Collecting Art: What is art anyway?

July 2021

When art buying comes up in conversations, you’ll often hear the terms low art or high art, good art or bad art, or the mention of a work of art versus mere decoration. The matter provides an endless discussion with opinions divided. What is art anyway? The Oxford Dictionary describes art as ‘a creative activity resulting in the production of paintings, drawings, or sculpture’. This indicates that we can all happily make art, but it is no explanation as to why certain works are more collectable or valuable than others.

Last week I read that art, and especially contemporary art, evokes the most heated debates after a couple of drinks. Only yesterday was I at an event where such a debate took place: ‘If I like it and it makes me want to look at it all the time, who are the art professionals to say it isn’t good art?... Why do they think they can put a price on a work of art and deem some valuable or others not?… No one should be able to tell me what is or isn’t art, I don’t care if I paid a lot of money and it’s not worth anything if I like it…’. I often find myself ducking out of the question why something is called art or not and needless to say, I was desperate to move away from the topic. Pushed for an answer and having gone down the route of ‘How familiar are you with the artist’s work?’, ‘Have they had an exhibition?’ and ‘What is the story behind the work?’ I realised it was not helping the matter, so I tried to make an analogy with bags. Some brands are more expensive than others, but no one ever seems to question the difference in price between a Burberry and a Primark bag.

It is impossible to debate taste, this is out of the question, but when it comes to buying a work of art, I suggest exploring the field before making a purchase. Go and see what is out there, learn about different mediums and styles and get to know emerging artists. More than anything I think it is important to understand why you want to buy art. Is it for investment, to support the arts and artists in general, or is it for mere decoration? If you are looking for a work of a specific size and colour to go with your sofa you may merely be looking at the decorative element and not interested in starting a collection or engaging with artists. As soon as you’ve determined why you want to buy art and whether you want to build a collection around certain styles, topics, or values for example, it makes the buying process a lot easier.

Now that we are easing out of lockdown, museums and galleries have opened again and are giving us the wonderful opportunity to see physical art. Even though a lot of effort was made through online viewing rooms at art fairs or beautiful details of pictures on galleries’ websites or artists’ Instagram accounts, nothing beats being up close with art. Seeing how sculptures are carved, textiles manipulated or paints applied to a canvas can be mesmerising and can evoke many emotions.

Someone once said that falling in love with a piece of art and feeling butterflies when you see something that really resonates with you may sound silly, but I can totally understand this. I have felt joy and sadness seeing certain works, the beauty of some making me want to cry. But also feeling totally confused, repulsed, and upset by certain artworks. The most memorable reaction for me was after seeing the exhibition Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1997. Having viewed the works by Jake and Dinos Chapman I had to sit down in the next room (luckily there was the opportunity) and wait for a little while to digest what I had seen as I couldn’t take in any more at that point.

Ideally the art that you buy will give you happy emotions; you’ll want to look at it when you get up and before you go to bed. Remember that when buying a work for your home, you need to make sure you want to live with it. Not all art that you appreciate is suitable or appropriate to have in your home; you may want to go and see it a couple of times before purchasing. Early on I bought works that I loved at first sight, not knowing much about the artist, and maybe only having seen a few other works alongside it but speaking from experience I would recommend taking time.

If you are looking to support emerging artists, find out about their background. Did they go to art school, does their work convey a message, what inspired them to make this work and how does it fit in with the rest of their oeuvre?  Perhaps you can go and meet the artist in their studio and hear their story. Since the start of the pandemic many more artists are feeling more comfortable connecting with collectors and showing them their studio, whether virtual or in real life. The pandemic has changed working practices and ways of selling and I applaud that there is more focus on the artists and their studios. I do hope moving forward we continue to connect with artists in this way. Not only will it help collectors connect with the maker but also with the art itself. It is fascinating to see the various genres and styles and the more you see the more it becomes clear to you what you are drawn to.

If you are still exploring and looking for what you may want to focus on in your collection, now is the time to go out and see shows. There are some wonderful exhibitions in Manchester and further afield and they will give you an opportunity to explore your own emotions. The Manchester Art Gallery is showing Grayson’s Art Club (until 21 October), an exhibition that came out of the weekly Art Club that Grayson Perry started in April 2020. He believed art would help to get us through the crisis and he set a theme for each week, animals, fantasy, portraits etc. The exhibition is a joyful and poignant representation of our COVID year. In years to come we will look back at works made during the pandemic and see the pictorial elements of COVID-19 or Black Lives Matter, of feminism or being confined due to lockdown. Many collectors are already dedicating their collections to underrepresented artists as a way to embody their values and museums have started to collect specific COVID related works.

Other current exhibitions are Look, Listen, Make Things by Bob and Roberta Smith at The Harris in Preston (until 2 October) and Lucian Freud in Focus at the Tate in Liverpool (24 July – 16 January).  And if you are interested in visiting an artist’s studio or would like to hear my opinion of a work of art you’ve seen, please do get in touch.

This article was written for Salutions Magazine Group, July 2021.

Petra van den Houten, founder of The Art PA, has over 25 years of experience in the art world and has advised collectors, and worked with artists, worldwide.