Source: LT Art.
What do you do if you want to invest in art, but you have a budget of £10,000 or less? There are several ways you can start collecting art without breaking the bank.
Purchase an Artwork by a Contemporary, Cutting-Edge Artist
If you’re looking to purchase a piece of art for less than £10,000, you might want to look at some promising artists who have not yet gained significant attention within the mainstream market. A great way to find these artists is through art galleries, art fairs or online marketplaces including London Trade Art.
It’s important to research the artist’s previous exhibitions, residencies, awards and collectors, both institutional and private, to get a better understanding of their potential. The more international exhibitions they’ve participated in, the higher their potential.
If you’d like to learn more about how to research an artist’s background, check out our ABCs of Art Evaluation.
Laura Santamaria, Blue (Series of Pluto’s surface), 2019, Pigments and minerals on paper, 42 x 29.7 cm
Purchase a Limited-Edition Print, Etching or Drawing by a Well-Known Artist
If you’d like to own a work by a major artist, then purchasing a collectable print or multiple is the most affordable option. Limited-edition prints and multiples can range from a series of two to thousands.
As you may not be the first owner of the work, you need to first and foremost make sure that its condition is pristine, in order to secure your investment. If you buy them from a trusted seller, you can trace their origins and trust their source.
One reason to invest in a print or multiple is that it is quite low in risk. Prices of edition remain fairly stable, as they trade with relative frequency in the market. Erica Samuels, an independent art advisor at Samuels Creative & Co., stresses the importance of research when it comes to selecting a print, and while she understands that many prefer to own canvases, artists are often creating the same things on paper (CNN, ‘The right way to add art to your investment portfolio’).
“There are some artists who are very expensive but their drawings are much less… Buy the drawing, enjoy it, let its value change. Then trade up.” – Erica Samuels, as quoted in CNN, ‘The right way to add art to your investment portfolio’.
You can also find prints and multiples through online marketplaces such as London Trade Art. Browse our selection here.