ArtWeLove: A Great First Step for Aspiring Art Collectors

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Oct 5th 2010 at 6:02PM

When I first started writing about the art market, in the white-hot auction climate of the summer of 2007, I had the chance to interview Prof. Michael Moses of NYU. Co-founder of the Mei-Moses Index used to gauge the direction of art prices, he's pretty much the de facto source for issues at the intersection of art and investing. I'll never forget the advice he offered to my readers: start with prints of your favorite pieces, and as you can afford to, replace them with the real thing.

This is the exact concept I saw in action when I stopped by the ArtWeLove booth at the Affordable Art Fair to visit company founder Laurence Lafforgue.

Art We Love focuses on making works by high-caliber artists available to entry-level collectors. The archival pigment prints offered by the company are limited-edition reproductions of museum-caliber pieces from well-known artists who have agreed to work with Lafforgue to make the art luxury attainable to a broader constituency.

As I stepped through Art We Love's booth this past weekend, I was struck not just by the quality of the work on display but also by the breadth of styles available. The company, which was founded during the art boom, is stocked to accommodate a wide range of tastes – though at universally reasonable prices.

Now, about those prices ...

Before you balk at the word "affordable" on Luxist, consider the many ways that Art We Love can be perceived. Doubtless, it does offer a way for prolies like me to enjoy an otherwise unreachable experience. Yet, it also delivers a "user-friendly" route into a daunting market. It's easier to track stock prices than art values (even with the Mei-Moses Index), and the base of knowledge needed to get started isn't all that common. With Art We Love, it's possible to develop a feel for different artist and styles before committing serious capital.

Perhaps the most interesting way to use Art We Love that I encountered during the Affordable Art Fair is to help children develop a love of art. Pricier than posters of movies and athletes – and ostensibly more valuable – the Art We Love catalog enables collecting from a young age without the sort of expenditures that are more appropriate for adults. This actually did happen during the show.

I was eager to meet Lafforgue before the Affordable Art Fair, and I left her booth excited about the future of art collecting. Thanks to her efforts with a number of investment-grade artists, those who want to collect are no loner excluded by the art market.

[photo by Laurie DePrete]

Disclosure: Art We Love provided free access to the Affordable Art Fair with no expectation of coverage. The pass was only $20, and I was planning to pay to go anyway.

Tags: affordable art, affordable art fair, affordable artwork, art collecting, art collection, art collector, art exhibit, Art Exhibition, art exhibits, art fair, art market, art show, artist, Artists

Filed under: Art

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

shinolah Oct 8th 2010 9:16AM

A fantastic idea and truly beautiful spokeswoman.

Matthew Kinsey Oct 7th 2010 9:41PM

In my opinion, buying originals from emerging artists is a much better way to start a collection affordably than purchasing reproductions that have no connection to the original object other than a licensing agreement. You may not see every emerging artist's originals increase in value, but if you trust your own taste rather than the glamour of "investment-grade" artists, you'll at least have real art you really love.

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