Art Investing for Beginners

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3:22How do you get into art investing? So, you know, I used to get these big bonuses. The wine and spirits business is a bonus-based business. And I would get these big bonuses and I would, you know, buy a watch, buy a purse, buy all the toys. The things. The things. I like things. And I remember hearing a record. I think it was a J record. And he talked about art. And I was like, I have not bought that yet. You know, it like it pricked my conscious. And the first real piece that I invested in was a piece of art from South Africa from an artist named Nelson Macomo. He's an incredible artist. And the reason why I say invested in it is because it was literally half my bonus.

4:09And it was hard for people to understand. They were like, you're going to spend what? You're going to, what? What are you talking? That's a lot of money. Just because we haven't really been taught the value. How much was it? it was like$25 ,000 and who educated you to know that that was something that you should buy well in in in with that purchase I just loved it you just looked at it and just like I loved it and I researched the artist and it I mean it fell in line with just kind of me falling in love with South Africa too you know and I loved it so I think the first thing that I always like to tell people is even though i invest in art i only invest in what i love like if i don't love it i'm not really going to spend my money on it and so i've been really fortunate to get to know a lot of artists directly buy from artists directly so you circumvent the the whole gallery and all that kind of and you're supporting the artist like the artist is getting a hundred percent how much interesting right i see it i love it definitely worth more than what i bought it i'm assuming that maybe it was picasso babies the j song that yeah that might have sparked it but does that now spark your love for art or is it did it just translate into to south african art right did you start studying art american artists artists throughout the world and now this becomes a passion for you based on that one purchase yeah you know what i realized um art for me was I just got lost in it.

5:44I realized, I was like, I love this. I had just this genuine passion for it. I didn't grow up going to museums. I didn't grow up going to art exhibits. I didn't grow up in a house where there was art. And so I think for me, I was like, oh, wait, we belong here too. It was really that that fueled me. I was like, wait, this is a space that we belong in as well. And there's such an incredible art community. So I also was enjoying getting to meet people, you know, and those people are like involved in some cool stuff, you know? So I think it was that. Definitely, you know, African art, art, Black artists in general, you know, was something that I was like, okay, I love this.

6:25These stories are incredible. And then it became like, yeah, like, you know, I remember buying a piece. You asked about the value. I bought a piece for like$12 ,000 And I remember seeing an auction for the artist and her piece sold for$90 ,000. And I have one of her bigger pieces, earlier works that I bought for$12 ,000. That's clearly gone up in value. So I then also started just to understand like, oh, okay, this is how that works. And then I think when you study really wealthy people, really wealthy people have a few things in common. They have real estate. A lot of them have a lot of investment in wine and they invest in art.

7:05And I was like, okay, this all kind of makes sense for me. You know, this is the space that I play in anyway. So how many pieces do you have roughly? Oh, now I probably have over 40 or 50 pieces of art and everything, not just, you know, I have sculptures. I have vases. I have, I mean, you know, I mean, weight. So where do you keep it all? It's everywhere. I mean, it's in my bathrooms. It's on the floors. But does it ever get to a point? Because it's like, all right, you could invest in a variety of things that art is some way where it has to be kept, right? So after a while, it's like, you can't really fully appreciate it, I don't think, because you can't put it on your wall.

7:48You can't put 50 pieces of art on one wall, right? So it's like, you could put it in your office, you can put it in different places. But when you really start to get a lot of art, I'm always curious to know, like, what are people doing with all of the art that they are? they just hoarding it in the basement take the damn dash roll yeah i mean listen people do have you know art storages that are specific for art just like they have wine storages um for me i'm working to sell a lot of wine so i could buy a nice big house so i could have all my art up in it you know i mean now it's because the art the art storage that kind of i don't understand that i used to go i used to go to art um school when i was young but i don't understand art storage because the point of art is to be appreciated and if you're just storing it i feel like it's actually disrespectful to the art form right because now you've taken the the beauty out of it and now it's just become like a file cabinet yeah i think it's a double entendre you use the word appreciated while i started it is appreciating but i get what you're saying art from an artist standpoint i understand the business yeah but art should always come first the business should come second well some people create galleries right they create their own galleries which i mean i know people who have like bought the houses next to their house and the house next to the house it's for art there's a gallery which is amazing right so i'm with you like part and when you ask me like the buying you know my rationale around buying i only buy what i love because like you i want it up i want to see it i want to appreciate it i also want to share it with people so like when friends come over they'll be like your house is like a museum And that makes me feel so good.

9:27You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, yeah. So everybody does it for a different reason. But what I could tell you is, again, one thing I learned is that people that understand wealth, they into art, they into wine, and they into religion. But one thing I learned about art is that if you put it in your office, it's a tax write-off. It is a tax write-off. Yeah. So I was saying, one of the places that we definitely know that your art is going to show up is the Smithsonian. Yes. Talk about that. I mean, that's something that people will be able to frequent and go down in history forever, right? Yeah, that's exciting.

10:03So myself and 10 collectors got together. We've now acquired three pieces together. And it's our way of collective economics. And we purchased a piece, a Bisa Butler piece that we then donated to the Smithsonian Museum in D.C. And so my name will forever be on the museum walls at the Smithsonian as a donor of the piece. And even that little thing, right? We talk about having the art in your home and wanting to see it. I remember thinking like, wow, donating to a museum. But that's really also a big part of, you know, the art world, art collecting, and also increasing the value of your collection.

10:51So my collection inadvertently increases in value because I own a piece in a museum. And people who are in the art world, they know all these little nuances. Yeah. Do you see, because we talk about it in real estate, right? A lot of times if people can't afford the property, let's have a collective. Maybe it's five people and we make the down payment. Right. Do you see that? Is that something that happens often, especially amongst our community? You know, I don't want to misspeak. You know, the collective that I'm a part of, that was the first instance that I had ever heard of it. I'm sure people are doing it.

11:27I just don't know. You know, the two pieces we bought, they were both$150 ,000 each. They go together. It's Adam and Eve by Harmonia Rosales. So the total price of the work was$300 ,000. And when we all thought about it, we were like, I can't do that, but I could do this. And so 10 of us got together and purchased it. Those two pieces have been on display at different museums. It's actually at the Spelman Museum right now. And so we're allowing the work to just tour so people get to experience it. And once we did that one, we were like, all right, let's keep doing this. This is amazing. So I don't want to say that it does happen, but I don't want to say that it doesn't happen.

12:14I just wasn't aware of it. I know that when we had the opportunity to do it together, I said, come on, y 'all, let's do this. Because it was$30 ,000. But at the end of the day, I'm part owner of$300 ,000 worth of art. And that's just that one buy. So what are some best practices for people that want to get an art? Is it like always go through an art dealer, have insurance? Like, you know, like when you buy a watch, right? Like you can, there's best practices to go through an authorized dealer as opposed to just a jeweler. Right. There's best practices to have insurance on the watch. Right. What are some of the best practices for art buying?

12:49Yeah. I mean, again, I've been really fortunate. I've been able to buy a lot of art directly through art, through artists. And the reason why I say fortunate is because one, you get to know who you're buying the work from. I mean, this work is in your home. It's energy, right? A lot of these pieces have stories. These artists may be going through different things while they're actually creating the work. And so, you know, I'm an advocate for people that want to get to know the artists if you can. It's worked for me. Secondarily, you know, I've gotten to know some galleries that I respect that I think are doing good by artists.

13:27So, you know, it doesn't hurt to have some galleries in your repertoire. Only buy what you can afford. And so I would say that that's my biggest advice to people. You know, I've never financed any art, although you can. You know, there are financing programs for art, but I just like to think for good financial hygiene, buy what you can afford. That's worked for me. You absolutely have to insure your art and you have to make sure that it's a reputable insurance that specializes in art insurance. You need to think about where the art is going to be in your home. A lot of light is not art's friend.

14:07A lot of light. Light. Yeah, so how you - It ruins it. It can. Yeah, it can. So making sure that the art is in a position in your home, that it isn't getting damaged, making sure that you're framing with a reputable framer that's gonna talk to you about UV glass versus museum glass. I mean, this is all this stuff that goes into thinking about preserving your art. and then you know I have not been someone who's gotten into the business of selling my art I know people that are in that business of selling I can't say that I would never do it for me it's legacy building so this is what I'm going to leave behind for my son my god daughters my grandchild you know what I mean like this is really legacy building for me and wealth building for them so I think it's just making sure you get educated like you do in anything that you're going to be investing your money and the last thing i'll say is the 10 people that i invested in art i respect all those people i i respect their profile respect their portfolios right what they've done with their money i would have never just gotten with 10 people and bought some art that i didn't know i felt were a good fit in what i was trying to do because that's a relationship you're getting into a a business relationship with them but i think the biggest thing is by what you can afford and then do all the due diligence the insurance and all that kind of thing to make sure you're protecting your asset so when it's touring the museums are paying to have it on display how does that work yeah so sometimes um you will get paid by museums to have the work um sometimes it's that you're donating it because you want the the connection you want to lean into the equity of the of of i think um the institution right a lot of these institutions have incredible equity.

15:58Smithsonian, for example, I mean, for me to say that I've been collecting for five, six years and I already have my name in the Smithsonian Museum is like a big deal. So, you know, it's a mix. But yeah, there are times when institutions will pay you to actually have your art in their exhibits. An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An An MS-13 gang member from El Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man. A Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J.

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17:17Hey, it's Joel. And Matt from HowToMoney. if your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape. We've got your back. Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Each week, we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have?

17:53Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast.

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