Buying Art? - Take a Tip From The Pros:

Welcome to our new blog. This is our first post, written by my husband, Ken. Don't forget to check out our website here. 

Whether you are thinking of buying art for the first time, or you are a seasoned collector, it pays to both understand your own motivations and tastes, and above all, learn from the pros. 

So says Alan Bamberger. Alan is an art consultant, advisor, author, and independent appraiser. He specializes in research, appraisal, and all business and market aspects of original works of art, artist manuscript materials, art-related documents, and art reference books. He published the following advice to art buyers on Art Business.com: 

[The following extract is from a substantially revised and updated version of a talk originally given to the Friends of the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina:] 

Regardless of how much you know about what you collect already; always remember that the educational process is an ongoing one. Be an informed buyer. Learn from the pros. Take every opportunity to discuss the fine points of what you're looking at with as many different experts, curators, artists, collectors, gallery personnel and other informed art people as possible. 

Begin to get a feel for where your passions and interests lie; take the randomness out of your buying. Look at what you've got so far in your collection; reflect on what all those individual pieces you like so much have in common and proceed from there. Ask yourself questions like: 

Why do I like the kinds of art I'm buying? What about it satisfies me? Do I like it for the subject matters, what it represents, what it communicates, its originality, the techniques, the colors, the historical aspects, the regions where it's made, the lives of the artists? Does it make me think about things I've never thought about before? Does it make me feel a certain way or see things in a different way? Do I admire its technical qualities the most? Do I like it for the concepts, ideas, themes or philosophies it embodies, communicates or stands for? Does it alter or inform my perspective on some aspect of life? Does it portray or present things in ways they've never been presented before? Is it that it's old, new, local, foreign, big, small, round, square, whatever? 

Once you begin to identify the common threads, you can refine your buying to zero in on additional pieces that share those characteristics. It's almost like putting together a mission statement or clearly and specifically defining your goals - and a collector with a specific mission or goals is always more effective at acquiring art than one who rarely questions why they buy what they do.

By the way, says Alan, if the answers to your questions sound like these: "I buy what my friends buy; I buy for investment; I buy only the big names; I only buy bargains", consider returning to square one, determining what kinds of art you really really like, and then start all over again. 

I hope you find Alan’s advice helpful. As always, if you have any questions I can help you with please drop me a line through my “contact” page. 

Kind regards, 

Tateh

Check out my site to see more of my art.