One of the most common questions asked about art collecting is:
“Do I need to be rich to collect art?”
Do you really need to have a trust fund to collect art, though?
As someone who used to manage an art gallery, I would say: not really.
Anybody can buy and own an artwork.
The problem is that many people simply do not know where to find one.
Many would walk into an art gallery, look at the price list and immediately get shocked.
A 2’ × 2’ painting by XXX artist for MYR 4,000.
A 5’ × 5’ painting by a Malaysian old master? Yours for MYR 55,000.
Your jaw drops.
Then you think to yourself:
“Yup. Art is not for me.”
But what if I told you that you can collect art even if you are surviving on a Malaysian minimum wage?
And no, I am not talking about IKEA or Kaison-type art. Not saying those are not art, but that is simply not the type of art we are talking about for now.
There is a time and place for that discussion.
I am talking about an original artwork made by an artist.
And yes, you can actually purchase one for MYR 100.
You just have to know where to look.
“Affordable” Art!In Malaysia, we have affordable art fairs.
Yes, I know. Affordable is subjective.
Affordable to me might not be affordable to you.
But these fairs usually offer multiple tiers of artwork pricing. You may find smaller works, works on paper, prints and editions that are considerably cheaper than the large paintings hanging in commercial galleries.
Still sceptical?
Fret not.
I'll let you in on a secret.
GRADUATE SHOWS!
That's the trade secret.
At least, that's what I try to convince myself.
Graduate shows are probably one of the best places to find affordable original art.
There, you might find sketches from as low as MYR 50.
A 2’ × 1’ painting for MYR 150.
A ceramic piece for MYR 50–100.
An unframed edition for MYR 100.
These are not mass-produced decorative pieces. They are works made by artists who have spent years developing their practice and are now taking their first steps into the art world.
And you could be one of the first people to collect them.
YOU DON'T NEED DEEP POCKETS!
I have always believed that the act of collecting art should not require deep pockets.
Of course, if you are eyeing works by mid-career or established Malaysian artists, that is a different conversation.
Those artists can command prices from the mid-tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of ringgit.
But young and emerging artists?
Their works can be far more attainable.
Even when their major paintings are priced above MYR 2,000, you may still find smaller paintings, drawings, prints, editions, studies and other works at much lower prices.
And there is something exciting about collecting young and emerging artists.
I don't quite know how to describe it, but it is sort of like a gamble.
No, no.
I am not saying collecting art = gambling.
Hear me out.
The Graduate Gamble!
When you collect a graduate's work, you don't really know what is going to happen next.
Maybe the artist continues making art for the next twenty years.
Maybe they become one of the important names of their generation.
Maybe their practice completely changes and the little painting hanging in your house becomes an interesting record of what they were doing when they were 23.
Or maybe, after two or three years, they disappear from the art scene altogether.
That is the gamble.
You shouldn't buy their work because you think it will become valuable someday. There is no guarantee that it will.
You buy it because you like the artwork.
That should always come first.
After all, you are the one who has to live with it. You might be looking at that artwork every single day for years.
But there is an additional pleasure in knowing that you collected someone early.
Imagine collecting five graduates over several years.
Perhaps four eventually stop making art.
But one keeps going.
You watch their practice develop. You see their name appearing in exhibitions. Then larger exhibitions. Maybe awards. Maybe institutional collections.
Artwork by Syukur Rani
Ten years later, you look at the artwork hanging in your house and realise:
“I bought this when they had just graduated.”
I think there is something special about that.
Not because you managed to buy something cheaply before it became expensive.
But because, in a very small way, you were there at the beginning.
So, no.
You don't need a trust fund to start collecting art.
You don't need a massive house.
You don't need to understand every art theory.
And you definitely don't need to walk into a gallery and immediately spend MYR 10,000.
Start with MYR 100.
Visit a graduate show.
Go to an art fair.
Look at drawings. Look at prints. Look at ceramics. Look at editions. Talk to the artists.
Find something that makes you stop.
Something you wouldn't mind seeing again tomorrow.
Then buy it.
Congratulations.
You have an art collection.
It just happens to contain one artwork.
For now.
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