The Worth of Art - by Arturo Cifuentes & Ventura Charlin (Hardcover)

About the Book

Arturo Cifuentes and Ventura Charlin provide an expert guide to the methods, risks, and rewards of investing in art. They detail how to apply the financial and statistical tools and techniques used to evaluate more traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, and real estate to art markets.

Book Synopsis

Silver Medal Winner, 2024 Axiom Business Book Award, Personal Finance / Retirement Planning / Investing

The market for art can be as eye-catching as artworks themselves. Works by artists from da Vinci and Rembrandt to Picasso and Modigliani have sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. The world's ultrawealthy increasingly treat art as part of their portfolios. Since artworks are often valuable assets, how should financial professionals analyze them?

Arturo Cifuentes and Ventura Charlin provide an expert guide to the methods, risks, and rewards of investing in art. They detail how to apply the financial and statistical tools and techniques used to evaluate more traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, and real estate to art markets.

The Worth of Art: Financial Tools for the Art Markets shows readers how to use empirical evidence to answer questions such as: How do the returns on Basquiat compare to the S&P 500? Are Monet's portraits as valuable as his landscapes? Do red paintings fetch higher prices than blue ones, and does the color palette matter equally to the sales of abstract Rothkos and figurative Hockneys? How much should be loaned to a borrower who is pledging one of Joan Mitchell's late abstract paintings as collateral? Would the risk-return profile of a conventional portfolio benefit from exposure to Warhol?

Rigorous and readable, this book also demonstrates how quantitative analysis can deepen aesthetic appreciation of art.

Review Quotes

For those interested in investing in blue-chip painting and have the means to do so, The Worth of Art will be illuminating and useful.-- "Exertions: Society for the Anthropology of Work"

Essential reading for collectors, investors, and dealers -- as well as members of the art community.-- "Midwest Book Review"

Two decades ago, Arturo Cifuentes, a Chilean financier, used his quantitative skills to parse financial derivatives with great effect: long before 2008, he warned that a financial crisis loomed (influencing my own journalism). Now, however, Cifuentes has another mission: he is redeploying his skills to analyse art, exploring issues such as the relative return and risk profile of Jean-Michel Basquiat's paintings. (Complex calculations in his co-authored book The Worth of Art suggest that Basquiat not only outperforms US equities, but also works by Renoir and Matisse.)... At art fairs, financialisation remains a dirty word. But if this trend drives more money into the art world, those artists should have reason to raise a glass to it. As Cifuentes says, even algorithms can create beauty.-- "Gillian Tett, Financial Times"

Selected as one of Martin S. Fridson's 3 favorite reads of 2023-- "Shepherd"

Illuminating and riveting. The Worth of Art is indispensable for anyone making an initial foray into art as a vehicle for building wealth. Its techniques and insights will also be new to many seasoned art investors.-- "CFA Institute's Enterprising Investor"

The Worth of Art is full of thought-provoking research and intriguing observations that provide a novel--and revelatory--lens on the world of art. Cifuentes and Charlin are invaluable guides to the complexities and intricacies of the art market.--Bianca Bosker, author of Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste

As art continues to be accepted as a bankable asset class unto its own, any investor looking to enter this complex marketplace should be armed with the necessary quantitative tools to complement any qualitative analysis. This book is a "must have" guide for any serious art investor--new or seasoned--looking to navigate the often rocky terrain of the art market.--Judd Grossman, founder and managing partner, Grossman LLP

In The Worth of Art, two sophisticated quantitative analysts demonstrate the value of applying the powerful tools of financial economics to a wide range of issues involving art markets. Arturo Cifuentes and Ventura Charlin have written a genuinely innovative book. Their careful exposition of statistical techniques will be required reading for participants in art markets, and their conclusions will be of interest to anyone who enjoys thinking systematically about art and what makes it valuable.--David W. Galenson, University of Chicago

The authors have presented a compelling way to value art, drawing on tools used in financial markets and adjusting for the idiosyncrasies of the asset class. This work, which advances an understanding of investing in art, should be welcomed by both the art world and the financial community as it deftly straddles both spheres.--Timothy Goodell, international banker

This book will help demystify the art buying process for novice and expert art collectors alike. The tools provided for financial analysis will give readers a better framework to make educated collecting decisions and buy with their head as well as their heart.--Amelia Manderscheid, Vice President and Senior Director for Post-War & Contemporary Art, Bonhams

This is a magnificent book. Original, deep and detailed. It is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the intersection between markets and art.--Sebastian Edwards, Henry Ford II Distinguished Professor of International Economics, Anderson Graduate School of Management, UCLA

About the Author

Arturo Cifuentes is a finance professional; senior research associate at Clapes UC, a public policy center affiliated with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; and former president of the Chilean sovereign fund investment committee. He holds a PhD in applied mechanics from the California Institute of Technology and has taught at several academic institutions including Columbia Business School.

Ventura Charlin is the sole owner and principal of V.C. Consultants. She previously held senior positions at Experian, American Express, Reader's Digest, and Columbia House. Charlin is an applied statistician who holds a PhD in quantitative methods in psychology from the University of Southern California and an MS in finance from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College.