House Rules: buying an artwork

Have you ever been astonished by what a work of art can fetch? Or, likewise, astounded that it is even considered art at all? Take a look at MOBA: The Museum of Bad Art (museumofbadart.org). Some of the works, which have been either donated or found in skips, look rather similar to gallery pieces.

So why is some art bad and some supposed to be good. And how do you tell them apart?

It can't be consensus, not when some people rave about oil slicks on gallery floors and the rest of us don't. Maybe it's money – surely it's a sign of quality if it cost megabucks? Not exactly. In 2007, the Flat Lake Festival at Hilton Park, Co Monaghan sold a Damien Hirst for just €380.

One of Hirst’s Spin paintings (which he doesn’t always even make himself), it was sold alongside other spin paintings, some made by children at the local school.

When the real Hirst was revealed, the buyer followed the spirit of things, and auctioned it for charity. It made €95,000.

In the same year, Hanging Heart (Magenta) by Jeff Koons sold for $23.7 million. Two years later Hanging Heart (Violet) went for "just" $11 million. Perhaps purple is less than half as good as red.

What about the signature? You can tell a great deal from a signature: the smaller it is, the more seriously the artist is likely to be taken by the art world. But there’s a risk in buying a “name”.

To announce you have, say, a le Brocquy is like saying you’re dating a blonde: not all le Brocquys, Shinnors, Picassos or Warhols are the same. Even the greatest artists have their off-days, and off-pieces. What you’re really looking for with an artwork is the slow burn, the piece you can’t stop thinking about, even after you’ve left the gallery. If it has that kind of effect on you, it’s more than likely the artist put time, skill and belief into making it. And it’s also more than likely it will hold its value. Artworks are like people– you don’t have to like all of them. As with people, though, sometimes learning a little more about what makes them tick will help you appreciate them more.

So trust your gut. And, if you’re still thinking about a piece of art, long after you’ve walked away, chances are that, to you, it’s good.

Don't forget, too, that fashions change: Van Gogh famously sold only ne work in his lifetime.