The Beginning Buyer’s Guide to Art

Gallery owner Diane Nelson still recalls her amazement at hearing a group of eat-’em-alive Wall Street financiers confess that they were intimidated by the idea of buying art.

“With your background and your ability, you find my line of work scary?” she asked.

Sure, they answered.

Where do you start?

The prospect of buying that first serious piece of art can reduce even the toughest among us to a knot of insecurity. Part of that is natural--we often feel intimidated by what we are unfamiliar with. Even a Philistine knows that investing in art is a more sophisticated process than simply buying something to go with the couch.

Much of that intimidation also comes from the thought of looking--and sounding--foolish when we walk into a real gallery where people in avant-garde clothes are speaking in hushed tones about oeuvres and schools and minimalist purity.

That old notion of the art gallery as an elitist enclave is, thankfully, out of date.

The advent of such chains as Martin Lawrence Galleries has made art more accessible. These galleries are located in buyer-friendly atmospheres like shopping malls, they introduced easy payment plans that can put five-figure art within the reach of even modest income earners, and they have filled their light, airy spaces with non-threatening works by artists with highly recognized names.

To help clients understand what they are viewing, Martin Lawrence Galleries created 20-minute videos featuring artists talking about their work. The Upstairs Gallery makes house calls, bringing three or four pieces of art to a client’s home to see how they complement the surroundings.

But some would-be art collectors are looking for a more individual piece of art than they might find in a chain.

Diane Nelson opened her Laguna Beach gallery five years ago to answer just such a need.

“I owned a poster gallery for six years and I found I was selling more and more contemporary fine art posters,” she explains. “I was in constant dialogue with these people, who often said that they were buying posters because they hadn’t been able to find something by a fine artist that was affordable to them. Many seemed to be wanting to invest in an original piece of artwork for a few thousand dollars.”

Gallery owners like Nelson stress that there is nothing more exciting than to have someone who confesses to being a beginner enter their realm. Most art professionals regard the education of new collectors as part of their mission since their businesses can hardly thrive without them.

Small independent galleries in general tend to be more art- than business-oriented, so sales pressure is minimal. They are also more likely to be staffed by professionals with art backgrounds rather than salespeople with art briefing books.

If you are up front about being a beginner, those who are sincere about grooming potential collectors will be happy to answer your questions without expecting you to buy on the spot.

If you don’t know where to start before purchasing a work of art, ask about the artist’s background--education, shows, critical reviews. Then ask what the gallery’s criteria were for choosing to show the artist’s work.

Because galleries can give exposure to only a fraction of the number of working artists, the power of art galleries to make or break a career may seem enormous. Yet the criteria they use for selecting which artists to represent can ultimately save serious collectors a lot of legwork.

Focus on individual pieces. What is the artist trying to say? How is he or she trying to say it? Ask about the artist’s technique and the medium used. What exactly is a watercolor? Mixed media? How does a serigraph differ from a lithograph?

Indeed, the world of these “multiples” is as fascinating as it is treacherous. While the process can put the works of name artists into the hands of beginning collectors for a fraction of the price of one of their original works, the opportunity for fraud is boundless. Over 1,600 fake lithographs were seized at various Upstairs Gallery locations last September, and authorities have discovered more than $1-billion worth of phony Salvador Dali prints alone since 1980.

Even if the work is authentic, the artist’s involvement with the piece may be minimal. While some artists oversee every step of the process, often mixing the colors or inking the plates themselves, others turn the process over to assistants. Some prints are even produced after the artist’s death. Dali was notorious for signing blank sheets of paper that would later carry his lithographs.

A gallery should be able to specify the nature of the artist’s involvement with each print it carries and guarantee it in writing. Because the extent of that involvement is crucial to the “uniqueness” factor of each piece of work, some artists like Melanie Taylor Kent are adding an original small drawing at the bottom of their serigraphs to show that the print was definitely “handled” by the artist.

Numbered editions are no guarantee that the number of prints available is finite. Marc Chagall, for example, sometimes numbered one edition with Arabic numerals and another edition of the same print with Roman numerals. Ask about the true size of the edition and the possibilities of future editions being produced.

Inquiring about the price of a piece of artwork is hardly gauche, but because many people feel uncomfortable doing so, prices are usually posted. Chain galleries will post two prices next to each artwork: the cost of the piece framed and unframed. Private galleries often prefer to leave a printed price list lying around, rather than post the prices next to the pieces themselves, so that browsers can enjoy the art without feeling they have to buy. A red dot beside the price means the piece has already been sold.

Be wary of a sales pitch that touts the work of an obscure artist as a guaranteed investment. No reputable dealer would presume to predict the investment potential of any piece of art, preferring instead to stress its artistic merits alone.

Good-quality original art does not have to break the bank. For the same price as a print by a “name” artist--$1,000 to $2,000--it’s possible to buy an original artwork by a recognized regional artist.

Pricing parameters for each artist depend on such factors as the artist’s reputation, the number of museum shows and the selling capacity of his or her work.

For any given artist, however, oil on canvas is usually priced higher than works on paper. In turn, original works on paper such as watercolors and drawings are more expensive than multiples. And although art is hardly sold by the square inch, a small original might sell for less than a larger piece in the same medium if both works are from the same period in the artist’s development.

Much of the inventory of a contemporary gallery is on consignment from the artists; the gallery takes from 30% to 70% commission on sales and pays the remainder to the artist. Those figures may seem a little steep, but it costs a gallery to promote the artists it represents through publicity, printed materials and catalogues, framing and gallery receptions.

Part of the pleasure of collecting contemporary art is the chance to talk with the artist who created the pieces you’re buying. You can arrange this either by attending a show opening or making an appointment to meet at the artist’s studio.

“Many times people are afraid to speak to artists, but I’m always so pleased if my work touches someone and they want to talk about it,” says Roberta Eisenberg, who creates large, moody canvases in her Santa Ana studio. “If you like the work, say ‘I like your work--tell me about it’ or ‘I’m new at this but I’m very interested.’ No artist would be disdainful of that.”

Artists such as Eisenberg who have gallery representation understand the importance of establishing such personal relationships. But although they may welcome visitors to their studios, they won’t undermine gallery pricing by selling directly to a collector for a lower price.

Although some galleries may occasionally represent complete unknowns, it is rare.

“You look for a certain amount of maturity in an artist’s style,” says Steve Gillette, assistant director of the Diane Nelson Gallery. “Someone who has just graduated from art college tends to have those influences clearly evident in their work, which hasn’t developed its own voice yet.”

Still, if the thrill of playing patron of the arts intrigues you there are opportunities to discover new talent and promising works at modest prices if you know what you’re buying.

Respected art schools are the spawning grounds for the artistic geniuses of tomorrow. Most community colleges have galleries to showcase the work of graduate students, and both Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine have highly respected gallery spaces.

Check the newspapers for listings of juried exhibitions. Here you will be guided by the collective judgment of the artists’ peers and superiors, although such judgments are not always infallible.

The Newport Harbor Art Museum’s “New California Artists” exhibit features virtual unknowns who have been discovered by the museum’s California Century Club, composed of 100 art lovers and collectors who visit local galleries and studios in search of promising work. The Orange County Center for Contemporary Art showcases the work of unknown Orange County artists at its Hutton Center satellite gallery.

New collectors are usually well-advised to avoid auctions, but the annual fall fund-raiser at the Laguna Art Museum is a safe place to start if you have a gambler’s heart and a small budget. Over 100 Southern California artists--from well-knowns to unknowns--are invited to donate a piece of art for auction. Sharp-eyed collectors have walked away with extraordinary deals.

The trick, of course, is to develop an eye for art. “Art is one of those fields in which everyone has an opinion but rarely do they have cultivated taste or a set of objective standards for evaluating art,” explains artist Tim Jahns, who directs the educational programs at the Irvine Fine Arts Center.

Learning to understand art, honing an aesthetic sense and cultivating taste is a gradual process. The best education is to look at art. A lot of it.

“The educational process is not something that you should do in order to leap into the art market but because it gives you joy,” says Jahns. “It’s not a question of purchasing art--it’s having an art experience.”

Museums are the depositories of the finest examples of art available, and their free docent tours can give valuable insights into understanding the pieces you are viewing. Attend as many gallery exhibits as possible and compare what the critics had to say about them with how you felt.

Most community colleges offer courses in art appreciation or aesthetics. Jahns recommends courses in art history and contemporary art to develop an educated eye and reducing the fear of entering a gallery. “It can make a great difference to go in with a certain amount of knowledge and a grasp of the vocabulary,” he says.

Orange County’s museums and municipal fine art centers offer a broad series of classes and lectures for would-be collectors who want to learn about the contemporary art market and make more informed decisions when purchasing art.

Even galleries are putting together educational programs. The Works Gallery in Long Beach, which recently opened it Works Gallery South at the Crystal Court in South Coast Plaza, has broken new ground by offering serious outreach programs.

“We have always tried to focus the gallery on the neophyte collector by putting education above all else,” says owner Mark Moore. “I’m a firm believer that the more you know about something the more chance you have of passionately participating in it.”

Among the gallery’s offerings are a twice-yearly art lecture series, panel discussions with respected professionals from the art world and organized tours to artists’ studios.

Most art consultants have an enormous library of slides and museum catalogues, a network of contacts in the art world and a thorough working knowledge of the market. “An art consultant can help a client identify the kind of artworks they may want to collect more quickly,” explains Newport Beach-based consultant Miriam Smith.

Every frame shop and poster store in the phone book offers art consultation, but these people are rarely in a position to offer qualified insights. Arts organization and museums provide names of independent consultants in the area.

Highly qualified consultants can charge from $60 to $150 an hour for consultation, but Smith says if a client has a strict budget the consultant will probably not charge a fee but just receive a percentage of the sales. For $10,000, she adds, “you would be working more with artists of West Coast reputation,” she explains.

Even with the assistance of a consultant, however, experts advise that the best way to start collecting seriously is by not buying anything at all for the first year.

“My recommendation is that people not be anxious to buy so quickly,” says Jahns, “that they be patient and get a feel for the variety of the market, what’s authentic and what isn’t, what’s good and bad, what’s schlock and what’s serious. Cultivate your instincts about what you really like and what will hold up over time.”