How to value art in a gallery

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.

Intelligent collecting

Extolling the virtues of contemporary art in the local press.

A new advice column in The Telegraph

I'm new to art collecting. Should I buy a Banksy?'

Greg Rook, art adviser

5 NOVEMBER 2019 • 7:00AM

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

“Should I buy a Banksy? I’m a new collector and am only just beginning to invest in art. I’ve noticed that his works are relatively well-priced, yet his profile seems to have remained high for many years - and unlike some other ‘affordable’ artists, all my friends have heard of him. The art itself doesn’t excite me, but perhaps that doesn’t matter. Please advise! ” J M-C, London

The traditional reply is that you should buy what you like, but I think this needs to be qualified. Buying art is a very particular kind of financial, emotional and public investment - the work will live with you for years and you shouldn’t settle when you can take some time to learn or be guided towards work that will really reward in all sorts of ways. 

We accept that taste evolves when it comes to food and films, but there is a reluctance to accept this when it comes to art. People don’t appreciate having their taste questioned, but ideas around contemporary art have been developing for decades and you need time to catch up.

You don’t want to collect for your friends. We all understand the impulse to own art that they recognise, that validates our taste, but is taste really displayed by having the same art as everyone else? 

I’m not suggesting you become one of those who only sees worth in niche interests, but it is better to search out what you genuinely respond to. I don’t think that loving a piece is always enough to suggest you buy it, but I certainly think that if you don’t find it engaging, you shouldn’t buy it. 

If your intention is to collect purely for investment, then, though Banksy’s profile fluctuates, it is true that his auction results have stayed strong – perhaps he has done enough to secure his place in living memory. But I don’t think a future financial return should ever be your sole motivation. Even if it is, there is work out there that will excite you and might also be an excellent investment.

So what about Banksy? I have to admit, when I hear his name I sigh a little inside. He has become one of the acceptable, though anonymous, faces of contemporary art. Those who are beginning to think about collecting often gravitate towards his multiples for their affordable prices and their sanitized edginess. 

They seem to promise that a little bit of street culture, and politics, and ‘sticking it to the man’ will be bestowed upon their owners. To me this looks as convincing as the wannabe punks who wander down Carnaby Street with their floppy hair sprayed red from a can bought in Boots.

There is value in Banksy’s work - the stencils and stunts are accessible and engaging, but his painted footprint in the common consciousness is way too big. We need a greater awareness of all the other artists who successfully tackle contemporary ideas. 

Finding that work on your own is difficult - you don’t need to kiss a lot of frogs, but you do need to go and see them. Fortunately there are gallerists and advisors who have a genuine understanding of what is out there and who can offer you a short cut to the best available work. 

Take your time, talk to people, see some shows, do your research and beware of the charlatans.

If you have a question for any of our Telegraph Luxury experts, on any topic, please email firstworldproblems@telegraph.co.uk

Clearing up some misunderstandings

I think there is a general misunderstanding as to how the art world works and about where good art can be found. There are several art worlds... or perhaps a Venn diagram of art worlds - in some circles you find good work and in others you find the rest. There are hundreds of galleries, of all size and status, that are engaged in offering work which is essentially just furniture or decoration. Sadly these galleries often pretend the work is more significant than it is and so these poor offerings are frequently very expensive. The galleries make fantastic claims as to the quality, 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.

People buying this work are essentially spending a fortune on the fine art equivalent of Jive Bunny or Milli Vanilli. They are being duped into confusing fine art with high end baubles, or at the very least confusing good art for derivative journeyman creations.  They’re being duped because contemporary art is a specialist area - one that requires years of looking and learning to understand and fully assess. If you want to ensure that you are not being duped you need to do that work, or get someone to help - at least to begin with.

That is something I can do. I can listen to your requirements and explain where you should look. I don’t represent any artists and so have no agenda in pushing one rather than another. Instead I purely present to potential collectors those artists who I believe to be making good work, who I believe are credible and valuable in every sense. They might be blue chip, emerging or completely unknown, but they all share the fact that I know, after over twenty years of making and lecturing about contemporary art, that they are some of the artists who are currently worth attending to. I want to help make the best work seen and available to more people.

If you wish to be added to my collector list and receive my recommendations, with no charge or obligation, then please email me at info@gregrookadvisory.com

Willard Boepple

BEING A COLLECTOR

Recently a new client asked me to look at a particular artwork that was being sold at a local gallery. I went to see the work and I had to admit that I was not enthused. 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. They’re interested in the sale rather than the quality of the art they sell.

The work I was being asked to review had no real artistic merit. The press release for the artist made outrageous claims, which would have been false if they’d made any art historical sense. But what surprised me most was that they were selling these relatively small paintings for thousands. For less you can buy elsewhere a beautiful piece by the likes of Prunella Clough or Neil Tait or Luca Bertolo - intelligent, thoughtful artists with institutional pedigree. Their work will repay time and thought and be a good or possibly excellent investment.

Low culture can be as relevant as high culture. If you want to read Mills & Boon that’s OK - it only costs a few pounds and is consumed and done. If you secretly quite like Little Mix’s latest album, that’s fine - it’s free with a Spotify subscription. But an artwork is expensive and lives with you and on your wall for years. It is a very different kind of cultural, emotional and public investment and you don’t need to pay thousands for some derivative “decoration” when you can take some time to think, learn or be guided towards work that will reward in all sorts of ways.

There are certain facts that I can highlight in order to show when a gallery, such as the one my client directed me to, is exaggerating the quality of their merchandise. In this case I was able to show the same artist’s work selling at auction only a few months earlier for a fifth of what was being asked for by the gallery. Of course resale value is not all that makes a work valuable, but outside the persuasive atmosphere of such high street ‘high end’ galleries, this work is worth very little in every sense. The experience begins and ends with the purchase.

Understandably most people don’t appreciate having their taste questioned, but you don’t expect to be able to speak another language without a few lessons, or master an instrument without years of practice, so you shouldn’t expect to be able to judge what constitutes great contemporary art without some guidance and education. The conversation around contemporary art has been expanding for decades and you can’t expect to jump in and immediately understand what is being discussed. 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.

At GRA, as an advisor with a background as an artist and a lecturer, I have no wares, no agenda and I give you time and knowledge. I present the art that I know to be critical and from artists of real merit. For those who do take those first steps into this art world, as collectors and investors, they find it is an endlessly fascinating and rewarding place.

Art at Home and Work

Those artists who are of particular interest to me are those who are under the radar, shown in obscure places, or not show at all. And buying these near emerging or overlooked artists is both really important and incredibly worthwhile.

Firstly, they need the money - they are inevitably not wealthy and each sale enables them to make more work - this kind of patronage and support has a long and venerable cultural history and is mutually and socially beneficial.

Secondly, each time you buy their work, add it to collections and enable them to show again, you are increasing their profile, thereby causing the very thing that both you and they want. Artworks and artists partly gain their credibility through the collections they're held in and the exhibitions that they are part of. It improves their provenance. If you wish to raise the profile of an artist that you are interested or invested in, then to show them in exhibitions and collections with artists that already have recognition is invaluable. You can help create the very recognition that you hope the artist will gain. 

If there is any need for intelligent and thoughtful art in your home or offices then please contact Greg Rook Advisory. I have no doubt that great, contemporary art work would benefit your family, staff and clients as well as the exhibiting artists.

"Greg's insights enabled us to reinvigorate our portfolio with confidence and support some exciting new talent." Tom Hall, Chairman Pax Holdings Ltd.

"GRA is excellent at discovering under the radar artists whose work is available at reasonable cost and who, we believe, stand a good chance of increasing in value due to their quality." Howard Bilton, Chairman Sovereign Art Foundation

Avoiding the mediocre

Each month I have been sending the collectors I work with a selection of work from artists who I think are interesting, who are acclaimed by their contemporaries and who I believe are good long term investments.

There is such an enormous volume of mediocre and derivative art pushed at fairs and available from commercial galleries - art which is just as expensive as genuinely good art but which relies for its interest on a gimmick, or just the display of a little skill - that anybody who does not spend a lot of their time looking at art can be easily confused as to what will really reward years of looking and be a solid, and perhaps spectacular, investment. For those with the time to look then underneath the world of high street mediocrity and decoration lies a world of intelligent and progressive art which is affordable and delivers as an investment and as an enlightening cultural artefact.

Last month the selection of artists I recommended comprised mainly of relatively established artists whose prices have not yet sky-rocketed. This month I have focused on lower priced and less established artists - offering greater risk, but greater potential return. Most importantly all the artists suggested are making beautiful, intelligent, peer reviewed and engaging work.

Please contact me if you would like to discuss suggestions.