Art Collecting/ Collectors

Recently read an article on a gallery selling some lower priced Bansky (I know, I know) pieces from $5000 - $25,000. I'm in the position on being able to afford the lesser of the price spectrum. I would only do this for investment. Is it wise?

Edit: Mods feel free to put this in the appropriate forum section.

With a "standard artist", say like Derek Hess, his work will always appreciate or at worst, stay stable in value.

I know Banksy is a hot item right now and I'm sure in reality, it will only increase in value over time, but the anonymity part can be tricky.

Let's say in 5 more years, we find out that Banksy wasn't just one person, but instead a "human factory" of creatives, all a plot of a mega-art-prank on the world.

(This is of course purely theoretical.)

Then, I think the value could decrease or at best, never gain more value and been seen as a pop fad down the road.

Knowing how long Banksy's been around though, I'd say my scenario above is a far-fetched one and I'd say go for it if you can.

P.S. I'm Banksy.

If you like it... buy it. If not, dont.

If its purely for investments sake, there are safer bets. Toothpaste and toilet paper for example. Or facebook.

i own a Ouija painting.

it still gives me a boner.

if you like the art buy it

if you want to invest, dump that loot into gold, silver, or mutual funds or something.

maybe buy some sony or microsoft stock before the playstation or new xbox come out.

Good looks on the advice bojangles.

BnH, Ouija painting would be dope

Right now I'm not in the position of just buying art for the aesthetics although I would really love to. I've got to look at the long run on major purchases.

I was just shocked that after all the hype there would still be banksy pieces that would go for that low. I thought for sure if I bought it now I would get a huge profit in the semi near future.

i own a joker and some originals from a couple comic book people.

i can't imagine that the banksy hype will last. but who knows, it has this long.

Banksy is still selling and making large figures, I saw a painting of his go at Christie's the other week for a few hundred grand.

While Banksy isnt liked or favoured in graffiti he is still a big name to normal people and I can't see that changing much, having said that I think he still needs to be getting up in the streets for his work to remain in the public mind, it is ridiculous how much press new stuff of his gets in the papers etc. But juding roughly how old he is I can't see him doing it forever.

I reckon if you dropped $5 on a painting you might be able to make some money back on it, then again depends what painting really.

i went to a small gallery on my lunch break a couple years ago

they were selling dr seuss originals

i wish i woulda pulled the trigger and grabbed a sketch for like $500

meh

unless you really like Banksy i would pass on him as an investment. for investment purposes buy someone that has been solid and "famed" for at least a decade say barry mcgee, camille rose garcia, raymond pettibon, ryan mcginnis even queer ass kaws to name a few. all of the mentioned artists will FOR SURE hold value and increase. the last few years has been a great time to invest in art, stamps, coins etc etc. you can capitalize on others disparity and get works for less then half their market value easy...

there has been a few threads on this topic...

Mat Gleason wrote an article about the street art bubble bursting. It's a good read.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mat-gleason/street-art-market-collaps_b_856756.html

If you have 5k to invest, call a stock broker. You might as well buy baseball cards if you plan on investing in street art.