Documenting your Art Collection

Excerpts from Alan Bamberger

Another aspect of good collecting is documenting your art.
You can see best how documentation really pays off in the markets for older art. Suppose, for instance, that two 19th century landscape paintings by John Doe come up for auction at the same time. They're virtually identical in size, quality, condition, date painted, and other details. The first is catalogued as "Rural Landscape"-- really exciting. The second is catalogued as "Looking North from Smith's Point, Maine, September 23d, 1876. Exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1877. Originally purchased for $100 by Robert Bob from ABC Gallery, New York City, 1877. Sold to Mary Miller in 1922 for $500, descended in the Miller family." Assuming you find both paintings equally appealing, which would you rather own? Which do you suppose will sell for more money? The second one, of course. It's like choosing between a mutt and a dog with a pedigree.

By the way, when art dealers and auction houses take on art with poor documentation, they at least do their best to come up with exciting titles. They know that even when additional information is scant or nonexistent, good titles sell art faster than boring ones or no titles at all.
The point is that good documentation positively impacts not only dollar value, but also the ability to personally appreciate and understand a work of art. If you know nothing about painting, for instance, you can only guess why it was created, what it means, where it's been. If you know its entire history, you can relate to it on a multitude of levels in addition to the purely visual.
If you think you remember everything significant about your art and don't need to physically sit down and record that information, think again. At some point, your collection will become so large that there's simply too much to remember. Either that or time will take its toll. You certainly won't be able to remember every single detail about works of art you acquired years or even decades ago.
The good news is that you can begin documenting at any time and even from a standing stop. If you own undocumented art, write down everything you can either from memory or by contacting the sellers.

Include information like the following:
* Any stories the sellers tell you.
* Any memorable moments about making the purchases.
* What the art means.
* What the subject matters are.
* How long they took to create.
* Who the artists are and what they've accomplished.
* Why the artists made them.
* When they date from.
* Whether they've ever been exhibited in public.

Don't think you have to hide anything. Far too often, collectors throw away their original gallery receipts or refuse to tell what they paid for their art, where they bought it, or what it's previous ownership history was. Reasons usually sound like these-- "If people know what I paid, my art will be worth less" or "If they find out where it comes from, they'll try to buy some themselves." These things rarely happen. If you feel protective, don't tell everything to anyone who asks, but at least save and record the information for release at some later date. Don't lose it forever. Your descendents will thank you for it.
Not only does good documentation tend to increase the value of art, but the documentation itself often has value and that value can increase. Imagine if you had an original receipt from the sale of a Van Gogh painting that changed hands in the early part of this century. Or perhaps your grandfather bought a Picasso and got an inscribed photo of Picasso handing him the painting. I'm in this end of the business and can tell you that either of these items would be worth well into the thousands of dollars today. So here's what you do:

* Save all receipts and certificates of authenticity.
* Whenever possible, get descriptive written statements from artists or dealers or both when you buy art. If they won't write something for you, have them tell you about the art and either write it down yourself or record it.
* Save all books, exhibit catalogues, gallery brochures, reviews, and the like.
* Whenever possible, photograph the artists who you collect, have them sign or inscribe catalogues or gallery invitations for you.

This information is easy to get, fun to get, it brings you closer to your art, and it only takes a few moments at the point of purchase. Over time, however, those few moments pay big dividends.
Another distinguishing feature of a superior collection is that it's organized. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. This goes back to posing the problem and then using the collection to map out the solution. Take the previous example of the "history of still life painting in Indiana." This collection can be organized in many ways including by date, by artist, by style, or by region. Or you can get even more specific. Within a topic as narrow as this there are numerous subtopics:

* Still life painting in Indianapolis organized by date.
* Still life painting in Southern Indiana showing native trees, plants and vegetables.
* Nineteenth century still life painting in Indiana by immigrant artists.
* Modernist still life painting in Indiana organized by degree of abstraction.
* Small format still life painting in Indiana organized by size.

Or you can narrow it further yet. How about a collection of still lifes painted by your favorite Indiana artist between 1980 and 1990 organized by date? The possibilities for formulating and presenting a collection are limited only by your own imagination.
The easiest way to get the hang of organizing is to go to museums. Here you see the work of professional organizers-- also known as curators. Museum shows always have starting points; they always have ending points. What happens in between the two is that viewers learn something about art. Depending on the museum or the show, you have printed, oral, or recorded guided tours that explain the way the show is organized.
Now you don't have to go so far as to physically re-arrange your house and print up a catalogue. Everything can still be displayed right where it looks its best. But organize it in your mind. Be able to walk someone through and tell them the story of how and why you've come to own all this wonderful art and how it works so well together.
This increases not only their enjoyment, but it also reinforces your chosen direction and your future buying. Additional benefits to organizing your collection are that you can see where you've been, where you're going, where you have duplication, where you're weak, what you're missing, what no longer makes the grade, and what you have to do to resolve any problems. It's not much different from your son putting together all the baseball cards of his favorite team to complete his collection.
The final step in good collecting is not the most delightful to talk about, but it is among the most necessary, and that is to plan for future owners-- whether they be museums, institutions, family members, friends, or complete and total strangers. You'd be surprised how many collectors never say a word and just think that everyone automatically knows everything they've been doing all these years. This is never the case! Think about all the people you've met who own family heirlooms that they know little or nothing about because no one ever told them. "That's the painting that hung over the sofa while I was growing up and it belonged to my grandmother. That's all I know."

The worst possible outcome for a collection occurs when the owner passes away leaving no information about the art, how much it's worth, how to care for it, or how to sell or donate it, if that's what the inheritors want. Countless collections have been resold for pennies on the dollar, given away, or even thrown in the trash because the collectors kept little or no records and left no instructions on what to do with their art.

I remember receiving a call one day from a hauler who said he had some art in a storage space and wanted me to come down and have a look. He mentioned the name of the artist who I immediately recognized as a well known Bay Area painter. It turned out that the hauler had been asked to cart away 5 major paintings by this artist which, at that time, were worth between 30 and 50 thousand dollars. The owners had simply thrown them out. And these were only a few of the treasures that this hauler had accumulated over the years absolutely free of charge, directly out of people's trash. In fact, he'd been paid to take them away!
The lesson in all this is that collectors, no matter how large or small their collections, should provide a complete list of options and instructions for those who'll inherit their art. These include names, addresses, phone numbers, procedures, dollar values, and all other particulars for selling or donating as well as for dispersal within the family.
By the way, simple appraisals with no further instructions are never enough. In fact, they often create more trouble than good. These appraisals are usually for insurance or replacement purposes which means that they're at or beyond retail. The inheritors get stuck with these values, have no idea what they mean, and often assume that that's what the art should sell for. They spend months or years beating their heads against the wall, getting nowhere, and concluding that all buyers are out to take advantage.

Cover all bases by providing insurance or replacement appraisals should your descendants decide to keep or donate the art. Also include realistic wholesale values should they decide to sell it. And don't forget those instructions-- who to call, where to go, what to do. You don't want them at the mercy of whatever dealer they happen to pull out of the Yellow Pages.
If you expect to have any influence over the long term future of your collection, lay the groundwork beginning right now. Educate your family about what you own. Instill a love and respect for what you've accomplished and accumulated all these years. Make sure that those close to you are aware of your art's value and significance. Make sure that they understand how important it is to you. You can't control the final outcome, but at least you can have your say and know that you've done your best to collect like a pro.