[adzegeek]

My 2 cents

1. If Artists want to make Art as a profession, then what you guys are willing to pay for it makes it an untenable one. In India, we are beginning to see some decent traction of commercialization of Art - which augurs well for the artists themselves. To me that is a healthy sign. If none of you are willing to shell out more than 2K - 5K per painting, imagine the number of paintings a single artist has to churn out just to ensure a decent living and maintain his wierdo hairstyle ;-)

2. It takes a lot to become a good investor in Art - keen eye, knowing your stuff on mid-market and emerging talent around, regularly visiting the galleries, talking and networking is essential. Having dabbled with it for some time, I reckon that this is best left to people with time and access to this circle (apart from money) OR a good wealth advisory service who keep experts in this area on their rolls. Dont just dabble with it as an amateur. Buy the cheap reprints for decorating your house onlee.

3. Would love to see an "Art Index" quite like a BSE SENSEX or NIFTY - I know it is difficult but atleast it will show in case of a sale, what is the price increase. How one creates the index is going to be quite interesting as unlike sensex you would want to keep a healthy mix of blue-ribbon artists, emerging artists, mid-life artists. specialized indexes by art styles will be even better! That will encourage more astute investment from people with decent art knowledge.

3. While a lot of what you want to buy FOR KEEPS SAKE is subjective, a basic intro course in art appreciation will open ones eye to what is difficult, a work of genius versus what can be done by a street artist with relative ease.
One of the comments made here was also to judge by how difficult will it be for you to do it. I used to do that - and I went from - "this is how my paintings look when they are half done" to "I could never convey the idea with this minimalism" after doing a few introductory courses in NY and raiding galleries in NY and London.

Still at the end of the day, when you can look up to something on your wall and that brings amazement, wonder and I wonder what that guy was smoking doing this is what matters. If this a landscape in all its purity and detail - it may appeal to you but trust me the camera can do a better job with a bit to photoshopping or anyone else can replicate the same.


4. I also found that looking at a series sometimes gives you much better appreciation of an artists thought process/mood rather than a single painting. This sometimes helps you as an artist and encourages creative juices to flow in yourself. See Rothko single in isolation versus a series in a gallery - completely different ballgame.

[Wolfheart]

I don't see myself spending a lot of money on art unless a particular piece of work speaks to me on a very deep level. So far, I have only felt that way about some of Salvador Dali's paintings. Most of Dali's work appears to be very familiar on a subconscious level, and I really enjoy them. If I had a few millions to spare I would acquire atleast some of Dali's work.

[zaks]

Art like cuisine is an acquired taste. You may feel like puking out the first morsel of italian ravioli but once you have more experience with it your perception of it will change. Similarly it is for paintings, the first impression is not the best impression.

But one thing should be clear, the monetary value of a painting is not it's inherent value, but is dictated by how many people can bid for that particular piece.