artists collecting and hobbies

1. A famous collectors secrets
2. Art as an investment
3. Starving Artists
4. Collecting color posters
5. ONLINE GALLERY AUCTIONS
6. Art and Photography by Talo at Loxly Gallery

• Pursue formal study. This is one way, but it's not the only way.
• LQQk at art. This is the best way to develop your taste. Go to galleries. Look in museums, but be selective. There are too many museums today. Their experts who select what's to hang aren't infallible. Visit New York City, the current art capital of the world.
• Never stop learning. There is always more to know.

• Unknown painters: Buy someone you have never heard of before. This is especially good if you don't have much money. Names that are unfamiliar could turn out to be popular after a while.
• Noninvestments: Don't think of art as an investment. People should buy art because it's good for them and fulfills them. If art is meaningful to people, their judgment is likely to be sound, and then art could turn out to be a good investment.
• Individuals, not schools: Painters are individuals.
• Be skeptical: A lot of expensive, phony art masquerades as art.

• Consultants: Banks are charging 2% for their services as investment counselors on art. It's better to pay attention to an art critic whom you trust.
• Dealers: No matter how informed you become, a smart, honest dealer is important.
• Local exhibitions: There are good painters everywhere in the country.

The key to success is knowledge about art and the market. Knowledgeable collectors who follow their own intuition and buy what they like usually do better than investors who follow elaborate strategies.

Most experts agree that investors should never invest more than 10% of their assets in the art market. And art should be a long-term investment. Plan to keep an item for at least five years to get the best return. To learn the market:

• Visit dealers. Prices of comparable items can vary.
• Attend auctions. Dealers usually set their prices according to current auction prices.
• Subscribe to auction catalogs. Auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's annually publish prices brought by major items sold during the year.
• Online Gallery Auctions

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• Consult with experts. Museum curators, dealers, and art scholars can be very helpful, especially in assessing the work of lesser-known painters. Most will give free advice about a specific work. Never make a major purchase without consulting an expert.

For a knowledgeable collector, auctions present an advantage -- comparable items can often be bought for less than from a dealer. Primary advice: Buy what you like, but buy quality -- the best examples that you can find and afford.

• Because of the preference for oil paintings in today's art market, drawings and sculpture are better buys.
• Less popular subjects -- some portraits, animals, religious paintings, violent subjects -- are often less expensive.
• Paintings that are under or over the most popular size (two feet by three feet to three feet by four feet) tend to cost less.
• Works of western art that are not attributed or authenticated can be cheap, but they are bad investments. A work with an authentic signature and date is always worth more than one without them.

At least 120,000 people in this country think of themselves as serious artists. Among them, fewer than 500 will ever see their works appreciate in value. Most of these artists are either very well known and very expensive or reasonably well known and reasonably expensive.

Works by artists who have not yet received the recognition they merit are affordable now and might appreciate in value. These artists are likely to be included in group exhibitions but may not have been shown alone. In private galleries, their paintings may sell for $5,000-$20,000 and their drawings for $250-$1,500. If the artist does not have a dealer, as the more famous artists do, you might be able to save 50% -- the dealer's commission -- by buying directly.

Large quality paintings by relatively unknown artists can be found for as little as $900. If you choose well, you can get a significant work of art, help support a deserving artist and, if you are very lucky, watch your work's value escalate.

Subscribe to every art publication available: Here are two excellent ways to use them.

• LQQk at the pictures and tabulate the number of times a certain painter or work of art is mentioned. Do the same with museum catalogs for both US and European museums. (European museums are more experimental and adventurous.) If you find an artist mentioned five times and a work of art mentioned three times, buy it if you can. The art world is very different from the stock market. A stockmarket insider who gives someone a tip can go to jail, but a person who gives tips in the art world is feted.
• Study the critical articles. New quality art creates its own rules and violates the old rules. Look for critics who make the most sense and help you see a painting in a new way. Then take their advice.

Listen to the hype about new painters. If the hype works, believe it. "Hype" is derived from the Greek word meaning "beyond." It implies exaggeration. Many people use the word derogatorily. However, most people in the art world are hyperenthusiastic. Few convince the public at large, so if they do, it is because the work is truly appealing.

Once an embryonic art collector identifies the best hype and the most enthusiastic reporting about art in publications, he/she should be ready to buy.

• Buy quickly. Get to the gallery before the show opens. (Shows are announced in the art magazines. You must be quick because there are many, many more art patrons than there are good artists.)
• Enthuse. If you can't buy, still say the artist is sensational, and be willing to wait until a work by the artist becomes available.
• If you like an artist in a top gallery who is not a superstar, buy his work anyway. After you buy enough, the gallery owner may offer you its top artist.
• When you discuss price, ask two questions: "Is there a discount?" (Whether there is or not, say, "Wonderful.") "Can I have time to pay it off?" (Never pay cash for what the gallery owner is willing to finance.) This second tactic may lead to a buying spree. Caution: If you buy on time, always pay precisely on the agreed-upon date. Most people -- even the wealthiest -- do not. And you want the gallery owner to be able to rely on you.
• If possible, have a nice home to show the work off well. A gallery owner's job is to spread the artist's name as widely as possible. If you exhibit the work in a handsome setting, you become a living advertisement for the artist and the dealers.
• Invite the artist to look at the painting in the new setting. Ask him/her to bring a friend. (Usually he will bring a critic.) Ask a lot of questions, including, "Who's new that you like?" (You have to be careful with this one, because the artist may suggest his/her lover.) (smile)
• When you get a quality piece of art, broadcast it. Then it will act as a magnet for others to offer you quality paintings.
• Save a great deal of your money for the secondary market. That means buying from other owners, not directly from the gallery. One great painting bought in the secondary market -- which is more accessible -- can attract pieces from the primary market.
• Be a sucker and pay "too high" prices at times. Other people will then try to take advantage of you, and you will be offered a lot of quality art. In truth, dealers can't ask very much beyond a certain known range for any artist.
• Donate a piece to a museum. It gets you well known as a collector. Besides its minor tax advantage, it also increases your reputation as a collector.

Rent a painting for a few months to see if you really want to live with it before making a permanent financial commitment. Most art museums offer this option for the works of local painters. Object: To help prospective buyers develop their taste in art while giving painters exposure in the community. Rates: Usually 10% of the purchase price for a three-to six month trial.

German artists turned out the finest posters from 1900 to World War I. Leading light: Ludwig Hohlwein, who did posters for clothing stores and theatrical events and a famous series for the Munich zoo.

The work of French artist A. M. Cassandre stood out during the period between the two world wars. His most popular contributions:

The Nord Express and other train posters done between 1925 and 1932. His widely reproduced and imposing Normandie was completed in 1936

Posters of note since World War II include those of Ben Shahn and the San Francisco rock posters of the 1960s.

The categories for collectors encompas circus, theater, ballet, movies, music halls and both world wars. Best buys: Automobile posters (except those for American cars, which are not of very good quality). Star: The Peugeot poster by French artist Charles Loupot.

Posters in constant demand: Those connected to avant-garde art that combine strong typographic design with photomontage. Rare finds: Work from the 1920s associated with the Bauhaus, the Dada movement and Russian Constructivism. Constructivist film posters made in 1925-31 usually measure about 40 inches by 28 inches. Classic example: Any of the few advertising the film The Battleship Potemkin.

Beginners should look at Japanese posters made from the mid-1970s to the present. Also recommended: Post-World War II Swiss posters for concerts and art exhibits.

Best: Stick to recent foreign posters made in limited editions and not distributed beyound their place of origin.

Poster condition: Creases and small tears in the margin are acceptable. Faded posters are undesirable. (The quality standards are not quite as stringent for posters as they are for prints.)