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Collect Art and Equity

June 2, 2014|By David Lester
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My Star Wars Lego art by Douglas Coupland

 

Hi everyone,

A few years back I was interested in learning more about the art world.  It was one area that I didn’t know much about at all.  I didn’t take any art history classes at school and my friends weren’t art geeks.  However, the idea that I could put something beautiful on my wall and have it appreciate at the same time made me very happy.  As much as I love my stocks that go up, the share certificates aren’t’ that sexy on the wall. I want contemporary pieces that would make my heart go thump every time I walked past them AND appreciated in price – this is something I  needed to know everything about.

How was a boy to find out more about art?  I did have one AMAZING art dealer friend named Daniel Faria and he gave me some good advice.  He first got me to read Seven Days In The Art World which I loved.  It took me deep into the art world and taught me how the mechanics of it worked and what to expect when I started collecting.

I started to spend Saturday afternoons browsing up and down Queen and Dundas St. West to all of the cool galleries.  Decide what art made me feel a certain way.  Decide what artists, styles, and formats I was interested in.

The third step was to start investing in great art.  Here are the rules of thumb to start my collection:

1. Buy something you love and makes your heart go thump.

2. Do your research and go out and look at galleries and museums to find out what you’re attracted to.

3. Looks for artists that are dedicated to being artists and are committed full time.

4. Buy from galleries that support their artists and work with them to nurture their careers.

5. Go to national and city galleries and see what they’re showing. Those are artists that curators think are important.

Buy art that you love and will hopefully turn into a nice investment.  Win win.

Have an awesome week,

Dave

 

David Lester
About David Lester

David Lester is a best selling author and professional Financial Coach, helping people be better with their money. David has written a personal finance book that breaks with traditional attitudes towards finance and describes his own philosophy to money that he has gained through his personal and professional experiences. His philosophy on money applies to many areas of everyday life, including banking, investing, goal setting, shopping and entertainment.