Your art collection can tell the story of your life

Last month I wrote a piece on the act of buying art titled, Be curious, ask questions, buy art you love.

- MANJU SARA RAJAN

 Following the publication of that article, I was surprised by the number of people who wrote to me with specific queries about art purchase, so here goes another round on the subject.

My first disclaimer is that this column is really for "young collectors", people who are new to the business of collecting art. I am also specifically addressing folks who are on a budget. If your budget is north of 15 lakh, then that's a pretty hefty amount of money and while the rules are the same, you have probably done more buying than someone who's looking to put in just 10,000.

Second, I'd like to reiterate that the starting point of collecting should be a point of curiosity, query and to buy what you like. Do not buy art as an investment. I made this point in my previous column as well and it bears repeating.

On the one hand, I think, and this is purely a personal stance, it is philosophically wrong to buy art with only the intention of selling. On a more practical note, art cannot be valued as the sum of its parts, its value is conjectural and opportunistic, which means when you are off to the market to sell a work, a change of circumstances will mean change of value for the piece.

Those circumstances can be anything: there is absolutely no guarantee that an artist you have purchased will continue to do the same quality of work, so you may not be able to demand the same price that you have bought a piece at; the market for this asset class may collapse entirely-who's to know! These factors are good to remember now because contemporary art is once again having "its moment" in the sun.

After the 2008 economic collapse, art buying had receded to the fiefdom of the wealthy. But now, drones of new, younger (by age, I mean) buyers are in the market looking to participate.