WHAT MAKES CERTAIN ARTWORKS HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE?
BLUE CHIP ARTWORKS AT [CONTAINER]
WHAT MAKES CERTAIN ARTWORKS HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE?
BLUE CHIP ARTWORKS AT [CONTAINER]
While artwork enriches collectors’ daily lives aesthetically and intellectually, artworks that meet certain criteria can also prove a wise investment vehicle.
Rarity of an artwork is a major factor in creating incentive to collect. Unique works of art made by artists who have already passed and whose works were largely collected by museums and private collectors during their lifetime are inherently rare, making access to those works something that might not come again and should be taken advantage of. But a more affordable niche of highly collectible yet rare works of art is the limited edition print. Designed, signed, and numbered by the artist, limited editions are highly collectible works, yet at a lower price point.
Camille Claudel was a woman sculptor ahead of her time, in the early 1900s in France. She ended up being institutionalized by her family for the last 30 years of her life, but before she was, she destroyed the majority of her works. Only 90 works survived, most of which are in museums throughout the world, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Met, Art Institute of Chicago, Rodin Museum in Paris, Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, and Musee Camille Claudel. Rarely are her works available to private collectors.
Reputation of the artist Sometimes an artist gains esteem due to heroic actions for the public good. Shepard Fairey became a beloved artist in 2008, when he created the iconic Obama Hope image. He later created a suite of images carried by women during the 2016 national women’s march, and he has contributed monumental murals throughout the world. Due to Fairey’s notoriety as an activist for positive social change, his work has become widely sought after, and he is ranked by the 2024 Hiscox top 100 report as one of the 6 most collectible contemporary artists at the lower end of the blue chip price range.
Museum Exhibition History, curatorial and scholarly research Has the artwork (or is it about to be), featured in prestigious museums, private collections, or exhibitions at prominent galleries? If the artist has passed on, is the artwork or edition included in their definitive catalog raisonne? Agnes Martin, for instance, has stellar exhibition history, from her sell-out exhibition at Betty Parsons Gallery in New York, to solo exhibitions at the top museums in the world, including the Stedjlick, Guggenheim, MoMA, Whitney, et al. Numerous monographs have been written about Martin’s work and her role in heralding the beginning of American minimalism.
Camille Claudel was honored in 2024 with her first nationally touring exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. Alfred Jensen enjoyed two solo exhibitions of his works at the Guggenheim Museum, and Judy Chicago’s work is featured in its own permanent gallery in the Brooklyn
Museum, as well as recent retrospectives at The New Museum, Serpentine Galleries in London, and LUMA, Arles. Philip Guston’s works were recently the subject of an internationally acclaimed museum tour at Tate London, National Gallery of Art, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Ruscha and Baldessari are perennial museum stars.
Provenance of the artwork The trail of ownership from the artist through various owners to the present day helps establish the authenticity of the artwork as a bona fide creation of the respective artist. Provenance helps ensure the legality of ownership, protecting a collector from concerns of wartime theft or contested ownership. If notable collectors or institutions have owned the artwork, this provenance can enhance the value of particular works of art.
Historic significance Some artists and certain subject matter mark pivotal moments in history or shifts in human consciousness. Jeffrey Gibson made history as the first Indigenous artist to represent the US in the Venice Biennale. His artworks that reflect the strength and power of Indigenous culture are landmark works in his oeuvre. Robert Rauschenberg was a pioneer of artistic innovation, assembling print-based works on unexpected materials, featuring imagery that reflected the social issues of his day. Faith Ringgold, who died recently, blazed a trail as a highly successful Black woman artist who enjoyed a nationally touring museum retrospective during her lifetime. Ringgold’s work tells stories of her own and her ancestors’ lived experiences, laying bare truths often written out of history. Miriam Schapiro and Judy Chicago started the first Feminist Art Program in the United States, and Andres Serrano gained fame as the artist whose Piss Christ work became the center of senator Jesse Helmes’ war on art.
Perceived investment potential Throughout history, the artworld has marginalized women artists and artists of color. Artworks by these artists represent only a small fraction of museum collections, and museums are scurrying to rectify this inequity. Because their works were underrepresented in the mainstream, these artists’ prices did not accelerate at the same rate as those of their white male counterparts. As major museum curators stage exhibitions for these wildly talented and under valued artists such as Kerry James Marshal, Toyin Odutola, Virgil Ortiz, Judy Chicago, Jeanette Pasin Sloan, Alice Neel, Kara Walker, and Julie Mehretu, prices for their works will soar. But in the meantime, there is tremendous upside potential for private collectors who acquire their works.
Jeanette Pasin Sloan is an excellent case in point. Her early studio was her kitchen table after her children were asleep, where she painted reflections from her chrome toaster. Today, museums across the world are presenting exhibitions of works by artists like Pasin Sloan next to works by their more exposure-priviledged white male contemporaries such as (in Pasin Sloan’s case), Phillip Pearlstein. When this contrast is made, it is apparent that Pasin Sloan’s work is in most cases superior. Museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and others have already taken notice and added Pasin Sloan’s works to their collections.
Judy Chicago
Nine Fragments from the Delta of Venus, 2004 nine-color etching and aquatint print portfolio 17.75 x 17.75 x 1.5" box ed. 3/45
$28,000
Martin
Untitled, 1990
lithograph
13.75 x 13.75" framed ed. 2500
$1800
Judy Chicago
Through the Flower, 1991 serigraph on paper
34.63 x 34.13" framed ed. 57/100
$20500
mixed media on panel
Odutola
A Lapse in Judgement, 2012 lithograph 14 x 11.13" paper ed. of 20 $13500
Judy Chicago
Signing The Dinner Party, 2009-2012 lithograph 24 x 24" paper ed. 29/50
$7200
Judy Chicago
Yes, I am Black and Radiant from the Song of Songs, 1999 heliorelief and lithograph
25 x 42 x 1" framed ed. 1/30
$8000
Judy Chicago
Marie Antoinette 1973/2017, 1973/2017
four-color lithograph on cotton paper
x 28.25" framed ed. 16/20
$22,000
Bernd & Hilla Becher
Grain Elevators, 1978
gelatin silver prints, in ten parts
25 x 80" group framed unique
Howard Hodgkin Souvenir, 1981
screenprint on Arches aquarelle mould-made paper
52 x 62" framed ed. 68/100
$5500
Philip Guston Sky, 1980
lithograph, on HMP Koller transfer paper
29 x 38.75 x 2" framed ed. 36/50
$15,500
Philip Guston Rug, 1980
lithograph on Rives BFK paper
19.5 x 29" paper ed. 28/50
$14000
Philip Guston
Studio Forms, 1980
lithograph on Arches cover paper
36 x 46" framed ed. 75/100
$18,000
Judy Chicago
Mary Queen of Scots, 1973
lithograph
28 x 28" framed ed. 9/40
$25000
20.5 x 26.25" framed ed. 25/40
$12,500
Judy Chicago
Barney Place Setting Study, 1977 mixed media on paper mounted to panel
This piece has been acquired, plaster
casting 2002
6.25 x 10.25 x 5.5" ed. 1/8
Judy Chicago Into the Darkness, 2008 lithograph
26.5 x 26.5 x 1.5" framed ed. 36/50
$9900
Smith
Judy Chicago
The Crowning, 2010 lithograph 24 x 24" paper ed. PP 2/2
$7200
Christo and Jeanne-Claude Wrapped Bottle and Cans (project), 1958/2004 lithograph
20 x 17" framed ed. 5/200
$7000
$25,000
Camille Claudel
Rêve au coin du feu (Fireside Dream), 1905-1937 conceived 1899; bronze edition begun by Eugene Blot in 1905; finished in 1937
bronze and colored marble with functioning electric light
8.75 x 12.5 x 9.75" ed. of 65
$150,000
Serrano Piss Discus (Fluids Series), 1988 pigment print, back-mounted on dibond 34 x 24" framed ed. 10, 2 AP
$9500
Jose Bedia Almas del Naufragio , 1997 lithograph 26 x 36" unframed ed. 4/16
$2500
Jennifer Bartlett House, Dots, Hatches, 1999, 1999 screenprint on paper
38.25 x 38.25" paper ed. 150
$4000
$15000
Jacob Lawrence
Supermarket Flora, 1996
color screenprint on Rives BFK paper
30 x 22" paper ed. 24/108
$9500
Kara Walker Freedom, A Fable: A Curious Interpretation of the Wit of a Negress in Troubled Times, 1997 lithograph, laser-cut silhouettes
9.25 x 17” open ed. 4000
$10800
Martin Stedelijk Museum Portfolio, 1990 lithograph
13.75 x 13.75" framed ed. 2500
Judy Chicago
Through the Flower 2, 1973/2021 mixed media on glass with light box
$75,000
Andres Serrano
Red River 10: Art as Catalyst Alternative Museum Portfolio, 1992
screenprint
26 x 26" paper ed. 67/100
$1200
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Coyote (Petroglyph), 2009 serigraph
29 x 22" framed ed. 45/50
$3700
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Habitat Isn't Just for Wildlife, 2009 screenprint
37.25 x 28x 2" framed ed. 31/61
$1600
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Earth People, 2011
4-color lithograph
39 x 24.5 x 2" framed ed. 2/20
$18,500
John Baldessari
Three Moments, 1999
lithograph and silkscreen on Coventry Smooth paper
40 x 28" paper ed. PPI/60
$28,000
Claes Oldenburg
Geometric Mouse Pyramid as an Image of the Electoral System, Doubled, 1976
color lithograph on Arches Cover wove paper
40.5 x 31" framed ed. LP IMP2
$9000
40 x 31 x 2" framed ed. 43/90
Robert Rauschenberg Centennial Poster, 1969 offset lithograph 39 x 29.5" paper ed. open $750
Robert Rauschenberg Last Turn-Your Turn, 1991 lithograph 28 x 28 x 2" framed ed. 200 $12500
Robert Rauschenberg
Choices & Responsibilities, The UN World Population Conference, 1994
four color lithograph
40.75 x 29" paper ed. 55/200
$9000
Robert Rauschenberg
Tribute 21: Theater, 1994 lithograph
41 x 27" paper ed. 44/50
$12000
Faith Ringgold
Coming to Jones Road Under a Blood Red Sky, 2004 serigraph on paper
35 x 45" paper ed. 38/50
$POR
Shepard Fairey Wetland Powers, 2023 serigraph on wood
28 x 22" framed ed. 1/6
$3500
Jeffrey Gibson MIRROR IN THE SKY, 2023
screen print and collage on Arches archival paper
47.5 x 37.5 x 2" framed ed. 8/30
$34,000
Jeffrey Gibson Round Dancing, 2021 unique elk hide handmade drum with screenprint
25.75 x 25.75 x 4.5" framed ed. 12/24
$31,000
$POR
Camille Claudel
Abandon, 1905
model c. 1886-1888; reworked in 1905 for Blot edition (1905-1937)
sand cast bronze with brown patina and green nuances
17 x 16 x 7" sculpture ed. 13/25
$POR