A Cliche, and Art as Investment

I wanted to avoid starting this quarter’s thought with some cliched statement contrasting AI-generated art with the “real thing,” given my own boredom with the inescapable AI discourse. And yet, and yet. The tangible nature of an old painting, drawing, or print, the very fact that it predates AI by decades or centuries, and the concomitant fact that it is by nature the original work of a real person are such refreshing features of the “real thing” that a cliché is unavoidable. Buy real art. It has survived this long to find its way to you, and under your stewardship will be a joy forever to your descendants, as ephemera necessarily evaporates.

Cliché stated, and now I can get on with it.

I am a believer in buying art because one loves it and one wants to possess it, contemplate it, and share its beauty with loved ones. I am not a believer in buying art as an investment. Some people have a knack for identifying art that will appreciate and some companies even allow pooled investing in blue chip works as an alternative asset class. All but the most sophisticated (or lucky) collectors, however, are likely to be disappointed in the financial performance of their individual purchases; that is, appreciation of the value of a single work is unlikely to exceed the returns of an index fund or similar boring investment. The art market is idiosyncratic, relatively obscure, and the stories of staggering prices paid at auction are massively outnumbered by the quotidian results achieved by 99.9% of lots.

At McDermott-Moore, we want to help you find art that you love – not for the primary purpose of seeing it appreciate in value (although that would be great!) – but as an adornment to your life. At the same time, even a very beautiful object has a discrete range of reasonable values, and it does not do to overpay. To that end, McDermott-Moore subscribes to art price databases which help ensure its clients have a realistic understanding of the value of a possible acquisition. We want you to love what you buy, but also to buy it at a fair price.

As the weather cools and we spend more time inside, perhaps you’ve noticed a spot that could do with some adornment. Please don’t hesitate to reach out – we’d love to work with you.

Will