Art by Students
The AP's Joan Loviglio had an interesting article in the Philly Inquirer about art by students being the latest rage and uses the example of local art collector Susan Guill who, for about 15 years, has been attending the annual student exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to buy student artwork and now "nearly every wall in her Bala Cynwyd home is adorned with the work of an academy student; she purchased five student paintings at this year's show alone."
But according to Loviglio, in recent years, the crowds have become larger and the art "gets snapped up even faster."
Buying student artwork has always been a great idea for young collectors and collectors on a limited budget. Savvy collectors and smart art dealers have always known that keeping an eye on what the art schools are delivering is a proven way to stay fresh and ahead of the game.
The article discusses New York's Tilton Gallery and quotes gallery director Janine Cirincione, who told the New Yorker magazine that this year an exhibition titled "School Days," featuring art by 19 graduate students from Hunter College, Columbia and Yale University, was 70 percent sold before the opening, with prices ranging from $2,000 to $16,000.
In the Greater DC area, over the last few years, Conner Contemporary, Fraser Gallery, and Irvine Contemporary have all regularly had student shows and consistently included work by art students in their exhibition schedules. In the Greater Philly area, according to the article this year, the Pennsylvania Academy's 105th annual student show broke all previous sales records, raising $313,000 in its three-week run. About 350 works of art were sold, some priced as high as $15,000.
I know of at least one major ubercollector based in Maryland, who regularly attends students shows around the Mid Atlantic region, and happens to have an excellent eye (and one of the largest private art collections that I have ever seen — literally numbering in the thousands of paintings and sculptures and lately even some videos) and who has been doing this "student art" practice for many years now.
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