Photography, Investing and Art Funds

Vincent Anthony Falkiewicz

After reading the art investment article, without much previous knowledge of art investing, I woudl definitely say it is most beneficial to choose a small group of artists who are well represented in the art community whose work is not too expensive or popular yet.  This differs from regular investing because typically, one would like their portfolio to be well spread out amongst not only different sized companies, but also different sectors of the market.  Normally, one would buy numerous investments even in large companies in order to have a widened portfolio.  Additionally, buying stock has no maitenence cost; very unlike the art world where there is some cost for holding and shipping the art.  In the case of art investing, "the premise is...to buy cheap and resell at a premium while minimizing onerous transaction, shipping, storage, and insurance costs that make art an expensive asset to hold.  For my investment fund I will choose sculpting because I have taken an interest in it since joining this class.  For my fund I would choose only up and coming sculptors, considering that is where all the money is to be made.  Most people who buy already established artists are not buying them to resell them; they are buying them for their own personal enjoyment.  For this reason, the first artist I would choose is up and coming sculptor Johan Andersson.  His work is well respected amongst the art community, yet he is not so popular that his work is selling strictly for enjoyment purposes.  His art could be of significant value in the future.  Also, I would choose Parisian artist Cyprien Gaillard, considering Paris's high art standard.  Finally, I would choose art from Chinese sculptor Piao Guangxie.  Due to China's large population, and everlasting respect in the art economy, this would be a great choice to bet on. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/the-20-best-upandcoming-artists-956294.html?action=Gallery
Johan Andersson

Cyprien Gaillard

piao guangxie

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/the-20-best-upandcoming-artists-956294.html

http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&biw=1003&bih=539&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=piao+guangxie&oq=piao+gu&aq=1&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=8969l11156l0l10l8l0l2l2l0l141l594l3.3l6

http://www.foothillsartcenter.org/dev/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=108&Itemid=140 

Erica Gilbert-Levin  

Management: Moondance, Inc. Los Angeles, California

Name of Fund: StART

Investment Details: Target: USD 10m; Minimum: 5m; Term: 5 years

Fund Overview: Launched January 2009. Late 20^th-century/early 21^st-century street art

Fund Description, Fees: Most investments between USD 10,000-80,000. Active management. 2% annual performance fee; no management fee.

Website: www.startart.com

Status: Valued at USD 5m in August 2010. Approximately 100 investor entities.

A small but rapidly-growing and up-and-coming fund, StART features four collections of bold, in-your-face, unique works from both established and emerging street artists around the world. StART was founded in early 2009 by a collaboration of anonymous art entrepreneurs and seeks to bring the most exciting new development in the art world into the market.

The collections:

"Brave New World." Consists of nearly 1,000 paintings and collages by young artists whose works had gone virtually unrecognized in the art world until recently. In the past year, the valuation of the works in this collection has seen exuberant growth, tripling from USD 5,000 to 15,000 in the last market year. Artists include Retna, Stickman, Elbowtoe, and War Boutique, an urban artist who has worked with the likes of Banksy.

"Under the Bridge." Consists of a mind-blowing 20,000 pieces, including rare sketches by Jean-Michel Basquiat and replicas of Keith Haring's famous subway drawings. Other street artists include Judith Supine, and Swoon. The oft-controversial, edge-pushing works straight from the street have charged the market in the last year, accumulating an estimated valuation of USD 5m. Numerous symposia, interviews, and even museum exhibitions have enhanced the profile of street art, resulting in rapid growth for StART.

Works in these collections include:

By Haring

By Basquiat

By Judith Supine

By Swoon

By Retna

By Stickman

Kimberly Ann Phoenix 

Have to say that I feel totally inept at creating a fund.  But from the reading I would think that you would need to diversify.  Just like a conventional fund, you would need some solid artist with proven track records while investing in some new up and coming artist.  I did a little research on photographers just because I have taken some classes in photography and feel I can very amateurishly evaluate the work, Dorothea Lange would be a good base.  Her work is thoughtful and passionate, with a historic tone that in the future would maybe bring in a higher value.  A rising star would be Claire Rosen, her approach in fine art and fashion could be very marketable, being able to buy her works at a lower price now and hope that the value goes up as more of her work is shown.  

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/index.html

http://blog.sofistafunk.com/2010/09/sf-meets-claire-rosen.html

Photo by Dorothea Lange from historyplace.com

Photo by Claire Rosen from blog.sofisafunk.com