Investing in Art

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I love my Honda Fit. And while that may seem to have nothing to do with art, actually, it does.

You see, I drive my Honda Fit everywhere and in the process of its being used it gets dusty, the tires see wear, the interior windows next to where my Toddler sits get coated with whatever sticky stuff she’s got on her hands and smears onto the glass. (I know. I don’t want to know much more than that, either.)

Art pays off in happiness dividends. Instantly, a fine art painting or any other kind of art provides color, depth, and emotion to our life. Dancer by Steve Henderson of Steve Henderson Fine Art.
Art pays off in happiness dividends. Instantly, a fine art painting or any other kind
of art provides color, depth, and emotion to our life.
Dancer by Steve Henderson of Steve Henderson Fine Art.

 

Honestly, if I kept my Honda Fit inside the garage and never drove it for, say, 10 years, it would look exactly the way it did the day I bought it and I could resell it — maybe at a profit — because it would be such a great investment!

But you know, people don’t buy cars to keep as investments. They buy them to drive in them, and when it’s the right car, like my cute, sassy, blazing barbecue orange Honda Fit, they enjoy the process.

If more people thought about making art this way, more people would own and enjoy painting art. But all of a sudden, when people look at a painting, they go into this “I Must Make a Profit on This” investment mode — even if the artwork they’re looking at is a limited edition print for $80. Somehow, they tell themselves, if they purchase this, they need to be able to resell it, ten years down the road, for $200, because that’s what you do with art — you buy it as an investment.

As an artist — you’ve heard this before, haven’t you?

What a sad, limited world view, one that keeps people from enhancing their aesthetic lives and their home’s walls. The best reason to buy painting art-or any kind of art for that matter — is because you like it, because when you see the oil painting or the print on your wall it makes you happy, because you want to have it in your life, because — like my Honda Fit — it’s smart, sassy, sophisticated, and fun — in short, that painting is You.

That’s most likely what you want people to say about your own painting art, and that’s why you buy the work of other artists yourself. Let’s be bold about this and counteract this pervasive investment message and, one by one, we’ll let people know that great art is a great investment because it pays off, instantly, in happiness dividends.

–Carolyn

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  1. This is sooo true – I have only recently started painting, but for years I’ve been drawn to paintings, and every so often I really couldn’t resist any more and would buy one. I am so glad I did!

  2. This is sooo true – I have only recently started painting, but for years I’ve been drawn to paintings, and every so often I really couldn’t resist any more and would buy one. I am so glad I did!

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