Think twice before investing in art
By Mehru Jaffer
JAKARTA (JP): If you happen to have lots of money but no love for art then the advice of the experts is, forget about buying paintings as an investment.
A better way of using your money would be to invest it in stocks and shares, for the world of art is not mere speculation. You have to make sure that you love art, that it speaks to you, before you invest even a penny in it.
At a lively talk on investing in art works organized last weekend by Galeri Sriyanto, curators, collectors, auctioneers and gallery owners met under one roof to exchange their views on the best way to invest in paintings.
Merwan Yusuf, curator of the National Gallery told The Jakarta Post that in the past art lovers discussed these matters all the time at many informal get-togethers. This, however, is the first time that a formal meeting has been organized with the sole purpose of enhancing the appreciation of art among audiences.
The important thing is to prepare those interested in investing their money in art to be able to do so in a wise way in a market that is fast emerging as the center of activities related to all kinds of art in the new millennium.
In the early part of the last century it was Europe, particularly Paris that was the hub of the art market. After the second world war the venue moved across the Atlantic ocean to the more prosperous America.
Now it is the turn of this region, where people are advised to buy high quality Asian art which is still available at reasonable rates.
Introducing the four paintings on display that represented the four different schools of realism, impressionism, expressionism and contemporary art, Merwan said that Tiger by Taufan could not be compared to Sriyanto's seascape, I Made Sukadana's Rangda or to Sudaryono's abstract work of art titled Tattoo. Each canvass had its own beauty and its worth.
Therefore the first rule of the game is to know your art before buying it. It is important to take your time and first develop an eye for good art by making a habit of visiting exhibitions and galleries regularly. A famous name of course matters but more important is the buyer's knowledge of art and the gut reaction to a canvas.
"Remember that art is not a stock, it is not a bar of gold. It is not a bond which you can get rid off as soon as it matures. Only if you really love a work are you then ready for buying it," warns Deborah C. Iskandar of international auction house Christie's, whose job is to advise clients before they invest in art and to help them build a first rate collection.
Even if the interest of the buyer happens to be purely financial, factors like liquidity have to be considered. Stocks, bonds or commodities can be sold any day of the week with just a phone call while the sale of a painting often has to be negotiated over a long period of time.
All these tips are worth remembering at a time when Indonesian art is being looked upon as big business. Not only is the number of painters booming but art collectors and dealers are a dime a dozen these days.
What has shaken the sleepy world of art out of its stupor is the entry into the fray of the stock broker. More aggressive and speculative than traditional gallery owners, brokers threaten to create great confusion. They often buy unknown painters whose work is a high risk investment, and sell them to those who have the money but little knowledge of the background or artistic value of the work.
Indonesian art became big business in the early 1980s and by 1994 an Affandi was selling for S$160,000. During the economic crisis the same Affandi sold for as low as $25,000 in 1998. Today it is possible to buy his work for about $40,000. Art lovers feel that ideally the worth of a master painter like Affandi whose reputation is sealed in time should not see-saw so drastically.
Due to unrealistic demands made on some, painters are known to hire assistants to help them complete their art to meet deadlines today. The organizers of the talk feel that the middle, and upper middle class in Indonesia have already tasted the fruits of high quality art and would like to buy it either for their private collection, or as investment.
Apart from selling art what Galeri Sriyanto would like to do is to share its knowledge about art with its clients. Of course, they hope that this will help clients enjoy art, but they believe it will also help prevent them from being victimized by the swiftly changing fads and trends of a very unpredictable market.
In these economically volatile times the mood of the buyer is understandably more cautious but Christie's feels that the fundamentals of the Southeast Asian picture market remain strong.
Deborah, who came to Indonesia with Credit Lyonnais Bank and later allowed her love of art to lure her away from banking to Christie's, says that the region's economic downturn and subsequent cautious buying may well offer opportunities to purchase works of great rarity. Many of these are temporarily undervalued or unlikely to appear in the auction market again.
This is the time, therefore, to buy Asian art before it becomes as unaffordable as art in the West. But not before experts have been duly consulted.