Despite times of crisis
Inflation plays into the hands of Kunsthaus Lempertz
6/30/2023, 5:33 p.m
Even works of art by less prominent artists now reach the million mark. In the podcast “The hour zero”, the head of the traditional Cologne auction house Lempertz reveals who burns their fingers when buying works of art and what he thinks of the NFT boom.
Time and again, top prices are achieved at art auctions – even for works by artists who are only known to a small community. It’s a business that works even in times of crisis, as Henrik Hanstein, head of the Cologne auction house Lempertz, explains.
“Inflation is playing into our hands a bit,” says Hanstein in the “Zero Hour” podcast. “There is also a flight to material assets.” In this way, even less prominent artists can achieve prices in the millions. Since acquired works of art can be resold tax-free after some time, there is a growing number of investors who invest in paintings or sculptures.
However, Hanstein, whose house has a history going back almost 180 years, advises against buying art solely for financial reasons: “You should buy art for the fun of it. If you buy for investment reasons, you can burn your fingers.” In order to be able to assess the value of a work, a maximum of experience and knowledge is required – and also the right intuition. “Price does not equal value,” he says. “Some artists get high prices, but they don’t necessarily have to last.”
Hanstein, who also heads the Association of European Auctioneers, assumes that an increasing part of the business will shift to the Internet, even if there will be physical auctions for a long time to come. He doesn’t think much of NFTs, i.e. electronic works of art whose uniqueness is to be secured by blockchain. “It didn’t really end up at the auctions,” he says. “The NFT market has shot up, there was also a lot of manipulation involved. And now it’s steaming down to normality.”
Listen in the new episode of “The Zero Hour“:
All episodes can be found directly at RTL+, Apple or Spotify or via Google.