Art Investing

  Art Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in business management, finance and economics, related to saving or deferring consumption. An art work is usually purchased, or equivalently a deposit is made in a bank, in hopes of getting a future return or interest from it. Art investment funds represent something of a revolution in the relationship between art and commerce. Art collecting has traditionally been the domain of wealthy individuals in search of rewards beyond the purely financial. (The economist John Picard Stein once quixotically tried to quantify these intangible rewards, deciding that they were equivalent to a return on investment of 1.6 per cent a year.) The new funds, by contrast, allow people with smaller bankrolls to play the art market by pooling their resources, and the only benefits are economic, since investors don`t get to hang the paintings on their walls. In this scheme, art is just another `alternative asset class` like gold or wheat. Most art investing deals with long-term. This is simply because are serves a purpose: to be enjoyed. It is not a fast moving, liquid investment because people tend to hold on to their artwork until they find another they like better. For many people, buying and selling their collection is less about art investing and more about redecorating. The value of art investment is mostly in the eye of beholder. Related links:

• Cash for Canvas
• Fine Art & Collectibles Article
• Port Funds
• Fine Art Funds