Ramtin Naimi

Their markets can sustain eight to 12 very high value paintings transacting every year.

So then you always try to think about that in your calculus.

If the market depth is shallow and I'm a young collector and everybody else collecting this artist is 30 to 40 years older than me, in 20 to 30 years, am I going to be the only person who's collecting this artist?

There's a lot of things to try to think about there.

But I think at the end of the day, you're really just trying to buy art that stands the test of time.

Is there any interesting thing you've learned about the literal cost of things and what generates return from there?

This has changed dramatically in recent years.

Ovitz always tells me that he wishes I started my collecting 20 to 25 years ago versus starting collecting today.

And I asked what was different about 20 to 25 years ago.

And he said 20 to 25 years ago, entry-level art was $10,000.

Blue-chip art

Not blue chip Casas and Rothkas, but blue chip contemporary art was in the order of magnitudes of low hundred thousands.

20, 25 years ago, you could walk into a gallery and if there was a painting you liked, you could take it home.

You could place it on hold.

You could live it within your living room for two weeks and decide whether or not you wanted it.

You could make a gallery and offer it a 20 to 25% less than what they were asking for it and have the painting.

The number of collectors in recent years has dramatically increased.

Here's another parallel to venture.

The same way the number of investors have dramatically increased.

And as a result, the entry valuations to art have dramatically increased as well.