Investment horizon

What is the investment horizon?

The investment horizon is simply how long you hold a work before it is worth selling. Art is not a quick trade where you buy in the morning and sell at a profit in the evening. It answers the question of how long you are willing to leave a painting hanging on the wall before it starts to make sense to think about selling.

How does it work?

The length of the horizon differs according to what you collect. With contemporary art it tends to be longer, commonly 10 to 15 years or more, because it is still becoming clear which artists will endure. With modern and post-war art it can be shorter, from roughly 5 years, since history has already confirmed a good deal. But haste is never a good adviser here.

Why does it matter to a collector or investor?

Because anyone who counts on holding a work for a longer period spares themselves the disappointment of value not rising from one day to the next. A longer horizon gives the market time for an artist's name to settle and for demand to mature. And hand on heart, isn't it more pleasant to have a painting at home that gives you years of pleasure than to check every week how far it has moved?

What should you watch out for?

The main pitfall is impatience. Anyone who buys art expecting to sell it at a profit in a year will easily come unstuck, because the market does not behave that quickly. It therefore pays to put into art money you will not soon need, and to count on real appreciation arriving only with time.

— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club