Art as an Investment
Why Art Transaction Volume Is Growing Faster Than Art Prices
Art transaction volume keeps rising while aggregate value stays soft. Here is what drives the split, and why a broader, more liquid market matters to investors.
Features & Analysis
Long-Form Research on the Art Market
Deeply reported features from the Masterworks Research Team, published weekly.
Art as an Investment
When Markets Diverge: Why Contemporary Art and Old Masters Don't Move Together
Contemporary art and Old Masters appreciate at very different rates and rarely move in step. Here is why the collecting categories diverge, and what it means for diversifying within art.
Alternative Investments
What Is Venture Capital and How Do VC Returns Work
Venture capital returns follow a power law: a few winners drive most of the gains while most bets fail. A plain explainer of VC, the J-curve, and access.
Art Market Explainers
What Is Modern Art? The 1860 to 1970 Market Explained
Modern art runs from the 1860s to about 1970, from Impressionism to Minimalism. Here is what defines it and why it anchors the blue-chip auction market.
Art Market Explainers
What Is Contemporary Art? Definitions and Market Boundaries
What contemporary art means, where the post-1945 vs post-1970 boundary sits, how it differs from Modern, and why it is the largest auction segment.
Alternative Investments
What Is a Hedge Fund? Strategies, Fees, and Who Can Invest
A hedge fund is a pooled, lightly regulated fund that uses strategies like long/short, macro, and arbitrage. Here are the fees, eligibility rules, and real returns.
Art as an Investment
What Institutional Due Diligence Looks Like for Art Investments
How funds, family offices, and private banks vet a painting before buying: authentication, provenance, title, condition, valuation, AML, insurance, and tax.
Data and Research
What Indices Track Art Market Performance, and Their Limitations
A guide to the major art market indices (Mei Moses, Artprice, Artnet, Knight Frank, Masterworks), how each is built, and where every one of them falls short.
Masterworks Explained
What Factors Determine the Timing of a Masterworks Exit
How Masterworks decides when to sell a painting: where the market sits in its cycle, fair value signals, buyer interest, and the SEC process.
Wealth & Estate Planning
What Counts as High Net Worth? HNW, VHNW, and UHNW Defined
HNW, VHNW, and UHNW defined by investable assets, with tier cutoffs, population sizes, the SEC thresholds, and how the service model changes by tier.
Portfolio & Investing Fundamentals
What Are Real Assets? Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Commodities
Real assets are tangible assets with intrinsic value. A guide to real estate, infrastructure, commodities, gold, and where art fits on the spectrum.
Wealth & Estate Planning
Wealth Preservation: Playing Defense With a Large Portfolio
Once a portfolio is large, the job shifts from growth to protecting purchasing power and surviving drawdowns. The threats, the tools, and the trade-offs.