There are bound to be peaks and crests as part of any investment cycle.

The same was testified by the meltdown, which hit the global markets in 2008-09, prior to the boom witnessed by all asset classes including art. In keeping with the rise and fall, art too, has received extreme set of investor reactions, as the situation has swung from positive to negative and rosy to gloomy and now again slowly brightening up.

Moving away from these short-term reactions, several research-based studies have been conducted world over. Experts have carefully compared the long-term average financial returns of art as an asset class vis-à-vis more traditional investment tools.

Art does generate – if not fabulous – reasonable and stable returns over time, their findings suggest. Hence it will be worthwhile to reflect on the essential characteristics of art as an investment option in the context of empirical evidence comparing its long-term financial returns versus other traditional asset classes.

So what is the appropriate way to approach art investment? Remember what celebrated art collector Charles Saatchi has famously remarked? He has stated:

“I never think too much about the market. I don’t mind paying three or four times the market value of a work that I really want.”

In essence, if you buy art, do so essentially for love of it, and treasure your collection as a priceless piece of heritage for generations to come. Thus you will derive the maximum fulfillment and returns out of it.