Corporate Art Collections - Delving into the hows and whys of Business and Art - Schmoozing Over Coffee

August 15, 2020
By Samriddha Bhattacharya
2 Comments

Image source: chinadaily.com

When we hear of business and art, we think of something eye-catching that companies must have come up with in terms of packaging or display in collaboration with graphic artists or designers. But, there is a whole different side to the words Business and Art when said together, that is known as Corporate Art Collections.

To tell you a bit about what Corporate Art Collecting is - large organizations develop a collection of contemporary art for their office spaces. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. There is an arduous process involved.

Why do Companies wish to buy art?

To Inspire and Invigorate

The primary purpose of the corporate collector is to build an inspirational workspace for its employees. Art is always considered to be thought provoking, and these companies want their employees to gain different perspectives and approaches to their work by being exposed to art pieces. Art is always open to interpretation and triggers creativity in people and because of this, the companies want its people to be inspired in their own ways and go about bringing a change in their work. Sometimes, quite a bit of provocative work is also hung around, just to challenge the intellect of the employees.

Brand Image

Art is used as a part of the marketing mix for brand building and global image. The art that is collected is not supposed to be just any aesthetically pleasing piece of work. It has to be a representation of the values of the company. Every piece of work is carefully selected to align with the kind of image they want to portray to its customers.

Banks and Investment firms, that is, organizations that deal with numbers and are never associated with art in any layman's mind, are actually the biggest art collectors - JP Morgan Chase, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Aspen Insurance Holding Ltd to name a few. In fact, investment firms believe that hanging around young art in their office tells their clients that they are representatives of dynamism and are willing to invest in raw bright creative talent. As for banking institutions, contemporary art is supposed to tell its employees to keep thinking of making the bank relevant to its people because they are the ones dealing with nimble and changing situations all the time. They want to tell the clients that banks are not large sluggish giants stuck using archaic methods, but a sprightly bright athlete willing to change and chase. As a matter of fact, Deutsche Bank has even made a commitment to refresh its art collection to reflect the changing times.

Investment

Also, many would think that the reason that I am about to state is the real reason for these corporate collections, however the collectors heavily deny so. Art is an asset. Not just intellectually, but in terms of investments as well. The collectors carefully curate art that will appreciate over time, and can be sold in future to generate revenue. But, selling art does more damage for the company than good. When a company starts to sell its collection, it means that the company has hit rock bottom. Although there are times when organizations involve in healthy exchange of art, obviously for money though.

Ice breaker

Every team has at least one shy member, who is not able to melt his/her walls and approach team members or seniors. But, when employees look at a painting hanging from the wall, they start talking to each other, sharing their thoughts and opinions because they have found a safe ground to begin with and will not have any moments of awkward silence between them. Companies want to build a social work environment where there can be free exchange of thoughts. In fact some companies hold educational meets where the artists themselves come and talk about their work. These are just mechanisms used by the employees to build a more holistic forum outside the traditional work structure to cultivate relationships that might not happen in the office or even when the team heads out for a drink.

Social Responsibility

A lot of organizations even use art for their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. Supporting young and emerging artists is a common practice. Apart from buying renowned names, companies buy artworks of young aspiring artists who are yet to make a name. Corporates feel that this way they lend more credibility to the artists and people start taking note of their work. Some even commission the emerging artists to make work which will be for the organization only and not for the world. This provides artists with financial stability and allows them to get a strong foothold. Although companies run the risk of getting art which may not appreciate in value by buying untested artists, but it then becomes a part of their CSR program. Not just artists, they also sponsor temporary exhibitions in museums. The other important sponsorship includes awards. The winner of the award has his work bought by the sponsoring company. This allows the company to tap into the latest trends.

They also try to challenge archaic societal norms. For example, Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd have a portrait of two women just staring directly at the face of their audience. Their belief is that although Aspen has quite a few female employees, the financial institutions are mostly male dominated, especially managerial teams are hardly seen as a place for women in the society. Unfortunately, their team too is a pray to this norm. So this portrait is supposed to be a constant reminder to men that they should bring about a change in this regard.

Why Contemporary Art only?

Old maritime prints and watercolours maybe fine to depict the history of the company, but they could never tell the company which direction to follow. Contemporary art defines the times in which the organizations are functioning in and one needs to flow with time to be relevant and sustainable. They cannot carry the burden of the past. Hence collections of contemporary art as supposed to be vibrant and revitalize the people associated with the company.

Deutsche Bank London Contemporary Art collection Image

Deutsche Bank London Contemporary Art Collection: Financial News

Types of Corporate Art Collectors

1. The Curators - mostly initiated by a person up in the hierarchy, who has worked in bleak offices in his prime, but fosters a love for art and wants his people to be exposed to it. They bring about their ethos to the cultural environment of their office space. There are certain office buildings which have built to make them favourable for displaying artworks.

2. Builders of Brand Identity - through art they wish to build a corporate identity. Use it as an an expression to differentiate themselves against competitors.

3. Philanthropists - these are the ones that are concerned about their social image, because in the current times every organization is bound by policy to give back to the society. So this is their way of giving back to the community.

4. All rounders - Companies that focus on building an identity that lets art permeate its brand image, social outreach and work culture.

The thread that ties them all together is their wish to make their customers perceive them in a certain light.

Challenges faced in building a collection

Maintenance of these precious artefacts in non museum environment poses as a challenge. People may bump into them and cause dents, scratches and other things that will lead to a dip in its value and a rise in the blood pressure of its collector. There was instance when an office cleaner on duty removed a chunk of metallic paint from a painting with his vaccum cleaner in an attempt to remove a spider from the painting. The poor soul was horrified, although the owners had a good laugh over it and brought back the painter to fix it, at an extra cost of course.

Justifying these expenses to the shareholders of the company. In majority of the cases the shareholders do not understand the reason for artwork in the office space, so bringing them on board is quite a difficult task. The art department and the company appointed consultant or in house curator need to make presentations and justify in every step regarding why it is acceptable to spend shareholders money in buying this particular piece.

It is also considered as a luxury for difficult financial times when jobs are being lost and salaries are being cut. So companies are blasted with the question of why choose art in such diabolic times.

Rapid appreciation in value is also a concern. If the collection becomes too valuable, it becomes a liability more than an asset because its insurance becomes a burden to the organization. The famous law firm Simon & Simon faced such a challenge once, when they realized that the maintenance cost of their collection was reaching unsustainable heights.

Consultants are required to build and maintain the collection. Unless there is someone in the company who understands art and is willing to dedicate the time and effort, it is difficult for a company to go about buying art. So consultants become a must for every organization. They have to treat corporate collectors differently from personal collectors. Consultants have to refer to the larger framework and identity of the company. The collections represent their collectors in some way or the other, so the collection should speak a message which defines their corporate identity with creativity.

Censorship is another shadow that the collectors have to keep in mind. There are some unwritten rules of the collection and they are:

No nudes or depiction of sexuality
No political work
No cultural defamation
Any work that appears offensive to the people of the company must be taken down

How to go about being a Corporate Collector?

1. Have a clear vision of how what you want to say through your art collection

2. Take professional advice. Consultants understand your brief and have greater connections.

3. Examination of display space is also imperative. Art needs to be admired and light and space play a great role in amplifying the experience art provides.

4. Budgets have to be set, because a business is a business after all and it cannot go around spending money in items that are considered decoratory by the world at large. It has to spend money on their operations than on other inspirational pleasures.

5. Storage and handling. Art is organic, so it requires to be handled with care and not carelessness. Any damage or mishandling can lead to losses of thousands of dollars.