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From ; Rehl Galleries. Ins

To Sell or Not to Sell, That is the Question.

As I recently mentioned, we have received a number of interesting questions from our readers and I will begin addressing them here. First up: When should you sell? When the market is hot, or when one is "tired" of a painting?

Actually, the time to sell is when you are in those twilight years of life and each of your kids wants the one good painting you have . then you should sell and go on a nice long vacation! And for those of you who are still in the early years of life, my advice is the same it has always been .if you enjoy a work and do not need to sell, then don't. As Mr. E., a big Contemporary art collector, once stated to me . "once you sell a work, you are out of the game." Today, the art market has proven itself to be a viable arena for one to diversify their assets. As the number of quality works diminishes and the number of people looking to purchase increases, the long term outlook is a positive one and while not every work you buy will increase in value at the same percentage rate, over a long enough period, it is our belief that most quality works will bring their owners great financial rewards ... not to mention the joy you receive from looking and owning the works. And if we look at what just happened in the New York sales . even some of those poor condition works will do well.

Getting back to the question at hand . if you are in the art market strictly to make money, then when the market is hot is the time to sell . you will probably see your biggest short term gain at that point. However, if you are buying works of art because you enjoy them, then the time to sell is when you tire of them; let's face it, unless you are in it just for the money, what is the point of owning a work of art that you no longer want to look at?

The key to buying correctly in the art world is seeking the advice of truly knowledgeable people and buying works that not only speak to you, but those you want to live with and enjoy for a long period of time.