The Jakarta Post explores Indonesia’s art market dividing the collecting universe into three types. Unfortunately, two of the three collector profiles put the financial aspects of the art ahead of their aesthetic appeal. More troubling is this comparison to a very different financial crisis a decade ago:

Oei Hong Djien, an art collector who sits on the Singapore Art Museum’s board of directors, agrees. If the situation mirrors that of the 1998 financial crisis, he says, the art market is likely to experience a boom this year.

During the 1998 crisis, Oei reveals many people looked for the most convenient and promising ways to invest their money – including purchasing paintings.

“[At that time] they heard that paintings that were cheap would become expensive, so they were interested [in investing],” Oei says. “Then that was it. The art market suddenly turned crowded in the middle of this economic crisis. It was weird.”

Collector and owner of Nadi Gallery, Biantoro Santoso, says that enjoyment tends not to be people’s first motivation for buying art. “I would say there are more people who collect for investment, for either the short term or the long term,” he says. “Some collectors will keep their paintings for years until they can sell them again with high returns.”

Art for Love or Money (The Jakarta Post)