rent a space and pay staff and transport and marketing.
The life of a gallerist is hard – most have a financial backer as even the 50% of any possible sales is unlikely to cover all the bills. And, of course, without the gallery’s contacts, there is often no sale – for an artist, 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
So in buying from a gallery, you are paying for the work, some of the gallery costs, and the artist’s costs – a studio, materials and weeks, months or even years of time. But the question remains, is the piece worth the price? The art market is not as transparent as most – you can’t see an artist’s share price rise and fall in the same way as stocks and you can’t tally the price by looking at materials and labour.
You can look at auction prices to judge whether an artist is currently in favour, but there are so few who sell on that level that not featuring doesn’t mean the work is not a good buy. You can look at the artist’s CV to gauge where they’re at in their career, but deciphering an art CV is like reading a medical chart – it’s pretty much indecipherable to most. Unless you know which collections, galleries and institutions featured on the CV are significant, it means nothing.
There are many galleries who represent good artists and buying from these is a great first step, but you need to know which they are. And if you don’t want your collection to be beholden to the taste of particular galleries then you need to research yourself or find an advisor.
The problem is that there is a threshold of knowledge you need to reach in order to feel comfortable. You don’t expect to be able to speak another language or master an instrument without years of practice, and you can’t expect to be able to judge where to find great art without some guidance and education.
In this particular instance, I’d suggest you and your wife place a reserve on the painting and then take some time to assess the artist and the gallery. Time and knowledge is required to be an astute collector. It is easy to make mistakes when there is so much art about and so many unscrupulous galleries pushing their wares.
The good news is that those who are willing to be guided and learn and take those first steps into the art world as collectors and investors find it an endlessly fascinating and rewarding place.