What if your new, $500,000 piece of contemporary art is made of candy, and your dog eats part of it?
Can you just go to the candy store and buy replacement pieces?
In today’s world of contemporary art, such a question is not unheard of.
A length of string, 60 tons of scrap metal, flowing water, food, dust and even animal feces can be the makings of fine art in the contemporary art world, which means caring for art is no simple job. In fact, it may be an art unto itself.
“Anything an artist can find can be made into art today,” says Maggie Reynolds, senior fine art specialist at Chubb insurance.
Caring for artwork used to amount to tips like, don’t hang the painting over the fireplace. Now it could mean having the right lighting at the correct angles because the artist wanted the shadows to be part of the three-dimensional work.
Once a collector has purchased a piece from a museum, dealer or another collector, the transportation and installation are among the first issues to be considered.
“You have to be aware the materials used in the work may not be what they appear to be. Works today can be made of unusual materials, including wax, rubber, dust, bubble gum or even elephant dung. You need to know what you are buying,” Reynolds adds.
Artworks of all types have been climbing in value since the financial crisis. “In 2014 global art sales amounted to approximately 50 billion euros with the highest demand coming from the U.S., China and the U.K.,” says Oliver Class, art expert for Allianz Suisse.
“In the current sustained low-interest-rate environment, property assets such as art or real estate are becoming an ever more appealing investment. This is leading to a dramatic increase in the value of individual artworks,” he says.
To protect that value, each piece needs a certificate of authenticity—something that is arguably as valuable as the artwork itself. The certificate will spell out the conditions that the artist requires for display. It also will stipulate what the artist wants done if the work should become damaged or deteriorates, the art experts explain.
So when the pooch eats the artwork, it’s the artist who decides what to do.
“If the artist is living, he should be brought into the discussion before a piece is insured,” Class says. “Some artists want a piece to remain in a 100 percent perfect state. Others are more flexible. You have to think of potential damage before the fact, not after it has occurred.”
Reynolds adds, “If a piece is made of fragile Post-it notes and one falls off, can the owner replace it? That may be up to the artist.”
An artist can renounce a piece if it is damaged or if it is restored improperly, which would make the piece worthless.
Outdoor pieces take special consideration, including identifying where tree limbs are hanging or protecting a piece from acidic bird droppings, she says. Indoors, pieces may need to be bolted to the floor to add extra stability in earthquake zones.
Most collectors are sophisticated and insure against all possible damages, Class says. Allianz suffered one spectacular loss when a large, heavy sculpture was being transported to a museum for showing and a frame collapsed while it was being moved, dropping the piece 30 centimeters and shattering it. The incident cost the insurance company $1 million.
One of the biggest artwork-handling boo-boos in history has become known as the “$40 million elbow.” Casino magnate Steve Wynn, who collects art masterpieces, owns “Le Reve,” Picasso’s 1932 portrait of his mistress, Marie-Therese Walter, which he bought at a private auction in 2001 for $48.4 million, the highest price paid for a piece of art at that time.
He was in the process of selling it for $139 million to a friend, but while he was showing it to other friends before the sale, he inadvertently backed up and put his elbow through it. The painting was repaired but the sale was void and Wynn decided to keep the famous painting.
Putting artwork on display is also dangerous, although this one involved far less money. In an incident earlier this year in Ningbo, China, one hour after an exhibition opened, a 4-year-old child pulled a piece out of a Lego work resulting in the collapse of the $15,000 character Nick Wilde from Disney’s Zootopia, one hour after the exhibition opened. Museums and now homes have motion sensitive warning signals if anyone approaches valuable works of art.
Insurance will cover all types of damage and loss, except what is called inherent vice, which is the natural deterioration of an item. “Damien Hirst’s sharks in formaldehyde are going to deteriorate. The artist intended them to. But Dan Flavin’s colored fluorescent bulbs are not going to last forever, either, and you can’t buy those kind of bulbs anymore,” says Steven Pincus, national practice leader for the fine arts group at Dewitt Stern Group in New York City.
“You need a clear directive from the museum, the dealer or the artist on how to restore certain works,” he says. “When you are having an appraisal done, make sure you are working with one who knows the specific type of work you are buying.”
“Insurance for contemporary art is sort of an extension of insurance for traditional art,” says Vivian Ebersman, director of art expertise for AXA Art Americas. “The collector’s care of work is of the utmost importance. Heat and light are the two biggest dangers.”
Ebersman advises photographing each art piece from all angles and looking at the photographs once a year to see if there has been deterioration that is not noticeable on a day-to-day basis.
Make sure shelving is sturdy enough to hold objects, she says. If it is a heavy outdoor sculpture, make sure the land will hold the work. Some installations are made with live plants, so the collector needs to know what to do if something dies. Again, the artist has the final say as stipulated in the certificate.
“If a piece comes with a motor or some kind of computer equipment, we would insure the whole piece. An owner who has spent a lot of money on a piece is going to be thinking of how to care for it,” Ebersman adds.
However, the duty to protect the work is on the collector, says Catherine Torsney, fine arts specialist and senior vice president of Integro insurance. Torsney works with vetted conservators who work with specific artists and matches shippers and art consultants who know the specific works she is insuring.
“I may not know the answer to a particular problem, but I can find a specialist to help in any situation,” she says.
Collectors also need to know how, or if, they want to pass works on to the next generation or to sell or gift pieces to a museum if there is no one to leave it to. Documentation is needed to prove the work’s history of ownership, as well as the certificate of authenticity, and any instructions from the artist for display and care.
“It is always a question what heirs will do with a piece,” says Reynolds.
“Collectors have many reasons for buying a particular work, but whether it is for investment or to pass along to their heirs, it is also about purchasing a work of art that brings pleasure to the collector,” she says. “Proper maintenance, documentation and insurance coverage, and knowing what to do if it is damaged, will help insure that the work can be enjoyed for years to come.”
