"In the age of information overload, the ultimate luxury is meaning and context."

- Louis Rossetto

Oct 23, 2022

While I insist artworks viewed on your laptop or phone should also be viewed in person, even more important before you acquire the work is for it to hold meaning to you. “Will it increase in value?” is the second question I am constantly asked (right after, “How much is it"?”). The answer is, “How much does the work mean to you?”.

I select artworks for this newsletter that I view in galleries or receive from galleries in PDF previews. It is near impossible to guarantee a secondary market for a work, but it is possible to share indicators that may suggest a piece will increase in retail value based on several factors: where did the artist receive his or her MFA; which gallery/galleries show the artist; which museums or institutions own a work by the artist; which collectors own a work by the artist; my friends are telling me to pay attention to a certain artist’s trajectory; and my own eye to recognize something fresh.

Yet at the end of the day, I tell my clients to buy that which they love. I can tell my clients the CV of the artist and any insights I have from my network, but I can’t tell my clients the meaning a work holds to them. When you look at the art you currently have on your walls, I’m guessing you see the meaning the work holds for you and not its dollar amount. The meaning is priceless, and it is the ultimate luxury.