First Edition: Investing in Culture
August Newsletter
Art helps immortalize moments in history and there are many major moments occurring simultaneously that cannot be ignored; a global pandemic, the immediacy of Black Lives Matter, and from an art-historical perspective, the overhauling of diverse representation in the art world from artists to museums to collectors and professionals. I love art today and always for helping to put all of these emotions, ideas, and moments into an image because truly, as trite as it is to say, a picture is worth 1,000 words.
On that note, my aim is to write about what I know — in terms of art, in terms of collecting, in terms of the market — and share it with you all in order to promote making it easy to continually support the arts. So, this month I am doing a little deep dive into what to look for when collecting from an auction market perspective as well as not-to-miss art world news, a few articles that are inspiring me, and dreamy places I am dying to visit once we are free to move about again.
🌊 Deep Dive: Art Investing Signals
To get a sense of an artist’s resale market, you often start by looking at the auction market, the place where elusive prices become available in a public realm. Artnet did a great round-up of the most sought after artists, whose final hammer price far exceeded original estimates. I’ve done a quick recap on the market-related factors that make these artists so sought after. (And things to watch for when thinking about art as a long-term investment.)
Disclaimer: the analysis below is on (almost) purely commercial market factors, not art-historical importance (though I could talk for hours about Simone Leigh and the others - if you want more on that, let me know).
Matthew Wong - budding acclaim + supply and demand
This young artist specialized in surreal landscapes and still life paintings that were gaining major attention and acclaim. Wong tragically passed away this past October which created an environment of urgency to acquire from a limited supply.
Eddie Martinez - consistency
Martinez has had institutional acclaim and a strong collector base for a while now. This season his work did not break his all-time auction record but consistent seven-figure results for a mid-career artist signals the market for Martinez is here to stay.
Simone Leigh - major awards + blue-chip effect
Winner of the Hugo Boss prize in 2018 and prominent artist in the High Line’s outdoor sculpture park and last year’s Whitney Biennial Leigh’s sculpted female figures have received incredibly impressive (and well-deserved) accolades. The sculptor also recently joined Hauser & Wirth’s star-studded roster.
Titus Kaphar - commercial success + blue-chip effect
A powerful work by Kaphar landed the TIME Magazine cover honoring George Floyd, making his work recognizable to house-holds across the country. The artist, whose practice encompasses not only paintings but also the organization of a non-profit space that nurtures emerging Black artists, was also recently picked up by mega-gallery, Gagosian.
Amoako Boafo - supply and demand + insider knowledge
Boafo, like Kaphar, considers charitable initiatives as part of his practice, founding an art space that promotes the work of Black, Indigenous, and people of color in Vienna and one in the works in Accra, Ghana. This artist showed early signs of promise, with a large number of works being scooped up by a few major collectors early on. As a result, his works are next to impossible to get on the primary market, so the only chance to have a “buy-it-now” situation is at auctions, which results in a bidding frenzy.
Mequitta Ahuja - strong demand on auction debut
Ahukja premiered at auction in February with a work that sold far over its high estimate. As a result, the next piece at auction received prime placement in the riskier and more cutting edge Christie’s “First Open” themed sale.
Vivian Springford - overlooked oeuvre + new representation
Springford died in relative obscurity at 90 years old in 2003. Since then, a lot has changed in the market including efforts to reexamine overlooked artists particularly females and artists of color and as a result, the market for works such as Springford’s has become increasingly coveted.
Check back in with last month’s newsletter for more details on Wong, Martinez, and Boafo’s record-breaking results as well as my deep dive into the resurgence of female-focused collecting.
🔥 Trending
Contemporary Artists Immortalizing Current Events
Vanity Fair’s September Issue dedicated to Breonna Taylor, features powerful photographs by Latoya Ruby Frazier that accompany an incredible Amy Sherald (sound familiar? She painted Michelle Obama’s portrait in 2018) painting on the cover.
Amy Sherald with her portrait of Breonna Taylor. Photo by Joseph Hyde, courtesy Vanity Fair.
Vouge’s September Issue features two covers painted by Kerry James Marshall and Jordan Casteel. The artists were given free rein to decide who and how the subject would be portrayed.
An Attempt to Thwart A Quick Flip
The market for young Black artists is heating up, but sometimes such speculation and demand can benefit the buyer leaving the artist in the lurch. In an effort to protect the artists offered in Christie’s online sale, “Say It Loud (Black and Proud),” curator Destinee Ross-Sutton and the auction house created a contract that each buyer was made to sign prior to purchase. Terms include the inability to resell the work at auction for at least five years; giving the artist right of first refusal; and, a 15% royalty back to the artists.
Immersive Art; More Than Just for the ‘Gram?
Founders at PACE Gallery are investing in the installation and experimental art for the long haul with their new space and initiative “Superblue” which will have a major brick-and-mortar space in Miami come December. The first iteration will feature artists James Turrell, Nick Cave, JR, and teamLab.
Whitney Museum Under Fire
In short, the museum purchased a number of works on paper and photographs focused on responses to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement via a fund-raiser, securing the works for a fraction of their value and had arranged an exhibition of the works.
What’s wrong with this picture? While the visibility may be good for an artist’s career, using such a monumental platform to exploit artists i.e. not pay them should be the antithesis of a well-endowed (over $400 million) museum.
Advocacy on the internet from the artists and supporters has prompted the museum to cancel the show, but one would have thought and hoped they could have handled this better.
💸 Advisory Picks to Buy Now
More Art Prints for Good Causes
Postcard sized work by contemporary artists with proceeds supporting the USPS. Eyeing the Anne Collier and Dike Blair!
Art for Change collaborating with two current favorites, Joel Mesler ($2,400) and Grace Weaver ($750).
Marilyn Minter print for Exhibition A with 100% of the net proceeds, which is the equivalent of 88% of the purchase price, donated to the ACLU’s Racial Justice Project.
Bandanas designed by available for $35/each on eBay, 100% of the sales will benefit Rise Education Fund.
High End: Yoshitomo Nara continues on the up and up.
The painter of mischievous children and animals has been making a splash at auction and art fairs for a few years now and this momentum is poised to continue with an upcoming retrospective at LACMA and Dallas Contemporary. Can’t afford the artworks? Don’t worry, Nara also creates affordable collectibles (skateboards, radios, piggy banks) a la KAWS and Takashi Murakami.
Yoshitomo Nara, 'Marching on the Butterbur Leaf' (2019). Courtesy Of Yoshitomo Nara And Dallas Contemporary
✈️ Wanderlust
Putting together some virtual vacations for who-knows-when.
DETROIT: Library Street Collective and the print shop outpost, Louis Buhl, are taking over and revitalizing the downtown scene through art. Louis Buhl’s new space is a must-visit for art objects, editions, and books.
ENGLAND: Wanderlust for the new modern art gallery opening in Gloucestershire, thanks to James and Deirdre Dyson.
FRANCE: art-filled hotels in the southern countryside. Choose from Picasso’s watering hole with a poolside Calder at La Colombe d’Or or a modern architectural dream at Chateau La Coste
MIAMI: Immersive Superblue (see above!) and a re-visit to the Rubell Family Collection’s new space across the street.
👋 Parting Words…
I’ll leave you with this image: Damien Hirst and his own version of the Cattelan Banana.
The cheeky artist became obsessed with Maurizio Cattlen’s “Comedian” (need a recap? I wrote about it in December), however, Cattelan did not reciprocate the appreciation and denied Hirst’s request for his own version. Curator Francesco Bonami sent Hirst this version as a consultation prize. The primary difference? The Banana must be installed pointing left rather than right as it is not the “real” deal.
Dreams really do come true.