Young Artist

Q: I've seen several news stories about a young artist in her early teens who's being hailed as a child prodigy. Some famous people apparently own her work. I like it myself, have inquired about prices, and am told that original paintings are very expensive. Do you think her art is a good investment? Do you think she'll become really famous?

A: You say you like the art, but at the same time, you sound more interested in buying a commodity than a painting. You also seem to be more taken with the publicity and glamour surrounding the artist than you are with the art. Step back for a moment before doing any buying and ask yourself the following questions:

Would you consider buying a piece of art that looks exactly the same if it was by a competent artist who receives little or no publicity? If you hesitate or answer no, you might be guilty of buying by name and reputation and saving what you think about the art for last. The most satisfied collectors love their art no matter who it's by, who collects it, or how famous the artists are.

Are you buying something to hang on your wall and admire or something that you hope will increase in value? If you answer the latter, you should probably place your money elsewhere. People confuse art with stocks, bonds and other investments when, in fact, it's totally different. With securities, you pay an average commission of a percentage point or two to make a transaction. With art, as much as 70 to 80 percent of the selling price can go towards commissions and overhead. For example, if you pay $10,000 for a painting and only $2,000 goes to the artist, that $2,000 would be its approximate resale value on the open market. Purchased as an investment, you'd have to wait years just to break even.

Where is the publicity about this girl's art coming from? She may be garnering a lot of attention, but you have to determine whether that attention is scholarly art world attention or popular media attention. If the stories you see are on the 6 O'clock News or in mass market magazines like "People" and the famous people who own her art are known for accomplishments that do not include art collecting, this might be more a case of media hype than a serious art world phenomenon.

Find out whether curators are familiar with her work, whether she's been reviewed in major art magazines, had museum shows, and is in significant art collections. If the art world is as excited as the reporters on the 6 O'clock News are, something significant may be happening. If not, this whole hub-bub could be little more than a flash in the public relations pan.

And then there's the issue of age. It is extremely rare for an artist to be hailed or collected as a child prodigy, to sell early on at prices equivalent to those of famous artists at the peaks of their careers, to continue selling at those levels, and to go down in history as an important artist. This girl is very talented and she does beautiful work, but whether her current price structure is justified, whether she has a lock on future fame and fortune, and whether she'll even be interested in continuing as an artist after she graduates from college are huge unanswered questions.

Quite a number of young people show serious artistic talent from early on. Their best art can be as beautiful and engaging as that of many adult artists. If you like art by young talented artists, visit art schools, talk to art teachers, find out who the best artists are, go to their art exhibits. Once you get a feel for what you're doing, you'll be able to buy based more on what you love than on how much publicity the artists get or who owns their work. You'll also quickly discover that you don't have to spend anywhere near thousands of dollars in order to get something meaningful and satisfying.

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