I’m constantly challenging myself to discover new types of investment grade art and antiques. But this search isn’t an easy one. The ideal investable antique should possess five different attributes: durability, portability, scarcity, and quality of materials and construction. In addition, an item should reflect the era or culture in which it was created – an attribute I term zeitgeist. These five elements together form the delightfully zany acronym DPSQZ. They are also the basis of universal desirability which is ultimately the foundation of investability.
However, following these five principles naturally tends to lead in certain directions. For example, high quality materials and durability are joined at the hip. Precious metals and precious gemstones are some of the most lasting, stable materials known to man. Therefore it is only natural that antiques that incorporate them frequently appear on the list of investment grade art and antiques. And yet I strongly believe that art does not have to possess significant intrinsic value in order to be desirable and investable.
This has prompted me to exhaustively search at the periphery of the art world for possible investment grade art. Why the periphery? Well, the major arts – painting and sculpture – are well trodden asset classes by this time. The luminaries and great artists of these fields are well known. Even an expert in the field is rather unlikely to suddenly “discover” a previously unrecognized or unappreciated artist. There is a great deal of reference material about paintings and sculpture in existence, and, as a corollary, decidedly few bargains available to the collector. This doesn’t necessarily make them bad investments, but it does make them less interesting from an investment standpoint.
What I have noticed time and time again in my endless search for unconventional, investment-worthy art is the amazing artistic talents of the Japanese people. Historically eschewing personal adornment and conspicuous displays of wealth, the Japanese instead turned everyday functional objects into glorious works of art. The list of their artistic accomplishments is truly impressive. Expertly crafted samurai swords, delicately carved netsuke, intricately decorated tsuba, beautifully embellished lacquerware and alluringly modern shin-hanga woodblock prints are all examples of conventional antiques elevated into art forms by the Japanese. These traditional Japanese crafts may have little to no intrinsic value, but are all solidly investment worthy.
Perhaps it isn’t surprising, but the Japanese still produce luxury goods of unparalleled beauty today. Obsessive attention to detail and dedication to their chosen craft are truly admirable traits that shine through in many Japanese luxury products. And while I don’t normally advocate buying new luxury goods for investment purposes, some Japanese items are so superlative in terms of quality that I may be willing to bend my own rules.
I don’t intentionally target Japanese art when looking for unrecognized, investment grade art. In fact, I go out of my way to try to find unknown art and antiques from a variety of regions and cultures. And yet I continually find myself drawn toward Japanese works again and again. The Japanese people’s artistic skill – particularly with highly-detailed, miniature work – is the stuff of legends. Their aesthetic reputation for both graceful simplicity and delicate naturalism is unrivaled. When searching for aesthetically pleasing work that is universally desirable, I believe you must go where the fundamentals lead. All too often, the final destination is Japan – the land of the rising investment grade art. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
