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Collecting Art - Banksy, by Daniel Silk on Nov 15, 2008 23:13:57 GMT 1, www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/just-canvassing/2008/11/13/1226318838805.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2
Just canvassing
November 16, 2008
We gravitate towards some, eschew others and can't afford the rest. Gina Morris looks at the diff'rent strokes of art collecting.
From the gallery Dorota Siarkiewicz caught the art collecting bug after she got over the fear of buying her first painting.
"I've wanted to buy art for quite some time but there always seemed to be other priorities, like a new fridge or a new couch. Art is something you tend to view as a luxury item, unless money is no issue, but then you get to a point where you think, 'What am I waiting for? Do I have to wait until I retire and the mortgage is paid to enjoy something?'
"Buying the first painting was a really big deal. It felt like a large outlay of money and I didn't want to make a stupid decision. I was scared I might go off it, so I spent a lot of time in the gallery, looking at it and visualising it in my home. I always thought I'd want to own abstract art, but actually I found I wanted something that would engage a little bit more. In the end I picked a landscape by Graeme Altmann.
"It's amazing how much smaller the canvas looked in the gallery. We wanted a big painting for a big wall but when they delivered it, my husband and I were like, 'Oh my god!' My next purchases were much smaller - a group of four paintings by Marika Borlase. Since then I've added work by a young graduate, Alizon Gray, and, most recently, a Marise Maas. All the paintings are quite deliberately very different but I think what holds them together is a sense of place or an identity that you can relate to.
"We visit lots of galleries but, so far, all the paintings have come from Flinders Lane Gallery. I like the sort of art they choose and I haven't found anything that I've liked as much anywhere else. I'm addicted to it now, I have the art bug and I'm already thinking about the next one. I've basically been on a high about owning art ever since buying the first. I wouldn't say I've made rash purchases since then but they haven't been overly considered either. Obviously I want to buy art that will hold its value but I'm not obsessed about the investment and value growth. If you focus on that it becomes too much like the stockmarket. For me, it's about how much I enjoy the art; if I could see it in our house, and if I could look at it, enjoy it and find something new and fresh about it, from one day to the next."
On the internet Daron and May Robinson took a leap of faith when they bought an unauthorised Banksy stencil off eBay.
"We first started seeing Banksy's graffiti-art around London in 2002 and just loved it. Everyone did. They were so clever and witty and the more we saw, the more we wanted one.
"At that time his original works were selling for about $7000, which we couldn't afford. Then we saw one of his monkey stencils for sale on eBay from an unknown private seller and decided to bid on it. We almost lost the auction because I'd forgotten to pay my last eBay fees, but finally we won it for $1500 and had to get out a loan to pay.
"We met the seller on the street, handed over the cash and he gave us the stencil, which was printed on the back of an old band poster. We took it home thinking, 'Oh no, we've been duped'. We really loved it but it was a lot of money for us then, so we had to see it as an investment, too. We did some research and discovered it was real; his studio used to be above a record label and he would use their old promo posters to test out his stencils.
''After that we began collecting more Banksy, we bought a couple of prints and some Di-faced notes, and have watched the value of his work skyrocket. Last year we contacted his official authentication company, Pest Control, to confirm our monkey was authentic and we recently got back a reply saying: 'This is by the artist but it was done as a test stencil and not intended as a work of art, therefore a certificate of authentication can't be issued.' We don't really care because we love Banksy and that's why we bought it, but we do think it's odd to say that some of my art isn't art. If we had got the authentication our stencil would be worth $300,000. With this letter it's worth nearer to $100,000, not that we're complaining!
"There is still a big trade for Banksy's work on eBay. We made contact with a guy who had bought 25 prints when they were $250 each and now sells them on eBay for $15,000 each. You have to be careful though, as there are a lot more fakes going around, but you can also get some really good recommendations. Last year we took the advice of one eBay seller and purchased two large canvases by a couple of upcoming graffiti artists, Andrew McAttee and Dan Baldwin, as well as a few other smaller pieces. One day we may decide to sell everything but for now we're really enjoying the thrill of collecting."
The collective eye Inspired by other collecting groups, Katharine Armstrong formed The Local Collection to learn about, support and own local art.
"There are 19 of us in the group, which was actually more than we intended but it got difficult to say no. Each 'share' pays a fixed annual sum over 10 years and everyone has a say in what we buy. It took a long time to draw up a constitution to define the guidelines, largely because we always tried to do it at dinner, but essentially it states that it's for our enjoyment and education.
"There are a number of groups that do this in Australia; we're one of the newer ones. We go on group visits to galleries, openings and get to meet and talk with the artists. We supported a project in the last Next Wave festival, providing cash to graduating artists to help fund materials. Then at the end we chose one of them to commission a work for our collection.
"Some members are in it for the investment but they are in the minority. For most, it's the process of building the collection and about gaining confidence in what you know about contemporary art. It's about going to look at the work, talking about it, getting involved and making the decision about what to buy. Everyone then gets to have the work in their home for six months before it moves on.
"Being in a group allows you to take risks. It breaks down the scariness of buying art. A lot of people find galleries intimidating because they see it as a judgement of themselves and of what they chose. What does it say about me? Gallery owners take us seriously, they know we have money and they know we want to learn and are ready to buy.
"So far, in the two years since we started, we've only bought four pieces. It's been very slow but we're not racing in and making lots of mistakes. We've got a big kitty and it gives us a bit of flexibility, we can buy something for $600 or one for $30,000; it's the work that dictates. We do have rules, such as the artist must be local, living and just embarking on their career, but we are prepared to go outside the guidelines.
"Ultimately, our goal is have a good, cohesive collection, not just a mishmash. After the 10 years is up members can use their equity to bid on the works within the group. If anything is left over it's put on the public market. My hope though is that we all end up with a work or two that we're really passionate about."
www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/just-canvassing/2008/11/13/1226318838805.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2Just canvassing November 16, 2008 We gravitate towards some, eschew others and can't afford the rest. Gina Morris looks at the diff'rent strokes of art collecting. From the gallery Dorota Siarkiewicz caught the art collecting bug after she got over the fear of buying her first painting. "I've wanted to buy art for quite some time but there always seemed to be other priorities, like a new fridge or a new couch. Art is something you tend to view as a luxury item, unless money is no issue, but then you get to a point where you think, 'What am I waiting for? Do I have to wait until I retire and the mortgage is paid to enjoy something?' "Buying the first painting was a really big deal. It felt like a large outlay of money and I didn't want to make a stupid decision. I was scared I might go off it, so I spent a lot of time in the gallery, looking at it and visualising it in my home. I always thought I'd want to own abstract art, but actually I found I wanted something that would engage a little bit more. In the end I picked a landscape by Graeme Altmann. "It's amazing how much smaller the canvas looked in the gallery. We wanted a big painting for a big wall but when they delivered it, my husband and I were like, 'Oh my god!' My next purchases were much smaller - a group of four paintings by Marika Borlase. Since then I've added work by a young graduate, Alizon Gray, and, most recently, a Marise Maas. All the paintings are quite deliberately very different but I think what holds them together is a sense of place or an identity that you can relate to. "We visit lots of galleries but, so far, all the paintings have come from Flinders Lane Gallery. I like the sort of art they choose and I haven't found anything that I've liked as much anywhere else. I'm addicted to it now, I have the art bug and I'm already thinking about the next one. I've basically been on a high about owning art ever since buying the first. I wouldn't say I've made rash purchases since then but they haven't been overly considered either. Obviously I want to buy art that will hold its value but I'm not obsessed about the investment and value growth. If you focus on that it becomes too much like the stockmarket. For me, it's about how much I enjoy the art; if I could see it in our house, and if I could look at it, enjoy it and find something new and fresh about it, from one day to the next." On the internet Daron and May Robinson took a leap of faith when they bought an unauthorised Banksy stencil off eBay. "We first started seeing Banksy's graffiti-art around London in 2002 and just loved it. Everyone did. They were so clever and witty and the more we saw, the more we wanted one. "At that time his original works were selling for about $7000, which we couldn't afford. Then we saw one of his monkey stencils for sale on eBay from an unknown private seller and decided to bid on it. We almost lost the auction because I'd forgotten to pay my last eBay fees, but finally we won it for $1500 and had to get out a loan to pay. "We met the seller on the street, handed over the cash and he gave us the stencil, which was printed on the back of an old band poster. We took it home thinking, 'Oh no, we've been duped'. We really loved it but it was a lot of money for us then, so we had to see it as an investment, too. We did some research and discovered it was real; his studio used to be above a record label and he would use their old promo posters to test out his stencils. ''After that we began collecting more Banksy, we bought a couple of prints and some Di-faced notes, and have watched the value of his work skyrocket. Last year we contacted his official authentication company, Pest Control, to confirm our monkey was authentic and we recently got back a reply saying: 'This is by the artist but it was done as a test stencil and not intended as a work of art, therefore a certificate of authentication can't be issued.' We don't really care because we love Banksy and that's why we bought it, but we do think it's odd to say that some of my art isn't art. If we had got the authentication our stencil would be worth $300,000. With this letter it's worth nearer to $100,000, not that we're complaining! "There is still a big trade for Banksy's work on eBay. We made contact with a guy who had bought 25 prints when they were $250 each and now sells them on eBay for $15,000 each. You have to be careful though, as there are a lot more fakes going around, but you can also get some really good recommendations. Last year we took the advice of one eBay seller and purchased two large canvases by a couple of upcoming graffiti artists, Andrew McAttee and Dan Baldwin, as well as a few other smaller pieces. One day we may decide to sell everything but for now we're really enjoying the thrill of collecting." The collective eye Inspired by other collecting groups, Katharine Armstrong formed The Local Collection to learn about, support and own local art. "There are 19 of us in the group, which was actually more than we intended but it got difficult to say no. Each 'share' pays a fixed annual sum over 10 years and everyone has a say in what we buy. It took a long time to draw up a constitution to define the guidelines, largely because we always tried to do it at dinner, but essentially it states that it's for our enjoyment and education. "There are a number of groups that do this in Australia; we're one of the newer ones. We go on group visits to galleries, openings and get to meet and talk with the artists. We supported a project in the last Next Wave festival, providing cash to graduating artists to help fund materials. Then at the end we chose one of them to commission a work for our collection. "Some members are in it for the investment but they are in the minority. For most, it's the process of building the collection and about gaining confidence in what you know about contemporary art. It's about going to look at the work, talking about it, getting involved and making the decision about what to buy. Everyone then gets to have the work in their home for six months before it moves on. "Being in a group allows you to take risks. It breaks down the scariness of buying art. A lot of people find galleries intimidating because they see it as a judgement of themselves and of what they chose. What does it say about me? Gallery owners take us seriously, they know we have money and they know we want to learn and are ready to buy. "So far, in the two years since we started, we've only bought four pieces. It's been very slow but we're not racing in and making lots of mistakes. We've got a big kitty and it gives us a bit of flexibility, we can buy something for $600 or one for $30,000; it's the work that dictates. We do have rules, such as the artist must be local, living and just embarking on their career, but we are prepared to go outside the guidelines. "Ultimately, our goal is have a good, cohesive collection, not just a mishmash. After the 10 years is up members can use their equity to bid on the works within the group. If anything is left over it's put on the public market. My hope though is that we all end up with a work or two that we're really passionate about."
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