Can auction records be helpful in figuring out what to pay for a work of art?  Of course they can be.  Can they also be a buyer’s worst enemy and a deterrent from successfully figuring out what to pay for a work of art? Absolutely and more often than not, price records are a disastrous tool for novice collectors and occasional buyers in the art market.

Auction records are a useless reference unless you also have the guidance and advice of an art expert to help you interpret the results. You can easily overpay for a work because of them or lose out on a great work because you rely too heavily on the results and don’t understand the artist’s market, periods, condition and many other factors. We are finding an increasing number of individuals who are making bad investments in art or are passing on great buys due to an inability to analyze the data and understand that the data exists within a larger context.

Current Auction Myths

Ten or so years ago dealers created the bulk of auction prices.  Today, especially on higher end items, it is inexperienced one or two time buyers creating the price.

These new values are often regretted mistakes and reappear within a few years to the market.

Many art buyers begrudge dealers a profit these days and seem to forget that the auction house is taking well over 30% profit and that the seller is also profiting as well.

Our advice:

Consult price records but then get the advice and perspective of an expert to explain that particular artist’s history to you. Good art experts can provide a quick and often surprising analysis that fills in around what we call a skeleton of info in the records.

Remember that almost all great collections and purchases were made by collectors who had an art dealer who mentored and advised them.  The buyers themselves also had a strong sense of what they were looking for but the collaboration of the two made for wise, sophisticated and well grounded purchases.