Driven by passion and profit, more young Singaporeans buy art

“I think it speaks first to the cultural heritage and passion for people’s own culture and the passion that they have in rediscovering the continuum of art. You don’t see artists today that haven’t been inspired by artists from yesterday, who are not inspired from artists from the day before.”

Art Consultancy Metis Art has also seen a rise in millennials purchasing works.

While they do not track the numbers, the firm’s director of education and consultancy Christine Chua said: “The pandemic was a turning point. Without the bustle of office life and constant travel, a lot of millennials became more introspective and curious about art. They also started to notice the empty spaces on their walls at home.”

While auction house Bonhams does not provide data by region, purchases by millennials and Gen Z clients increased by 147 per cent this year.

WHY ARE THEY BUYING ART?

Mr Hallewell said that the interest in art has partly been spurred by the economic situation over the past 18 months.

“We’ve seen the economic crisis with the stock shares, bonds, real estate volatility … The cost of living increases are having an impact and people are looking for a stable, safe haven investment. So art over the years has been demonstrated to be extremely resilient,” he said.

Ms Chua said that from a financial standpoint, society is in the midst of a “great generational wealth transfer” and art as an alternative asset proves to be a good hedge against inflation.

While Mr Berlin from Christie’s acknowledged that it is fair for potential buyers to ask if art costing up to eight figures will yield strong financial returns, his auction house does not advise collectors to buy purely for investment.

“There’s so many other things you can do if you really want to invest your money from real estate, stock market, in a financial market, bonds and we think these are more liquid and they are more easily accessible and sometimes even easier to price. We believe that art has to be a passion, collecting has to be a passion,” he said.

Art collection is, however, no cheap affair.

To acquire a valuable art piece, industry players said individuals must be willing to fork out at least between S$10,000 and S$50,000, a steep starting point that may be daunting for some newcomers.

Portfolio expert from Great Eastern Eddy Lim said that in terms of general investments, clients under the age of 35 typically do not invest more than S$3,000 a year, partly due to their limited disposable income.

People in this age group tend to spend their money on things like travel and concert tickets, he said.

“They’re still at a stage where they are trying to find out what works,” he added.

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