Buy Art as an Investment

Investing in artwork can be a highly rewarding endeavor. You can introduce a great piece of art in your home while simultaneously supporting the arts in general just by purchasing something that you love. Investing in art brings a great financial return in the long run and beautifies your home in the short term.

Educate yourself. Investigate local up and coming artists. Go to art galleries to peruse the availability of certain artists or look online to find artists that are receiving good reviews.

Find your artwork. Once you find an artist that you like and seems like a good prospect, go see the art in person. Ask gallery owners who they think would be a good investment and interview the artists you are interested in. Credentials are a major part of your investment so ask plenty of questions. A good investment would be in a piece of art or an artist that appears to be moving into bigger and bigger shows with more clout.

Determine its worth. A piece of art that has already gone up in value because of demand is a good investment but be sure not to pay too much for something just because you are told that it will be worth even more in the future. Make the decision for yourself. Does it appear to be worth the amount of money you will be paying or is the mark up higher because of the gallery it's being shown in?

Verify authenticity. Before you buy anything, see the piece yourself. Try not to buy a work of art site unseen because you might be getting a fake. Inspect the piece to make sure it truly is a piece by a particular artist and not a fabricated piece. Take the piece to a reputable dealer or appraiser for further verification.

Buy something you truly like. The trick to investing in art is to buy something you would be happy displaying in your home or business because even if it doesn't appreciate over time the intrinsic value of the piece is still there. If you purchase a piece just because it's supposedly a good investment you're missing the entire point of investing in art.

Spend only as much as you can afford. Art is an investment that increases in value over time. Occasionally something will jump because the demand for the artist is so great, but for most pieces of art the time it takes for the art to become worth the investment can be years. Only spend as much as you can afford right now and don't pay more for something just because you think it will make more money for you later.