In 1951 near the end of his life, Henri Matisse put up 3 series of prints for sale. A first run of 200 sold for $7.50 each. A second run of 75 sold for $25.00 each. And a last run of 20 sold for a whopping $100.00 each. Our friend Bob in Kansas City bought #52/200, had it framed, hung it on his wall, and let it sit untouched for 70 years, at which point he had it appraised – for a fee of $300. Turns out his initial investment had appreciated to somewhere north of $10,000 which is not half bad as art speculation goes – even factoring in the appraisal fee.
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Yesterday at the National Gallery of Art in DC we saw works by a boatload of artists both European and American, including a DaVinci purchased for $5M in 1968. No telling what it’s worth today, but the takeaway for me is this: The best art is the art you live with every single day no matter what the appraisal value or which name is signed in the corner: Henri Matisse, Leonardo DaVinci, or Juliette Palka.
Artwork by Juliette Palka, b. 2019
For my money, Juliette’s use of color is FAR superior to Henri’s, and you can quote me on that too. For a good ROI, however, we might have to wait a few years for that Palka to appreciate.