What underestimated artists are worth investing in right now, at a time of intensifying crisis? The works of which authors are cheap today, and in a few years will greatly increase in price? New visitors to the ArtSale.info auction and viewers of our YouTube channel regularly ask for specifics. So that without “water”, without lengthy reasoning, but list by name.

And the specifics will be presented further. But not at once.

No, not at all from the desire to puff up the cheeks and hide the terrible secret of the “Secret Society of Art Lovers”. It's just that the word “underestimated” is not the same for different people. Yes, most aspiring art investors are, of course, looking for underrated, little-known authors or artists early in their careers. So that today paintings cost 200–500 dollars, and in a couple of years the prices “have grown” to the region of 1,000–2,000 dollars. And they ask, which of these would we recommend?

This is the most difficult question. No, there are definitely such artists somewhere. It cannot be that they don't exist. But what to do with this knowledge? Even knowing the rules of the game, you need to be aware that “investing” in little-known and beginners is not a business idea, but a game of chance, “roulette”, a lottery. The chance of winning is extremely low. And, what is especially annoying, the financial result does not depend much on your knowledge and abilities. You can feel art as subtly as you like, understand it well, have the necessary competencies and... lose with a bang. Because the chance of price growth in the initial price segment is almost entirely a matter of luck. Perhaps the only responsible advice that ArtSale.info can give in a situation with little-known authors is to buy for pleasure, but do not consider purchasing inexpensive paintings as an investment. As a source of intellectual pleasure – yes. As a home decoration — yes. As a practical support for the artist and his important mission in this world — yes. But as hope for enrichment — no. According to our long-term observations, in any crisis the initial segment does not grow in price. Alas. Even in rubles. And even less in dollars.

Now to the second group of fortune hunters. We are talking about those who prefer to look for underrated authors among the names of the first row, that is, among the artists from a proven auction clip. Here, too, a strange question arises: since these artists have public liquidity and a sales history, how can they be underestimated? Is it possible to be unfairly undervalued in the open market among a large number of well-informed participants?

Looking ahead, the answer is that everything can happen in Russia. And that too. Easily.

We have repeatedly observed how during crises many time-tested artists sagged in prices along with the entire market. It is a fact. And in this case, the investors' calculation is correct. It is quite reasonable to buy the works of such authors during the crisis. There is a great chance that if the general economic situation improves, their prices will be able to grow again. What artists are we talking about? You don't have to go far. Recall that in terms of dollars, today's prices for the nonconformists of the first row, and for Russian classics, are 3–5 times lower than 8–10 years ago. I'm not talking about those epic times, when Rabin was sold for a record $ 337,000, and Nemukhin for $ 240,000. That time, I think, is gone forever. But to make up for lost time by increasing prices 2–3 times is quite a plausible scenario. However, the conditions for its occurrence are not easy: economic liberalization, freedom of business, and, most importantly, growth of optimism among market participants. How soon will it come? At this point, who believes in what. Maybe the situation will mature in five years, by 2025. And then the market will “burst”.

Once again: what are the nonconformists of the first row? OK, let's write down: Oscar Rabin, Vladimir Nemukhin, Anatoly Zverev, Vladimir Yakovlev, Dmitry Krasnopevtsev, Eric Bulatov, Ilya Kabakov, Ülo Sooster, Ernst Neizvestny, Vladimir Yankilevsky, Nikolay Vechtomov, Mikhail Roginsky, Dmitry Plavinsky, Boris Sveshnikov, Lidia Masterkova, Lev Kropivnitsky, Eduard Steinberg, Igor Vulokh, Andrey Grositsky, Vyacheslav Kalinin, Petr Belenok, Yuri Kuper, Viktor Pivovarov, St. Petersburg nonconformists (Evgeny Rukhin, Evgeny Mikhnov-Voitenko, etc.), “new academicians” of Timur Novikov's circle. Right there, a little to the side, but next to it — the first names of the “Vladimir school” (Britov, Yukin, Kokurin). I didn't mention many of them, of course. In addition, with some there are encumbrances in the form of inheritance lawsuits, and inexperienced collectors are better off not diving into them. But still there are a lot of opportunities today. Where to begin? For example, pay attention to Zverev's gouaches for 300,000–400,000 rubles, Yakovlev's flowers in the region of 250,000 rubles (both are mandatory with the expertise of Silaev). Today this is quite an investment purchase.

Finally, the third group of underrated artist hunters is perhaps the most sophisticated and ambitious. They don't need advice. Everyone is perfectly aware of the risks of buying little-known authors. Therefore, their goal is to select the best works of contemporaries, living now, but recognized: with monographs and exhibitions in leading national museums. We are talking, in particular, about such authors as Pavel Pepperstein, Anatoly Osmolovsky, Oleg Kulik, Alexey Gintovt, Alexander Vinogradov with Vladimir Dubosarsky, the AES+F group, etc. That is, well-known, with museum exhibitions, with monographs, with driving forces, with gallery support and a history of auction sales. At the same time, artists continue to work, there is a choice of works and the expectation that prices for them should rise following the release of new projects and career development. I think that buyers of established living artists are generally thinking in the right direction. In life, anything happens, but with a high degree of probability, most famous contemporary artists will remain in the history of art. They are no longer only in galleries and private collections, but in museums and textbooks. This can be considered an investment if you can buy them for little money. However, it will be so difficult to buy cheap. The sales of famous authors are closely monitored by the galleries promoting them. And the price tag is usually oh-ho-ho. Often, the gallery prices that are asked today for works by famous contemporary authors are comparable to the prices for the top nonconformists. It will take a very long time to recoup such costs. Well, there's nothing you can do about it. Galleries still work for collectors, not for investors and resellers. It is possible to buy cheaply only on some occasion, at auctions or in private.

What is the conclusion?

Seeking out the grossly underestimated is the lot of those who consider themselves much smarter than the market. Ask me personally what to invest in today — I would advise not to experiment, but to buy proven names. It is better to methodically select works of liquid authors from the auction clip. First of all, to buy well-known nonconformists, which are qualitatively presented on the market, there is plenty to choose from, and they still cost quite sane money. Nemukhin's “trophy” works, his most successful themes, can be purchased for $ 7,000–15,000. The stunning, selected works of Dmitry Krasnopevtsev appear for $ 30,000–35,000. We are talking about absolutely investment-grade paintings, which do not need to look for buyers for months. When did this happen and when will it still happen? Everything is pretty reliable here. Those who are ready to turn off the beaten track and do with a more modest budget should look around. Gorkom group «21», gorkom group “Twenty”, “Vladimir school”, group “Movement” and its legacy, artists of the Monastyrsky circle, “bielutins” — in Russian post-war art there are a lot of underexplored groups and trends. And what is happening in art at the turn of the late eighties — early nineties (when the country had no time for art) is generally a dark forest, an unplowed field, a lot of work. Research breakthroughs, individual revisions of roles and reassessments of authors in these areas are still quite possible. Although, to be honest, one should not expect major sensations. Major discoveries have already been made almost everywhere.

Vladimir Bogdanov, the expert of the auction ArtSale.info

For more on this topic, watch our video:
8. Learning to Invest in Art Objects. Investing in underestimated artists