I opened my Instagram this morning, expecting to find the usual ridiculous plethora of bot comments inviting me to sell my work as NFT. My worst expectations were confirmed.
Something else popped up on my feed however, ushering in a little welcome positivity. It was a post from Artsy, the online Art Marketing platform which states that:
“Abstract Art is the most important genre for today's collectors.”
Further into the post, data is published, deriving from a poll in which people were asked which genres or themes of art are most important to them.
50% responded with Abstraction as their favourite genre, and 94% of collectors said that they prefer to purchase paintings. Artsy's own 2023 Art Industry Trends report states that gallerists cited abstract art as the type most most important to their sales.
I must remember these statistics when, as sometimes happens, gallery owners express diffidence about taking on abstract work!
And it gets better:
When collectors were questioned as to whether they purchased more or less art during the past 12 months, nearly 80% said they bought more; not bad for the current uncertain times through which we are living. Artsy further states that “Most art buyers are looking to build a collection – but investment is on the rise.”
Bring it on!
My regular readers will know that one of my missions in this column is to demystify the world of Abstract Art, to render it less intimidating, to dispel the myth that it is somehow elitist, and the falsity that it must be 'understood', as if it were some kind of conundrum or riddle, intended to confound the poor uneducated onlooker.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Abstraction, like any other art, is made to be enjoyed and, free as it is of anything overtly representational, it lends itself especially readily to being used as home décor; and what is more, home décor that will increase in value.
Good art never depreciates, so the investment factor is real.
Christmas is coming, and what better Christmas present to give (even to oneself!) than one that will increase in value as well as beautify the home?
Very soon, my entire corpus of original abstract artwork will be available for sale via an exciting new website, together with fine art prints and limited edition prints, including prints of paintings already sold.
Watch this space for news of imminent publication!
AMID THE BLAZE OF NOON - Haydn Dickenson, 2023
Quotations and statistics copyright www.artsy.net 2023
General copyright Haydn Dickenson 2023