Happy Holidays!!

... and best wishes for 2009!
Micaëla

To the new collector (or to those who think they don't know anything about art, so they won't collect),

Dear Reader,

I'm in California, working from home right now, it's 2 minutes before 8 am, and my neighbor, Vern (working to stay afloat in this economy), is coming over at 8 on the dot (he's very punctual) to finish up a job in my home he began yesterday...groannnn...so I'd better type fast and get dressed.

Vern and I talked yesterday about collecting art - how it's a cultural thing, good for the soul and good for the community. He saw art collecting as a pursuit of the wealthy, a luxury, akin to foie gras, champagne and driving a murcielago ... well, if you're reading this (and the countless other blogs in blog land about art collecting), you know that's not true. So what's it all about? It's like good food - an excellent burger, a root beer float, fabulous fresh popcorn, or exquisite dining - and music - it's about experiencing pleasure in life.

What's so cool about seeing something that doesn't make sense? Well, if you like jazz, rock and roll, or classical music, you took time, once, to figure it out and decide whether you like it, so give the fine art a minute or two, or more. It's like deciding how you want to look today, at work or when you go out. What looks good? With art, it's exactly the same thing - it's essentially about what pleases you to look at (and all the subsequent thoughts and emotions that come with that), what looks good wherever it is (or where you plan to put it), and for most people, what you can afford.

As I wrote earlier (and if I didn't I'll write it now), the best way for an art collector to begin is to visit museums and galleries, and to take time to figure out the kind of art you like. Take your time, and make a commitment, a purchase - a small purchase - and see how you feel about what you bought. Hate it? Get over it and figure out why you hate it, and don't run. We all make mistakes, hopefully they're not costly and we recover. Try this over time, there's a lot of art out there that you can test the waters with - books, postcards, posters, even clothing (and that's also what copyrights, editions and licenses are about - let's save it for another time) - and have fun with, after all if it's about pleasure, make sure it is fun!

So it's the holidays, 2008 and all its misery is ending and there is new hope with 2009. Go out and have fun, open your eyes to everything around you and enjoy, look at everything like it's new and indulge yourself! ...and congratulations, you're on your way to becoming an art collector.

Happy holidays and best wishes for 2009!
Micaëla

Art Fairs

Dear Art Collector,

The art mecca is in full swing these days at the Art Basel|Miami Beach hoohah. What's the big deal...? This is it, an exceptional smorgasborg of art for the partaker, where collectors of every discreminating ilk browse and search, and purchase. For neophytes, this could be the beginning of a very serious collection habit.

Thousands, literally, thousands of artists - emerging, mid-career, and established - present artworks, solo or sponsored by their gallery of choice. The parties and celebrities descending on Miami Beach (South Beach) are a wonder to behold, the walking equivalent, in many ways, to the artworks on the walls. Galleries from all over the world come and set up their booth, or in some cases, a hotel room, fêted and hosted by promoters and curators. Go! If you're in Miami - throw yourself in the throng, fight your way past the gawkers, join the fray! There's nothing like it and it's worth every minute of your time!

Micaela

Dear Art Collector:

My collection began when something caught my eye and my personal aesthetic began to grow. Today, I'm summarizing one of the things I've learned in my experience, as a gallerist and collector, collecting artwork depends on collecting information. A few years ago, I began to promote the artworks of my friends and the people I admired, essentially, the work of people I collected. I began, unknowingly, a process that forms the basis of my advice to all emerging artists and collectors.

First, there's nothing like information - lots of it. I'm a busy girl, my time is valuable, and I can't surf the internet or wander the streets of wherever (I'd rather see the sights!) looking for information, so I sign up for every email announcement I find related to an artist's work, and I love websites that make this easy for me to do. Acquiring information helps me research the value of the work I'm considering, as it should be directly related to the artist's professional development and show growth.

Second, I give information. If the artist is online, I write to him/her and let him/her know about my interest in the work. Most artists love this and reply favorably. Occasionally, they're overwhelmed by passionate love letters from people like me, and I hear nothing. No problem, I search for galleries online and write to them - they usually reply very quickly - and I let them know who I like and ask to be advised of the artist's work and professional development. I want to know if the artist is showing his work and where.

The last part of this little trilogy is the purchase. There is nothing that makes you a real collector like an actual purchase and your name on the artist's list of collectors. Eventually, I'll find something I can't live without and make the plunge. Sometimes, it's painless, often it's huge and there are considerations. Such as price, and whether I can negotiate favorable terms (a discount) ... to which the answer often depends on my relationship with the artist.

In summary, building a good relationship is essential to collecting. To do this in the 21st century, (1) sign up for artist emails, it's a great timesaver; (2) let the artists know you're a fan, it might help when (3) you finally make that purchase. Yes, I'm an art collector too, you know that, that's why you read my blog, right?

David Hockney and editions (finally!)

Yesterday, I received an email from a friend with a link to David Hockney's website...which is very cool, and here it is for your visual enjoyment. Mr. Hockney is a contemporary artist with works covering a wide range from drawings, paintings to stage and theatre design.

The best part of the home page of Mr. Hockney's website is the copyright warning, which brings us some of the things related to fine art editions, copies and the values placed on them.

Without getting into the details of copyright law, the big deal about copyright is that the image belongs to the creator, in this case, Mr. Hockney, and can't be used by anyone for any reason (technically, I shouldn't use it here, so I'll write to Mr. Hockney and ask his permission, if he declines, I'll remove the image). I used the image because it links to his site, which is the best artist's site I've ever seen. It's full of information about Mr. Hockney, his full biography even contains details about his parents and education. His gallery of works includes singular (one of a kind) works and editions, and all the works are fully described in terms of title, medium, and size. The edition works are described in terms of edition.

What is an edition? My favorite online source for quick info is Wikipedia, and it defines 'edition' as 'a number of prints struck from one plate, usually at the same point in time. ... [an edition] may be a limited edition, with a fixed number of impressions produced on the understanding that no further impressions (copies) will be produced later, or an open edition limited only by the number that can be sold or produced before the plate wears. Most modern artists produce only limited editions, normally signed by the artist in pencil, and numbered as say 67/100 to show the unique number of that impression and the total edition size.' Prior to the 20th century, and modern copy machines and digital print tools, artworks were reproduced by methods such as lithography, mezzotint, and etching, among others. The works were copied under the instruction of the artist, generally on the belief that they were worthy of reproduction and were a good source of supplemental income for the artist.

A numbering system for editions was developed to show how many prints were developed, with the belief that the artist would not print more than the number stated. For example, Mr. Hockney's work, Black Plant on Table, 1986, was printed in a limited edition of 30 (the actual work is a set of 6 printed pages arranged in a fixed order). Modern artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and countless others printed favored images using this system. In some cases, the artists or their publishers didn't number their prints, relying on a finite limit to the print edition. For example, Pablo Picasso created a dry-point portrait of Max Jacob (image, left) to illustrate his works, which were printed and never numbered, leaving the question of the work's authenticity up to provenance.

The problem of authenticity is huge with regard to prints. As a result, all kinds of rules and specialties have developed to prove the work as authentic. Probably the easiest rule to remember is whether the work is signed, as a true signature is the first mark of authenticity for any artwork. That kind of proof adds value to any work, and especially to copies, or editions.

Alright, this could go on almost forever, it's such a long topic, so I'll end this note for now as follows: the concept of editions is good for the general public and for the artist, for the same economical reasons. The problem with it is value and worth. Next edition blog, I'll discuss the different numbering systems. It's dry stuff, so I don't expect you to hold your breath - and in case you can't wait for the blog to come out (it's dry to write too), send me an email - micaela@micaela.com - and let me know how I can help you!

Resources...art fairs, exhibitions, publications, word of mouth

I'm sorry, I know, I said I was going to write more about editions … and I will, next time. There is so much going on for art collectors to know about that I don't feel right limiting this to academia, so please be patient and understand that we live in exciting times!

First, a couple of publications that I swear by that keep me up to date on contemporary fine art: Artforum, Art Ltd., Juxtapoz (lots of edge in this one, so be careful...). Glass Quarterly and American Craft, are my favorites for glass sculpture. New American Paintings is great for the latest in regional painterly discoveries. Advice for making a selection? Go to your local newstand (please, find one that carries art mags) and browse browse browse. Obviously, buy the one that you can't put down (we feel for booksellers...), or borrow it from your local library and enjoy.

Exhibitions seem like a no-brainer, but it's surprising how some of the best galleries are completely unnoticed by middle America, leaving the best and the brightest art for the pickings of the very wealthy and adulation of the highly appreciative but sadly very less than wealthy … Please, GO to the galleries! Their efforts to promote their artists are astounding (worthy of much unsung praise), they generally don't charge for your visit, and are amazing repositories of expert information about the artists they represent. With this crrrrazzzy economy, your visit (whether your purchase or not) is welcome welcome welcome (yes, I know, I repeat for emphasis...!).

Art fairs are a lot more than your neighborhood craft show. In the past 10-12 years, they have grown into big big business on an international scale, showing art represented by 'big boy' galleries such as Gagosian and Mary Boone, and attended by everyone from Damien Hirst to the quiet investor with his/her private art consultant to celebrities like Beyoncé (and Jay-Z), Brad Pitt and Robert de Niro. Some of the most famous fairs are Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach (billed as the most important art show in the United States, a cultural and social highlight for the Americas), and the Armory Show (international fair of new art) held annually in New York. As a result, smaller, satellite fairs have grown around these fairs where some of the newest galleries around collect to show the latest art, such as at Art Fair Now, Bridge Art Fair, and Frieze, to name just a very very few. SOFA is yet another fair, specific to sculpture in its various iterations as described fully by its proper name - Sculpture, Object and Functional Art.

Lastly (did you think this would never end?! It's been a while and I have a lot to say today...!), if you have a friend (okay, maybe they're not really your friend), who owns, rents, borrows (or God forbid, steals) artwork you love … ask about it and use time tested traditions of word-of-mouth to find what you want.

Good luck and the best to you! Write to me if you have any suggestions or questions or objections to any of this.

Damien Hirst...Beautiful Inside My Head Forever

As early as 1996, Damien Hirst's work drew the kind of collector's attention that earned 6 figures. Today, the world economy fails in an era of toxic mortgages and government bailouts, yet art world aficionados and financiers (who else has the cash?) line up for "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever" Damien Hirst's novel debut solo exhibition consigned for auction at Sotheby's held about 200 works that brought in whopping sales of $43, 316,574 (actually, someone at the Financial Times estimated Hirst's net at nearly $200 million). And voilà! The vanguard of emerging artists for fame and gain is Damien Hirst, past winner of the Turner Prize, and the most prominent of the Young British Artists (YBAs).

Hirst's works are fantastic (truly), decadent (sine qua non), fascinating (hypnotic, even), and illative of a remorseless, pointed and wicked intellect. His absorption with death and decadence - manifested by choice of subject and use of materials, constant playfully bright schemes, that make light of dark ideas that are themselves excessive, in concept and execution, and consequential work - become visual puns, fodder for common humor. Mentored by Charles Saatchi, the art collector's collector (a god, in his own art world right, maybe), Hirst's future, you might say, was as assured as if he'd been born with a silver spoon (just look at that chart, above).

So why are we writing about this artist? Yes, his concepts are bizarre, his works are many things to many people, but most importantly, for the obviously privileged and rarefied few who fell in step to the Sotheby's hammer on 16 September, Hirst's works are immensely, and profitably, collectible!
(Image: Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1992. Tiger shark, glass, steel, 5% formaldehyde solution; 213 x 518 cm., Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC)