The Jakarta Post
Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
You see your beloved across a crowded room, and your heart beats faster with desire. Where others see a simple painting, you see true love. You are determined to make it yours.
There are those who question why some people will spend hundreds of millions or even billions of rupiah on a simple painting, especially during a financial downturn. But as art lovers across the ages have proved, paintings offer not just pleasure, but also a promising investment.
“It’s true that the crisis has held back some people from buying paintings, but on the other hand, new collectors see it as the best time to start buying, because prices [of paintings] now are at a quite attractive or realistic level,” says Amir Sidharta, an art curator and owner of Sidharta Auctioneer.
Around six months ago, Amir says, those who wanted to start collecting paintings thought twice because a boom in the art market had put prices at their peak. But since the financial markets tumbled, he says, so have prices, giving potential collectors a chance to take another look.
Oei Hong Djien, an art collector who sits on the Singapore Art Museum’s board of directors, agrees. If the situation mirrors that of the 1998 financial crisis, he says, the art market is likely to experience a boom this year. During the 1998 crisis, Oei reveals many people looked for the most convenient and promising ways to invest their money – including purchasing paintings.
“[At that time] they heard that paintings that were cheap would become expensive, so they were interested [in investing],” Oei says. “Then that was it. The art market suddenly turned crowded in the middle of this economic crisis. It was weird.”
You see your beloved across a crowded room, and your heart beats faster with desire. Where others see a simple painting, you see true love. You are determined to make it yours.
There are those who question why some people will spend hundreds of millions or even billions of rupiah on a simple painting, especially during a financial downturn. But as art lovers across the ages have proved, paintings offer not just pleasure, but also a promising investment.
“It’s true that the crisis has held back some people from buying paintings, but on the other hand, new collectors see it as the best time to start buying, because prices [of paintings] now are at a quite attractive or realistic level,” says Amir Sidharta, an art curator and owner of Sidharta Auctioneer.
Around six months ago, Amir says, those who wanted to start collecting paintings thought twice because a boom in the art market had put prices at their peak. But since the financial markets tumbled, he says, so have prices, giving potential collectors a chance to take another look.
Oei Hong Djien, an art collector who sits on the Singapore Art Museum’s board of directors, agrees. If the situation mirrors that of the 1998 financial crisis, he says, the art market is likely to experience a boom this year. During the 1998 crisis, Oei reveals many people looked for the most convenient and promising ways to invest their money – including purchasing paintings.
“[At that time] they heard that paintings that were cheap would become expensive, so they were interested [in investing],” Oei says. “Then that was it. The art market suddenly turned crowded in the middle of this economic crisis. It was weird.”
