"Mystery Suitor" by Tishbein
It’s hard to believe, but this year marks my 10th year at Rau Antiques. 10 years of pieces coming and going, buying and selling, setting up and breaking down. It’s been an eventful decade to say the least, and all this recollection of it has me thinking of some important consistencies I’ve encountered-that in my opinion, affect YOU as the buyer directly!
Looking back, way back, from my first day of work here, I ask myself “What has increased the most in value over the run of 10 years?” The answer: Fine Art. Paintings that sold for $200,000 are now $600,000, which is an exceptional increase in value! From my view, the Dow Jones can’t compete with that, and you have another benefit in your favor; a beautiful work of art in your favorite room, not some burly, chatty stock broker on the phone.
Now, I tend to be bullish when it comes to art, and this is strictly opinion, but I can only see this trend of art performance in the market as repeating in the upcoming decade. Again, I’m no economic financier, but over and over art has proved to retain and gain in value, and the payoff is in more than cash, it’s in beauty! Time and time again I’ve found that when you buy great paintings, by great artists, it more than pays for itself and keeps the buyer happy on many, many levels.
Have I convinced you? Then check out our extensive art collection here!
Twenty years ago, when I first entered this business, it was taboo to suggest that buying a piece of art was a good investment. In fact, we never uttered the two words in the same sentence. It was also around that same time that you could count on the fact that properly invested money would double in value every 8 years or less. Let’s face it, in the 90s, it was difficult to lose money in the stock market even if your advisor was mediocre at his discipline. How things change. Today with our 401k’s sliced in half, most of us would have never dreamed that this would have ever occurred. Ah, if we had only bought that Bouguereau painting instead of GM. This is why I think it is a great time to buy art. I have always felt that it was a good idea to buy art…not solely because I believed it was an excellent investment (which I do), but because great art is something you can enjoy every day. And, if a painting’s value out-performed the S&P over the course of the last 20 years, well then… all the better…here in New Orleans, we call that a little “lagniappe” or a little something extra.
Today, the type art that I would buy or invest in is 19th Century Academic. These are the artists that attended the École des Beaux Arts in France, the Royal Academy in London or the Academies in Florence or Rome. These are the paintings that graced our walls when we were growing up. We rarely saw these artworks in museums, unlike Rembrandt and Gainsborough.
"Gloria Victis" by Antonin Mercie
These artworks have also withstood the test of time, and their value has consistently increased over the years. More clearly however, these are those lovely romantic or Victorian scenes that made everyone smile and all of us clearly understood. You didn’t require a college degree to understand their meaning and symbolism.
Tete d'enfant, etude by William Adolphe Bouguereau
Another great reason to buy art is for wealth protection and preservation - call it “defensive currency”. The great thing about a painting is that it can be given as a gift to a family member without being subject to taxation. It is a fabulous way to pass on family wealth by avoiding the “death tax”.
Lastly, most importantly, the most important reason to buy art is because it makes us smile and because of that it improves our daily lives.
Fondest regards,
John
