Investing in fine arts

Most Malaysians are willing to pay 400-500k for a car but when you ask them to pay for 30 k for a piece of art, they can bitch and moan about it. However, for those who can appreciate fine arts, beside making the the wall of a house beautiful, you can sell it for a handsome profit when you decided to cash out.

(The Star) AS expected, Art Auction Malaysia 2011 last Sunday recorded outstanding sales figures and set new national records for many local artists, especially Abdul Latiff Mohidin and Chang Fee Ming.

At the hammered price of RM520,000, Latiff’s well-publicised Pago-Pago Forms – the top pick of the 104 lots – drew loud applause from the packed room of well over 200 people at the White Box, MAP@Publika, in Kuala Lumpur.

The 1968 oil on canvas (88x68.8cm) attracted furious bidding among a dozen parties, with a starting price of RM250,000. But that soon dwindled to a handful of tenacious bidders when it went over the RM390,000 mark. This seems to be the threshold figure that separates most individual collectors from institutional buyers and those with staying power.

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2011/6/26/lifearts/8948609&sec=lifearts


Latiff Mohidin’s Pago-Pago Forms fetched RM572,000, inclusive of the buyer’s 10% premium.

Valuable: A remarkable RM198,000, inclusive of the buyer’s premium, was paid for Datuk Hoessein Enas’ oil on canvas, Morning Mist 5.