Buying African Art for Investment

Nah, you must be kidding!

Buying art "for investment" doesn't make much sense, generally speaking. Art is routinely outperformed by dozens of other "investments." Even wine does better. If you want to double your money, buy oil shares.

One main problem is that unlike other commodities, Art with a capital A is hard to sell. You need to send it to auction (where you are at the mercy of bidders, and will shell out anything up to 25% in commission to the auctioneer) give it to a gallery (where it could sit for months or years) or put it on eBay (which is a bargain basement -- which is why we're all here, right?)  Otherwise, it's your garage on a Saturday morning.

Art is not easy to dispose of when you need your money back.

And over the long term, art markets fluctuate wildly. Your $50m van Gogh may not even get $30m a few years later, when Picasso and Renoir are all the rage.

Another problem: African tribal art in general is very hard to value in the first place! Most dealers, even so-called experts, think of a figure and double it. With European artists, we can check an auction track record, compare the size and quality of works and get some idea of what the market will pay for an item.  It's less random.

African tribal artists are all anonymous. No track record. What is the difference between the Chokwe figure that sold at Sotheby's for $50,000 and the similar-looking one on your shelf? Who is to judge the quality of art which was never meant to be beautiful, but rather to speak to the world of the spirits?

So here is some random advice:

• Don't consider the rarity or obscurity of the piece, whatever the dealer may say (and dealers can be very persuasive in marketing their wares!)  It is far more important to let the piece speak to you.  You have to know that you are going to love it.  Otherwise abstain.
• Don't let the dealer make your mind up for you by telling you how magnificent a piece is -- that's his job.  If you don't think it looks magnificent, don't buy it.
• Buy what you want to live with, what makes your heart sing.  That way, if you do sell it some way down the line, it will have repaid you a thousandfold by enriching your life during its stay with you.  So if your monetary profit is modest or nonexistent, you will still be infinitely the richer for the experience.
• The higher the price of an item, the stronger is the chance you will be disillusioned with your purchase.  If you are spending more than a few hundred dollars, think long and hard.
• Think about buying things other than masks and sculptures.  African tribal art expresses itself in many mediums that are way undervalued right now -- including basketwork, beadwork, pottery and objects made from ephemeral materials like wire, paper and raffia.  These lovely things can be picked up amazingly cheaply on eBay, and they express the soul of a continent just as much as the costliest gallery items.
• And don't ignore bronzes!  Bronze pieces, even modern work from Nigeria and Benin, is of astonishingly high quality.  Although most of it is strictly speaking a modern copy of an ancient form, there is surprisingly little difference between recent work and pieces hundreds of years old.  Bronzes are greatly undervalued right now and their aesthetic impact, once you have them in your home, is electrifying.
• Finally, don't be led by names -- "Chokwe," "Luba," "Dogon," Yaka" -- remember to search for pieces that are unidentified (and even unidentifiable).  Let form and function speak to your soul and bid according to what your heart tells you.  It doesn't matter what the label says.
• One final point -- buy from dealers who love what they sell.  You can always tell.