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I’m no financial guru, but you really don’t need an MBA to understand these markets. Unprecedented losses, wild policy swings, and finance professionals reduced to shadows of their former selves. Bear, Merrill, Lehman, AIG… and the hits just keep on coming. I look at trillions of dollars evaporating into thin air, and wonder, in this environment, how could anyone talk about buying art? Consider the art market since January as well as next year’s outlook – reduced buying at art fairs, lowered revenue forecasts at auction houses, and last-minute deals to salvage the season. Will this be our fate too? Is there no light, no tunnel, and no end?

But then at the darkest point, I look over at the paintings, sculptures, and photographs that surround me, and a peaceful thought washes over – collecting art has nothing to do with money, and everything to do with personal happiness. I’m talking about the sublime happiness that comes from the heavenly glass landscapes of Hideki Kuwajima’s photos, and Tomoko Shioyasu’s meditatively delicate papercut works. I always tell people that art is a matchless asset, precisely because even if the market crashes and its monetary value declines, you can still wake up the next morning and enjoy it. Moreover, it’s not just the artwork itself, but the feeling of contentment it gives us, that is so rare and precious. In the current climate, now more than ever, this is what matters. This is why it’s always a good time to collect art – no matter when you buy; it’s an investment in your own wellbeing (something we could all use right about now).

Now, I could go on about how buying in a slowing art market amidst Dante’s Wall Street Inferno will likely net you a discount, due to decreased competition and lower reserve prices at auction, not to mention increased flexibility in pricing and payment options at galleries. Throw in the possibility of bottom-feeding unsold lots at auction (in good supply at the Sotheby’s New York Asian Contemporary Art sale), and you could do quite well over a ten-year period. But that’s really not what this is about. You’re faced with a very sobering choice about where to put your money so that it will do the most good. Now, no one can guarantee that any financial investment will make you rich. But Uncle guarantees that collecting good art will make you happy. I just have to look at my walls to know this is true.

Got a question? Email: uncle@thecollectionist.com