Hey all, just wondering if anyone here has a few aboriginal artworks and which artists you have in your collection. I have quite a few myself including paintings from Lily Napangardi, Gloria Petyarre, Willy Tjungarrai, Naparula, Gracie Morton Pwerle, Tjapaltjari, Kudditji among oithers. I try to buy as large as possible as they are the ones which are in demand therefore inflating the value. Interested to hear what you think of this type of art as an investment.
Can i ask what prices roughly you have bought these at and how much they have increased? Or what profit you have made?
Hey Ned, The most I paid for one of these paintings was $450 which was for a 90cmx170cm Tjungurrayi. I know the gallery prices are hugely inflated but I have seen similar styles in similar styles by the same artist for thousands. I believe I could make a profit if I sold them but I really bought them as I have an avid interest in aboriginal arts, I simply love the paintings and they look nice with the decor. I think I understand what you are getting at though. They are not currently making me money and won't until I sell. Abit like my PM's I guess. I am looking into leasing them and about to sell a few so we'll soon see how much I actually make on them.
And also, they have increased fractionally in the last 24months, and a few price hikes on some works by artists who have passed away.
Interesting investment vehicle but my knowledge of art in general is not sufficient for me to dip my toes in and the way art is has a sentimental/non-tangible value (more so than most investments I know sentiment influences them all) put's me off. Having said that I know a lot of people make big money on these sorts of investments (including stamps etc.) and now would seem to be a good time to buy as holders of expensive collectibles may be under financial pressure and selling "cheap" as long as you can hold them until the global economy picks up and these things become more desired again.
While i do not have any, I like some indigenous art and intend to get some at some point. I got interested mainly as a result of the recent Santos Aboriginal art exhibition that they held around the traps. Some great stuff there. As you said, galleries have huge prices on some of the stuff that i like and i'm sure that they are not paying the artists anywhere near what they are looking for them. Thanks for the names, will have a look for them.
I have picked up a few over the years... Abie Loy Kemarre is probably the most expensive at $700 for a large ish piece called 'Women's Body Paint' similar to and many others she has done just like it... EXTREME CLOSE UP I have a few Mitjili Narapulla similar to One I gave away to my folks when they came to visit, that was about $400, the other, a smaller piece from eBay was about $200. She does a lot of work that looks very similar but comes in every colour combination under the sun and sure to find something to match your living room colour scheme! I have a Koonarang Nunccal, "The Devil's Marbles" he uses limestone in his work for a great textured finish and I have not see that anywhere else That is one of my favourites! The only one I am allowed to hang in the home though is a Gloria Petyarre "Medicine Leaves", and the frame cost more than the painting did, the frame was $250, the art $190 Once again this is a motif repeated in all her work which is available in any colour combination. I love the pictures but some are a bit hit or miss. Sometimes they look like they are moving, I thought they reminded me of sea anemones so I got one in red and blue, only a small one but really well done and only a few smudges! I love the pictures but as an investment I do not think they are much good. You need to go big as eBay has hundreds of the smaller canvases. Small canvases sell for about $200 and there are at least 50 for each artist. The larger ones sell in the galleries in Sydney and I guess they must be after the tourist dollar as they have $6000 price tags for Mitjilli and Gloria. The overseas art market doesn't care for Aboriginal art in general and that is where the big money is. Without them you will not be likely to get big money. Imagine if Constable painted the Hay Wain 500 times and flogged them all on eBay. Prices would not be that high. I think there was a big push for Aboriginal art in Europe in the 80s, artists tours etc. but nothing ever came of it. Much of the art readily available is mass market, almost factory produced. The main artists are very repetitive, often having one or two pictures they reproduce ad infinitum, their family members tend to copy their style and also produce large volumes of very similar art works. Unless Aboriginal Art can move away from the perception of "dot Paintings on boomerangs made in China for the tourists" they won't be taken seriously by the Northern Hemisphere. Good for me though, I can get art I like very cheaply!
I don't buy it. I'd have to meet the artist and feel conviction that he is really into it. And that's not likely to happen.
Koonarang has a facebook page! I have chatted to him a bit about his art. Not so much the others, I have a feeling that they sit in a big un-airconditioned shed somewhere up north churning out canvases day and night for about $1 each while an agent drops off a stack of canvases and some buckets of paint once a month and takes all the art to the galleries in Sydney. Some of the art I see down the markets, Charlie Chambers in Brisbane and some of the local aboriginies in Redcliffe etc. represent themselves and they are happy to talk all day about their work. Charlie Chambers is pretty good for the more dotty / animal paintings. The guy down at Redcliffe is not my taste though.
For investment purposes though, some of Kurun Warun's work is about $7000+ to buy and rents out at $210 per week. For SMSF you can buy art and lease it out, not a bad way of generating income out of the art but it is very subjective and if no one but you likes it you could end up not having the pleaseure out of it and not getting any money. Of course, if the value of the painting is less that 5% of your SMSF you can rent it out to yourself at the market rate. So you get to enjoy it and you get to increase the value of the SMSF, I would just take a photo of it and sneak peeks at it now and then.
Done on paper bark, most of the museums and state art galleries that I have been to generally have paperbark rather than canvas and acrylics for their collections. I have no idea though, I assume you have already googled all the writing on the back of the painting.
Let me know how that goes! I think that you would go through a gallery, they would advise you what to buy (or if they think you are a mug they will sell you whatever they have sitting on the shelf in a back room) and then they would offer it for lease on their website, I have seen a few of these websites but none of the art is anything that I would want to hang on my wall and all looked pretty poor. I am looking at an Australian artist who I really like, eSuperfund probably won't let me have any investment art unless I have already got it set up to lease etc. I must find out.
It is true, many artists mass produce small to medium sized paintings which are a lousy investments. Alot of the time it's not the artist but the representatives using them by selling their works for a premium and some of the artist can see as little as 5% of the profit made. This is being stopped but is still happening. It is also true, that the larger pieces, 1m+ x 1m+ are the more investment grade works and the quality is important. Also make sure you have a COA from reputable dealers/reps/galleries. Progressive photos of the artist painting the item are desired and some offer a dvd with footage of them in action. There are alot of sellers especially on ebay who may have a legit painting but the COA is questionable so when you go to resell you may have some problems. Here are a few well known gallery websites if you would like to get a feel for the work and learn a little bit more. www.aboriginalartshop.com (formerly Artlandish.com) www.aboriginalartgalleries.com.au www.kateowengallery.com www.mbantua.com.au
There was an article in AHA Magazine about leasing out artworks a few editions back. Hmmm, will have to look for it.
Interesting reading,i had a group of Koori's stay with us some years ago that were studying at Deakin,one of them was supposed to have artwork displayed in Richard Bransons Office in the UK. Anyway i convinced him to do a dot painting for me on canvas,took him all day,paid him $300 from memory and have had many Koori elders say its the best they have seen,must dig it out and research the painter,he wrote a story on the back of the canvas and signed it,could be sitting on 500 ounces of silver
