Collectors who collect a collection for themselves, as a rule, pay the main attention to the origin of the paintings, and, accordingly, the main accent of their activity is still given to provenance. According to statistics, somewhere 45% of collectors tend to buy paintings at auctions, where the origin of the subject of bargaining is guaranteed. Although the history of buying in 2005 by Mr. Vekselberg in London “Christie’s” is well known, the forgery of Boris Kustodiev’s painting for 1.7 million pounds (almost $ 3 million) is forged.
To maintain the value of the collection, it is necessary to publish its publications, and hold exhibitions. Any movement of art objects – both across the border, and in galleries or exhibition halls – requires proper registration, not to mention insurance.
Such collectors at a certain stage think about what will happen to the collection after them. Often, trusts are created, the task of which is to ensure the safety of art objects. This trust, as a rule, manages the collection, and also works to increase its value, leasing to museums, holding exhibitions, etc.
Beautiful money
Investors who buy art objects for profit, profess a different approach. In fact, they do not care which art object they buy – old books, antique furniture, pictures of Ukrainian, Russian, Islamic, or European artists. The most important thing is the cost. Unfortunately, such investors act at their own peril and risk, relying mainly on their own flair.
In Western countries for a long time, there are art funds, which diversify this direction. The first of them – “Bear’s Hide” – was created in France in 1904 and acquired somewhere around 100 paintings of the Impressionists. When 10 years later these paintings were sold, their average yield was about 13% per annum.
Investments in such structures are continued by pension funds of developed countries. The yield can be 5-15% per annum. In super-successful funds, profits can reach 30-50% per annum.
There are more than 50 such foundations in the world. As a rule, having collected a pool of investors, who contribute from $ 100,000 to $ 300,000, they buy a number of collections. The approach to buying can be very different – either diversification by periods and directions, or a sample for one country, one region, but for different periods, or maybe just an opportunistic approach. According to the research of Denis Belkevich, an expert in investments in art, and director of the Ukrainian Cultural Group, the most expensive work in a portfolio, as a rule, should not occupy more than 10-15% of the value of all collections.
The creation and management of such a fund also require legal work, since there is a specificity of investing in an art object. Despite the fact that the collection market in Ukraine is rather chaotic, it is gaining momentum, and the amount of legal work related to the art market is also increasing. As a collector, I am faced with issues related to the design of the collection, verifying provenance, fixing history, renting the collection, creating funds, trusts for the content of collections, managing the collection, as well as disputes related to works of art.
Unfortunately, this mechanism in Ukraine is not yet very widespread and not very profitable. In Russia, there are a number of such funds: in fact, they act as mutual funds.
Collecting the collection, the fund manages it for 3 to 10 years. After that, he, in fact, begins to earn, selling the collection. As a rule, such a fund does not happen unprofitably. There is an opinion that investments in the art are much more stable than investments in stocks. Stock markets can collapse, and works of art will always be worth something.
