The aesthetic investment
A lot has changed since Vincent van Gogh struggled to sell a painting in order to buy a bottle of absinthe.
The art business, which has an annual value of $50-80 (zł.152-244) million in Poland alone, provides a good living for painters and sculptors - at least the popular ones. Igor Mintoraj is near the top of the pile and his sculptures typically command a price tag of several hundred thousand dollars. Milan's municipality paid him some $700,000 (zł.2.13 million) for a fountain with a centaur. Paintings by Jerzy Nowosielski rarely go for less than zł.100,000 and Wojciech Siudmak, a fantastic realism artist, puts his work in the calendars of the largest Polish companies and runs an internet site that includes online sales of reproductions and catalogues.
Plying their trade
Many artists, especially those accused of conforming to consumers' tastes, adapt to the role of businessmen well, while actual businessmen who satisfy their hankering for art and antiques rarely lose money on their passions in the long run.
"Antique furniture does not lose value, unlike even the top-class mass-produced furniture," says Monika Branicka, an art critic with Art & Business magazine. She predicts more and more wealthy customers will look for the old and dusty to decorate their houses, as now in Poland: "Gone are the times when IKEA sets were a fashionable luxury."
Although a pre-war cupboard in the living room might please an owner with some aesthetic appreciation, paintings remain the type of investments where the real profits are.
"There is a significant group of people making a very good living from [trading art]," says Marek Lengiewicz, the president of Rempex, Poland's largest auction house. As those circles cherish anonymity, Lengiewicz will not disclose names, but some of country's richest people are known to be key players. Profit prospects outrun any other type of investment.
"If you step ahead of a coming fashion you can reach from tens to hundreds of percent markup," explains Branicka. According to the industry insiders, due to an expected price rise by the end of 2005, the time to buy is now.
Antique history
The art market in Poland, which played a significant role during the interwar period, has never fully recovered from the plundering of the Second World War. The Nazis and Russians were continually outdoing each other in the amount of artwork they could rob, most of which never found its way back here. This is not due to a lack of effort, but to the inability to establish and prove ownership rights.
Rising fortunes
The fall of communism saw an immediate rise in great fortunes and a striking demand for anything the nouveau riche could hang on their freshly painted walls. This is how Lengiewicz describes the usual conversation with a client in those days: "You have a Malczewski [a famous Polish symbolist]? Wrap it up, the driver will be there in a minute." The craze for any art ASAP resulted in the overpricing of some popular artists' works in Poland's diminutive market.
The large collection of entrepreneur and former tennis player Wojciech Fibak fueled the fashion for École de Paris in the 1990s. But the skyrocketing prices soon plummeted by half when Fibak sold a large part of his collection, flooding the market with École de Paris pieces, and leaving followers of the trend with unprofitable, if pretty, paintings.
Outsourcing art
One would think that the dense but shallow paintings market would be a foreign investor's dream, but they rarely show up. The country, stripped of its high-class art during the wars, has a relatively strict export policy, which states that so-called 'objects of national heritage' can leave Poland only under the supervision of conservatory authorities. The law means harsh limits on exporting anything manufactured before 1945, from a zł.1 million painting to a porcelain cup.
"This hampers trade, as one must pay for the necessary permits," says the president of the Antique Dealers Association of Poland, Jerzy Huczkowski. The bill puts no restrictions on contemporary art, but foreign collectors are only vaguely familiar with this area. Local antiques do not draw attention as well, since the meager price difference with Western Europe does not allow for spectacular profits. Besides, as spelled out by Warsaw's antique-store owner Zbigniew Wieczorek, forgotten pearls hidden in the attic of a countryside house are now very rare.
Antique imports
While artwork may not be Poland's top export, the amount of art flowing into Poland is ever-increasing. Poles typically end up looking to satisfy the needs of their souls abroad, mostly in the art-affluent West. More and more German or Dutch paintings are finding their way to Polish auction houses. Moreover, the country is becoming the antique-furniture renovation center for the richer parts of the EU.
"We have a good reputation as a cheap and high-quality place to renovate," claims Huczkowski. Craftsmen and restorers are betting on more foreign orders, but aren't experiencing a flood of customers just now. Justyna Lisowicz, owner of a renovation workshop in Kraków, who recently took care of a priceless Renaissance table from a private German collector, says Polish professionalism is gaining prestige and adds: "In this business, recommendations travel by word of mouth." That is why establishing a name in the market, especially abroad, requires time.
Premium payers
But some will not wait for clients to knock on their door, and are taking matters into their own hands. Konswit, a renovator and stained-glass manufacturer from Silesia, has a website in seven languages and plans expansion in the US through a sales partner.
"American companies don't offer such traditional methods of craftsmanship as we do," asserts Konswit's Dominik Przebinda, admitting that foreign customers are more attractive, because they are willing to pay more than Poles.
However, beneath the surface of high-profile auction trade lies a universe of small-time deals. Warsaw's flea markets in Koło and Bronisze are packed on weekends with passionate collectors, old-time craftsman and, accordingly with the new fashion, young couples looking for inexpensive and original elements of décor. Websites, such as wylegarnia.pl (breeding ground), offer hand-made jewelry and lamps. Allegro.pl, the largest Polish auction portal, trades old clocks together with used mobiles or PC hardware, and American site GoAntiques.com, launched last year, claims to be a pioneer international provider of arts and collectibles. Traditional auction houses have introduced internet bidding as well, but some argue one needs to "smell and feel" the painting. In effect, the internet, plagued by insincere offers, will remain a platform for inexpensive items.
Questionable origin
"Someone offered a closet from the 1930s and wrote nonsense that it's from 18th century. Laymen are easily fooled there," criticizes Lengiewicz, who admits, however, that selling online allows cost cuts.
What worries the authorities more, however, is the fact that internet auctions can be a haven for items smuggled or of uncertified ownership. Tightening the eastern border put a hold on a stream of priceless Orthodox icons, which peaked, according to a border guard at Warsaw's Okęcie airport, in the mid-1990s. Down at the Ukrainian border, customs reported no smuggle attempts in 2004, down from an even 100 just two years earlier.
While the underground art trade has taken a blow, some are capitalizing on the Western fashion for communist memorabilia. Posters, figures and Soviet wristwatches go for as much as $250 (zł.760) on eBay, which is a huge markup on items bought for virtually nothing in Moscow or Minsk. For those not keen on collecting revolutionary junk, however, investment in high-quality art might prove pleasing to the eye as well as healthy for the wallet.
The art business, which has an annual value of $50-80 (zł.152-244) million in Poland alone, provides a good living for painters and sculptors - at least the popular ones. Igor Mintoraj is near the top of the pile and his sculptures typically command a price tag of several hundred thousand dollars. Milan's municipality paid him some $700,000 (zł.2.13 million) for a fountain with a centaur. Paintings by Jerzy Nowosielski rarely go for less than zł.100,000 and Wojciech Siudmak, a fantastic realism artist, puts his work in the calendars of the largest Polish companies and runs an internet site that includes online sales of reproductions and catalogues.
Plying their trade
Many artists, especially those accused of conforming to consumers' tastes, adapt to the role of businessmen well, while actual businessmen who satisfy their hankering for art and antiques rarely lose money on their passions in the long run.
"Antique furniture does not lose value, unlike even the top-class mass-produced furniture," says Monika Branicka, an art critic with Art & Business magazine. She predicts more and more wealthy customers will look for the old and dusty to decorate their houses, as now in Poland: "Gone are the times when IKEA sets were a fashionable luxury."
Although a pre-war cupboard in the living room might please an owner with some aesthetic appreciation, paintings remain the type of investments where the real profits are.
"There is a significant group of people making a very good living from [trading art]," says Marek Lengiewicz, the president of Rempex, Poland's largest auction house. As those circles cherish anonymity, Lengiewicz will not disclose names, but some of country's richest people are known to be key players. Profit prospects outrun any other type of investment.
"If you step ahead of a coming fashion you can reach from tens to hundreds of percent markup," explains Branicka. According to the industry insiders, due to an expected price rise by the end of 2005, the time to buy is now.
Antique history
The art market in Poland, which played a significant role during the interwar period, has never fully recovered from the plundering of the Second World War. The Nazis and Russians were continually outdoing each other in the amount of artwork they could rob, most of which never found its way back here. This is not due to a lack of effort, but to the inability to establish and prove ownership rights.
Rising fortunes
The fall of communism saw an immediate rise in great fortunes and a striking demand for anything the nouveau riche could hang on their freshly painted walls. This is how Lengiewicz describes the usual conversation with a client in those days: "You have a Malczewski [a famous Polish symbolist]? Wrap it up, the driver will be there in a minute." The craze for any art ASAP resulted in the overpricing of some popular artists' works in Poland's diminutive market.
The large collection of entrepreneur and former tennis player Wojciech Fibak fueled the fashion for École de Paris in the 1990s. But the skyrocketing prices soon plummeted by half when Fibak sold a large part of his collection, flooding the market with École de Paris pieces, and leaving followers of the trend with unprofitable, if pretty, paintings.
Outsourcing art
One would think that the dense but shallow paintings market would be a foreign investor's dream, but they rarely show up. The country, stripped of its high-class art during the wars, has a relatively strict export policy, which states that so-called 'objects of national heritage' can leave Poland only under the supervision of conservatory authorities. The law means harsh limits on exporting anything manufactured before 1945, from a zł.1 million painting to a porcelain cup.
"This hampers trade, as one must pay for the necessary permits," says the president of the Antique Dealers Association of Poland, Jerzy Huczkowski. The bill puts no restrictions on contemporary art, but foreign collectors are only vaguely familiar with this area. Local antiques do not draw attention as well, since the meager price difference with Western Europe does not allow for spectacular profits. Besides, as spelled out by Warsaw's antique-store owner Zbigniew Wieczorek, forgotten pearls hidden in the attic of a countryside house are now very rare.
Antique imports
While artwork may not be Poland's top export, the amount of art flowing into Poland is ever-increasing. Poles typically end up looking to satisfy the needs of their souls abroad, mostly in the art-affluent West. More and more German or Dutch paintings are finding their way to Polish auction houses. Moreover, the country is becoming the antique-furniture renovation center for the richer parts of the EU.
"We have a good reputation as a cheap and high-quality place to renovate," claims Huczkowski. Craftsmen and restorers are betting on more foreign orders, but aren't experiencing a flood of customers just now. Justyna Lisowicz, owner of a renovation workshop in Kraków, who recently took care of a priceless Renaissance table from a private German collector, says Polish professionalism is gaining prestige and adds: "In this business, recommendations travel by word of mouth." That is why establishing a name in the market, especially abroad, requires time.
Premium payers
But some will not wait for clients to knock on their door, and are taking matters into their own hands. Konswit, a renovator and stained-glass manufacturer from Silesia, has a website in seven languages and plans expansion in the US through a sales partner.
"American companies don't offer such traditional methods of craftsmanship as we do," asserts Konswit's Dominik Przebinda, admitting that foreign customers are more attractive, because they are willing to pay more than Poles.
However, beneath the surface of high-profile auction trade lies a universe of small-time deals. Warsaw's flea markets in Koło and Bronisze are packed on weekends with passionate collectors, old-time craftsman and, accordingly with the new fashion, young couples looking for inexpensive and original elements of décor. Websites, such as wylegarnia.pl (breeding ground), offer hand-made jewelry and lamps. Allegro.pl, the largest Polish auction portal, trades old clocks together with used mobiles or PC hardware, and American site GoAntiques.com, launched last year, claims to be a pioneer international provider of arts and collectibles. Traditional auction houses have introduced internet bidding as well, but some argue one needs to "smell and feel" the painting. In effect, the internet, plagued by insincere offers, will remain a platform for inexpensive items.
Questionable origin
"Someone offered a closet from the 1930s and wrote nonsense that it's from 18th century. Laymen are easily fooled there," criticizes Lengiewicz, who admits, however, that selling online allows cost cuts.
What worries the authorities more, however, is the fact that internet auctions can be a haven for items smuggled or of uncertified ownership. Tightening the eastern border put a hold on a stream of priceless Orthodox icons, which peaked, according to a border guard at Warsaw's Okęcie airport, in the mid-1990s. Down at the Ukrainian border, customs reported no smuggle attempts in 2004, down from an even 100 just two years earlier.
While the underground art trade has taken a blow, some are capitalizing on the Western fashion for communist memorabilia. Posters, figures and Soviet wristwatches go for as much as $250 (zł.760) on eBay, which is a huge markup on items bought for virtually nothing in Moscow or Minsk. For those not keen on collecting revolutionary junk, however, investment in high-quality art might prove pleasing to the eye as well as healthy for the wallet.
