Investing Guide
At Easel Investing, we focus primarily on Blue Chip and Established artists, but we also explore Emerging artists to identify those with potential to become Blue Chip in the future. In this vein, we have selected five artists to consider for investment. We don’t want to consider artist too early in their careers because the risks for an investor are simply too high. Thus the following artists have a profile in the art world, have exhibited internationally, are supported by mid-tier galleries.
#1. Ivy Haldeman
We feel strongly enough about Ivy Haldeman’s prospects as an Emerging artist and as an investment that we devoted an entire Investing Report to her. READ MORE
#2. Qualeasha Wood
Qualeasha Wood might be the most famous of this list’s 5 emerging artists. However, due to the medium in which she works (woven fabric), she does not have any cheap editions or affordable originals. This holds her back from being collected by beginner investors, but this doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be on the radar of art collectors in case investment opportunities from her come to market.
#3. Baseera Khan and Misha Kahn
We have chosen Baseera Khan and Misha Kahn because we believe that one of them will win MTV’s The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist TV show. Bear in mind that they share a last name but do not work together or related in any way. It is coincidental that they are the two most accomplished of the six Emerging artists on the show. It is my thought that they were chosen with the intention that both would make it to the final final three, from which the competition’s ultimate winner is chosen. Both artists have exhibited internationally and within significant US Museums, and are on the right path to be considered ‘Established’.
The prize of exhibiting at the Hirshorn Museum will go some way in supporting the career of the winner, and simply appearing on this show will add to the profile of the other even if they don’t win. In terms of ‘collect-ability’, Misha has a leg up on Baseera, only because he is more prolific.
#4. Emily Ludwig Shaffer
Emily Ludwig Shaffer is an Emerging artist that has exhibited in a number of solo and group exhibitions across the United States and Europe. What I’m waiting for from Shaffer are better looking editioned prints. Her original paintings can be really nice and it would great if some of these were released as prints. Right now, the only real print option is the artwork in the image below, which is OK, and perhaps a little pricey when compared to her originals. If you decide to look her up, you will also see that there is a small original of hers for about the same price as the aforementioned limited edition print, which makes me further question why she has priced the print so high.
#5. Jean-Baptiste Bernadet
I recently came across the emerging artist Jean-Baptiste Bernadet among the editions that White Columns Gallery has for sale (White Column’s Bernadet editions are for sale for US$150 – see below image). And then to my surprise, he also turned up in Artsy trending artists for March 2023 list, up 1000% in inquiries from the month earlier, perhaps due to his collaboration the French fashion brand, Études.
If editions are not your thing, his paintings will set you back more than US$20,000. I’m not the biggest fan of his work, but sometimes you cannot ignore what collectors are searching for, and its not like I couldn’t live with his work on my walls (they are pleasant enough), made all the more pleasant if I am intending to sell his work for a profit.
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Check out Masterworks and Yieldstreet to explore art funds that let you purchase shares in million-dollar artworks from blue chip artists like Banksy, Kaws, and Yayoi Kusama.
Read more: Art ETF: Masterworks vs. Yieldstreet
