The Groove 232 - Is Art a Good Investment? Yes, But Not in the Way You Think
Welcome to the 232nd issue of The Groove.
I am Maria Brito, an art advisor, curator, and author based in New York City.
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IS ART A GOOD INVESTMENT? YES, BUT NOT IN THE WAY YOU THINK
René Magritte, Empire of Light, 1954, sold for $121 million at Christie’s New York in November 2024. This painting came from the collection of designer and philanthropist Mica Ertegun. She bought it in 1968 after paying a price in the mid-five-figures to the Byron Gallery in New York.
Ask any serious collector why they buy art, and you’ll get a cocktail of reasons: beauty, curiosity, legacy, ambition, pleasure, status.
Ten years and a few auctions later, ask the same collector, and you’ll often hear: “It ended up being a smart investment.”
That’s the paradox of collecting: the best returns usually come to those who weren’t chasing them. But that doesn’t mean the financial side doesn’t matter. It does. It always has.
The question isn’t: “Is art a good investment?”
It’s: “What kind of investment is it, and who’s actually equipped to benefit from it?”
Art as Asset: Powerful, But Different
Art isn’t like stocks. There are no quarterly earnings, no cap rates, no public benchmarks.
What there is: scarcity, connoisseurship, cultural cachet, and increasingly more and more data.
But none of those guarantee liquidity. And none of them eliminate volatility.
Art is best understood as a store of value with identity benefits and an asymmetric upside. It’s emotional and strategic at once. That’s what makes it both compelling and complicated.
As economist Clare McAndrew notes: art returns are increasingly framed around “self-focused motivations” of identity, pleasure and legacy, rather than cold ROI.
But that doesn’t mean collectors are naive. Many of them understand that collecting well is a long game, and that market cycles can’t always be timed. They hedge against illiquidity by building relevance, relationships, and reputation.
Collecting Is Psychological Before It’s Financial
James Delbourgo, in his forthcoming book A Noble Madness, traces the emotional roots of collecting, from Cicero’s critique of Verres’s lascivious object-amassing in ancient Rome, to Balzac’s fictional collector Cousin Pons, who hoards beauty because he can’t cope with real life.
Freud (who collected antiquities obsessively) famously said, “All giving is asking, and all asking is an asking for love.”
So yes, collecting is psychological. It’s intimate. And when driven by pure speculation, it almost always disappoints.
“I thought that artist was going to blow up” is one of the most expensive sentences in collecting. Without real conviction or understanding, most hyped buys quietly disappoint.
In contrast, the collectors who commit to a vision, who follow artists closely, who collect with curiosity and taste usually do just fine, even when the market dips.
The Real Risk Isn’t That Art Will Lose Value, It’s That You’ll Buy Poorly
Let’s be honest: not all art is investment-grade. In the past 15 years, the market has been flooded with speculation. Instagram darlings. Trophy flips. Every one of those bubbles left a trail of “collectors” who never understood what they were buying, or why.
But that’s not a failure of art. It’s a failure of discernment. True value in art is built on historical weight, cultural resonance, rarity, and support.
It’s also built on knowing when not to buy. On passing when the market is frothy. On knowing what it means when something is “museum quality” vs clever marketing.
As an advisor, I’ve always told clients: don’t just chase the price. Chase the narrative. Because the art that holds and grows over time isn’t always the flashiest.
It’s the work that means something to the world, not just the room it’s hanging in.
Art Is a Good Investment. But It’s a Better One When It’s Personal
Is art a good investment?
Yes, when it’s backed by knowledge, guided by long-term thinking, and grounded in real interest.
No, when it’s driven by FOMO, hype, or blind speculation.
Art isn’t a program trading algorithm. It’s a living and breathing ecosystem. It’s tied to culture, institutions, taste, politics, and time. It doesn’t always behave like other assets.
But for those who understand this and who buy smart, stay curious, and build relationships, art can be a deeply rewarding piece of both your portfolio and your identity.
Just don’t forget: returns come in many forms.
Some are financial. Others are felt in your gut, your soul, or the eyes of the next generation.
The smartest collectors I know don’t choose between those; they collect for both.