Canadian Fine Art - A Good Investment?

Kate Wallace of the Canadian Telegraph Journal has an interesting article on investing in Canadian fine art. Wallace claims as the US stock and housing market has tanked over the past several months with no real positive signs of a comeback, Canadian fine art appears to be holding if not increasing in value. She also makes the point that unlike a stock certificate, you can also enjoy the art. So, what I am telling you, professional personal property appraisers need to be aware of trends in collecting and what is currently popular and what areas having growth potential. From what Wallace reports, Canadian art certainly appears to have much potential, collectible appeal along with an enormous upside.

Wallace states The Canadian art market had been enjoying a particularly bullish run for about a year-and-a-half when the financial crisis hit, with 16 works going for more than $1 million at auction in the last year-and-a-half. The 2007-2008 season saw record sales in auction houses totalling $71 million, up about nine per cent from $65 million the previous year.

"It has grown a lot over the past 10 years," David Silcox, president of Sotheby's Canada and an expert in historic and contemporary Canadian art, said from Toronto recently. "There have been a lot of new collectors come in, there has been a lot of prosperity, a lot of people with money have gotten interested in the art."

Canada's big three auction houses - Heffel, Sotheby's and Joyner Waddington's - have been buoyed by sales of the blue chip Canadian artists that created the market in the first place. These include members of the Group of Seven, Emily Carr and David Milne, whom James Adams of the Globe and Mail collectively refers to as "the backbone of the high-end auction scene in Canada" since it emerged in the 1960s.

As Wallace mentions the demand for Canadian art has shown strong growth over the past 18 months. My answer to that, so have many of the US fine and decorative art markets. Most of the losses and downturn has occurred over the last quarter of the year. Wallace does not mention specific sales for the final quarter of 2008 which is when most of the losses in value occurred. Any Canadians readers or international art market followers with knowldege, please feel free to comment.

Wallace also mentions the Canadian Art Sales Index 2009 which lists 4,500 Canadian artists which have been sold in and outside of Canada between Aug 2007 and July 2008. With prices and awareness growing (see sales figures above), regardless if their were potential losses in the final quarter of 2008, Canadian fine art is another area appraisers need to be aware of, be at least superficially familiar with the basics and cultivate relationships experts and network to expand your connections. You never know when you might discover a truly desirable Canadian painting.

To read the full article by Kate Wallace, click HERE.

Everyone have a safe New Years Eve.