No longer art for art’s sake, galleries note surge in buys for investment
Art theft in Malaysia may be rare, according to the police, but a recent case involving paintings worth RM1.5 million has revealed a growing trend to buy artworks not just to be collected out of love or art appreciation alone but for investment purposes.
The growing number of gallery proprietors say that art pieces are becoming what property and gold mean to conventional investors, and not just among older and wealthier art collectors but also younger buyers who are entering the scene.
"A lot of people who come into the gallery now look at paintings as a form of investment," said Kenny Teng, who runs the G13 Gallery in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
"These people normally have appreciation for the art but they also sell off the pieces in their collection through auctions after a few years when the value has appreciated."
A gallery manager, who only wanted to be known as Torng, said more among the younger generation were turning to art as an investment.
"Although art investment has been going on for years, the current trend is slightly different," said Torng, who manages the country's oldest existing private gallery, Art House Gallery, located in Wisma Cosway in Kuala Lumpur.
"People used to buy more Chinese ink paintings for investment but the focus has now shifted to oil and watercolour paintings," she said.
Teng concurred with the observation that today's art investors were coming from the younger set.
"We have seen a lot of new collectors come up. This was once something that only really rich people took an interest in but it is not the case anymore. We see a lot more middle class and younger people showing interest in artwork as well," he said.
Torng added that the people who trade in art pieces are those who have an appreciation for art but also see their passion as a form of investment.
"So instead of buying properties or diamonds, they buy paintings instead. They recognise the potential and the opportunities from using art as an investment."
Teng, who has been with G13 for five years, revealed that the value of some paintings could appreciate up to double the initial price, depending on the artist and type of work.
"Of course, if it is a big name or a well-established artist, the value appreciates faster and goes up more. However, the work of a relatively new artist could see a modest appreciation of about 20% over its initial value after a few years," he said.
"Young artists' work do not command such value but as they stay longer in the art scene and as their names become more well-known, it appreciates as well."
Paintings from well-known artists could fetch a starting price of RM20,000, while a new artist's piece could have a starting price of RM3,000, said Teng.
Collectors, Teng added, are more interested in modern and contemporary art from around the region these days, noting that interest in art saw a spike in the past three years.
"We sell a lot of art from local artists and also paintings from Indonesia and more. There is a large interest in the work of local artists these days," he said, adding that the gallery he works for sources for artists through word-of-mouth, from college roadshows and exhibitions, among others.
Commenting on the recent theft of famous Chinese artist Chen Ji Shie's paintings worth RM1.5 million, Teng said that it was an isolated case as such thefts were rare in the local scene.
"This seldom happens. But for a country emerging in the art scene such as Malaysia, the common thing is copying of artwork.
"We see copied artwork being sold as original, which is fraud, but theft is very rare," he added.
Police detained eight people for the theft and one of the suspects – a 44-year-old artist – was charged in court earlier this week.
The suspects include three men and four women, aged between 19 and 59, including a Datuk who has a stake in an art gallery in Damansara Heights.
The others detained are lecturers at private and public institutions of higher learning and artists working at the art gallery. – December 21, 2014.
