Whilst some owners of art - be it a small “admirer” assemblage or a “serious” collection - regularly have pieces valued for the insurance policy every couple of years and also add new acquisitions to the policy, some collectors ask “Why? What’s the point?”.

An artwork in itself is an irreplaceable item. It is often a sentimental belonging in which memories and personal associations are represented.

So what happens if the house burns down? What if a criminal steals all the silver as well as the paintings?

Although it is not possible (in most cases at least!) to literally replace your artwork, it is possible to buy something new to at least represent the art that has been lost. If you have not insured the artwork using a good insurance policy, not only are you emotionally distraught, you also have to come up with the time and funds to buy something new.

With a reliable insurance policy, both the replacement time and financial requirement to acquire new work should be incorporated to insure individual pieces.

Artworks should be re-valued approximately every two years. You can also take the opportunity to get comparison quotations with other insurers. Some great news is that art insurance is often less costly than collectors assume it to be - and clearly it is worthwhile, should the worst happen!

For details on Art Valuators and Art Insurers, please Contact Mumford Fine Art.

–Susan Johnson Mumford

Like any investment class, one doesn’t know what will happen with prices of an artist’s pieces during a recession. One can observe as market results unfold, however it isn’t until later that sense can be made of what has happened to an artist’s market, and why.

Still in recession as of June 2010, we can observe what has happened over the last 18 months and start to see trends unfolding. In the March/April 2009 issue of The Jackdaw newsletter for the arts, Editor David Lee reported:

“What used to be called ‘Modern British’ art is bearing up considering market conditions. This has to do with the fact that its qualities are visible rather than theoretical. In recent sales Lowry and Frinks sold securely whilst others at least trod water.”

More than a year later, The Art Newspaper (May 2010) has specifically cited of Frink’s market as being a strong one in the recession:

“…Frink’s unique gold version pf a 12-edition bronze, Rolling Over Horse, 1972, which sold at Christie’s in 2002 for £39,435 (est £25,000-£35,000), and again in 2008 for £169,250 (est £70,000-£100,000).”

The major difference in market opinions between Lee and The Art Newspaper (TAN) is that according to Lee, Modern British (the Post-World War II period in British art) has held up generally during the recession, and according the TAN Mod Brit has made a marked improvement from 2003 to 2009, however between 2007 and 2009 experienced a general downturn. In the latter view, a few select Mod Brit artists including Elisabeth Frink  and Charles Sargeant Jagger have maintained - even having notably improved - market values.

In my own observations, last week’s auction sales in London are important for establishing Frink’s continual  climb upwards in the art market. Prior to the auction I held reservations about market prices for Elisabeth Frink’s bronze horses in particular. Although it seemed that other Frink genres had done well throughout the recession, the horses - for which the artist is most recognised - had suffered. I suspected they had been in the ‘bubble’ prior to market crashes in 2008. With the new results, it has been confirmed that Frink’s celebrated horse sculptures have regained ground and accordingly their market values have re-stabilised.

Last week’s auction sale results in London:

• Larger Lying Down Horse (1972), Edn 5/6, width 38.1 cm (15 in). Christie’s London 27th May 2010. Est £120,000-£180,000. Sold at £181,250 Premium
• Horse in the Rain II (1977), width 33 cm (13 in). Christie’s London 27th May 2010. Est £40,000-£60,000. Sold at £44,450 Premium.
• Jogging man with Goggles, Edn 7/8, height 39.9 cm (15.7 in). Sotheby’s London 26th May 2010. Est £25,000-£35,000. Sold at £51,650 Premium.
• Chinese Horse IV (rolling), Edn 2/8, height 25.4 cm (10in). Sotheby’s London 26th May 2010. Est £50,000-£70,000. Sold at £97,250 Premium.

What are your views on the Modern British art market? Please leave your comments below.

(Note the moderator approves prior to publishing.)

Susan (centre) organising juice stand, circa 1989

The following is a draft of an article shortly being published in a magazine for women in business. Please read about Mumford Fine Art Gallery Director Susan Johnson Mumford’s experiences, and feel free to make comments below.

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Susan has always liked playing with the boys. One of her lasting memories from childhood – one she frequently recalls now in daily life – harks back to the American soccer field. Late one afternoon at the age of 10, she approached the pitch. She was the last team player to arrive on the first day of practice for the season. “Oh no, it’s a girl!” said one voice. “Now we’ll never win!” piped in another. Susan thought, “I will show those boys. I will be the best player in this team. They won’t know what to do without me.” It became a single-minded mission of the young girl’s, one that developed into her showing the boys that girls can play ball too. She succeeded as a top team player –a Wing – every season. However she didn’t realise the game would last so long, that she would be returning to the soccer field on a regular basis, metaphorically-speaking, more than twenty years later.

“When people prejudge me for being a woman in a man’s business world I often think, ‘Back to the soccer field.’”

Susan Johnson Mumford was raised in small-town USA and moved to London in year 2000. By December 2004 she had formed Mumford Fine Art, opening her Soho gallery in April 2006. Although she had experienced one-off situations in which there were clear variances in opportunity between girls and boys, or women and men, she has never thought that having more difficulty in one arena – for example, the soccer field – meant there would be any difference for women and men in other areas – for example, the art world. It has only been after extensive experience as a woman art dealer that she has noticed any difference in opportunity between the sexes.

This article considers three points: 1) the natural entrepreneurial spirit; 2) establishing that there are differences for the sexes in the art world; and 3) setting-up the Association of Women Art Dealers as a way forward for women art dealers and gallerists.

The entrepreneurial spirit

Some might say she inherited the entrepreneurial mindset from her 19^th Century relatives who helped settle a town in West Texas. Their ventures varied from cattleman to grocer, from banker to land owner. They did what it took to survive in the Wild West. The entrepreneurial side of Susan revealed herself at a young age. Every summer she set up a lemonade stand - a drink she didn’t even like. As time passed and she was allowed to play farther down the road, the business location accordingly changed to busier street junctions. Perhaps in those early lemonade stand days, being a girl was a business asset. But at the time she had no idea what was to come when she decided to take the London art world by storm.

Establishing differences between the sexes

Within a month of setting up her company, Johnson Mumford found herself being cross-examined by a potential gallery artist:

“So, do you plan on having children?”

She thought, “Shouldn’t that question be out-of-bounds?”

She also soon noticed certain questions regularly being asked by the public:

“So, you run the gallery with your husband?”

“You must be a rich American heiress.”

“Aren’t you too young to run a gallery? You can’t be the Gallery Director!”

Welcome to the London Art World.

Susan found herself continually being asked to justify her position. “I have a BA in Fine Art, an MA in Arts Management. Worked for years in retail management. Worked in several independent art galleries. Worked as a curator. Yes, [despite your assumptions] I am qualified to run an art gallery…”

Much of the London business world is steeped in the old school “boys’ club” mentality. So how does a go-getting unknown American woman progress in business? “I have been told I do not fit into any of the boxes on many occasions. I never realized there were boxes.”

Susan says that being an Anglicized Southern Belle in her early thirties – not a man in a pin-striped suit – would become her most powerful weapon of all. She realized that as she didn’t fit anywhere within the established roles in the British business and social worlds, she could do as she pleased.

Yet Johnson Mumford also understood the importance of working with the system. The process of buying art is based on trust. In order to feel confident to commit to an acquisition, a buyer needs to trust the brand and the individual selling it. This proved a challenge for this outsider. To make matters worse, this young woman with a gallery discovered she was not being taken seriously – nothing to do with being under-qualified or incapable – but to do with the London art world excluding those outside the established - for the most part, those not part of the boys’ club.

Women in business have to constantly be on top of the game. They have to work far harder and try to outsmart their colleagues to experience anything like equivalent success as men. Nor are they given the same graces as men to make mistakes along the journey to success.

A way forward – The Association of Women Art Dealers

It was after Susan heard another woman art dealer’s frustrated account of all the deals being done between the boys - which she first came up with the idea of forming The Association for Women Art Dealers.

It is not that Johnson Mumford has any problems working with men, a feeling shared by other female dealers. The art world is steeped to this day in the social hierarchies that have existed for hundreds of years – women dealers continue to try to break through the old art world barriers, and granted are succeeding, to a certain extent. Furthermore a strength of the association lies in the notion that people with common ground readily do business together. Susan says, ‘the boys can do their deals; they can smoke their cigars in their smoking rooms. I have no problem with that. We ladies will simply do our own deals with one another.’ As Jude Kelly suggested, women at the top of the arts world didn’t get their old boys’ club network, they got there with a lot of sweat.

The Association of Women Art Dealers (AWAD) offers a platform for pulling together resources and accordingly placing members in a stronger position. The new association is already proving successful in negotiating discounts for trade suppliers. The mission statement reads: The Association of Women Art Dealers aims to facilitate business and collaborative opportunities between members, who are comprised of UK-based art dealers and gallerists. Furthermore the Association presents increased networking opportunities and discounts / trade arrangements exclusive to members.

The Association is currently forming affiliations with similar organisations for mutual trade and advancement of their members. The Association’s website is under development and monthly meetings are taking place. Members discuss current and upcoming projects opening opportunities between dealers and pooling their talents.

Susan credits fellow women art dealers in the days before AWAD days for helping encourage her in times of need. She specifically acknowledges Cynthia Corbett and Rebecca Hossack, both of whom own London art galleries. Recalling the story of Susan on the soccer field as a young girl, she continues on her mission to realise success not only for herself but also for other women in business.