Just as you can’t own an emotion or patent an expression, so it is with art: you can never truly possess it. Instead, you might, to take a page out of Dubai-based Indian founder of the Ishara Art Foundation Smita Prabhakar’s book, be the caretaker of a work until it calls to a new custodian. “I consider myself a custodian of my artwork for the moment,” she says. “I feel I have the privilege of being able to have in my custody works that represent artistic practices and thoughts and their interpretation.”
This view of art — the notion that it has little to do with money — is reflected in her first memory of what she would term a masterpiece: the folds of her mother’s sari. “Art manifests itself in many forms, so if you would consider a sari that my mother wore as an artwork, then my first conscious memory is of seeing her beautifully dressed for an evening,” she explains.
For some collectors, however, art is just as much about investment as it is about owning a thing of beauty. According to the Art & Finance Report 2023 from Deloitte, the global value of art and collectibles on the balancesheets of the rich is expected to grow to an estimated $2.861 trillion in 2026. And this region has risen to become a key player in this growth. In being an international hub where people from the East and West come together to live, work, and visit, it brings together a portfolio of international work and exposes people to different techniques of expression. The result is a clientele that consumes art that is at once meaningful and a good investment choice.
It helps that the UAE is home to so many expats who understand their art. The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 states that the UAE will see an influx of more millionaires than any other country for the third consecutive year. This sophisticated demography has helped it grow a reputation as an art collector’s playground. According to 48-year-old British investment advisor, Norman Lowe, “In the Emirates, culture is a big thing. And there are a growing number of art museums and galleries coming up. People here also like to invest their money. They like to get their money working for them. It’s an affluent part of the world. It’s a very safe place to invest as well.”
With policies that support investment locally, the segment is getting a significant boost. “I see the idea of art as an investment growing and maturing. I think there’ll be more offerings for what we would call the high net worth segment of the market, where people want something more bespoke.”
The online world has also transformed how art is seen, bought, and sold, starting with giving local artists the international visibility they need. A struggling artist or gallery does not need to eke out huge amounts of money for travel and exhibition anymore – social media has become the marketer and PR agency. According to Guru, a UAE-based Indian artist, who dabbles in painting while working in organic farming in the UAE, “I’m trying to move my collection [of art] through Instagram, Facebook by keeping an active portfolio on these platforms. Initially, when I had started 10 years ago, my paintings were not going as fast. But now they are in Sweden, in Germany. So, over a period of time, when the paintings get seen, when people know, then the price keeps going up and up. And it also depends on the kind of credibility an artist has. Moreover, the UAE being a hub for expatriates from around the world helps a lot when it comes to moving a piece.”
The presence of more and diverse auction houses in the region could also help things along. According to Iñigo (a.k.a. Indy), a 46-year-old Spanish generational art collector, “One of the things that I think is lacking in the GCC, which would help develop it a lot, is the presence of more auction houses. The big names – Christie’s, Sotheby’s – are already present here, but they won’t be interested in a piece of art that’s below a certain value, which leaves aside the great majority of the artists and the great majority of the people who are willing to buy art.”
Fortunately, the UAE is slowly but steadily growing a ‘middle market’, where people can buy reasonably priced artworks that may appreciate over time. This class of goods just needs to grow. Moreover, fractional ownership of art, wherein people can own a share in iconic, high-value artworks is also seeing a rise here with platforms like 1001.art listing works by famed names such as Picasso, Warhol and Banksy.
Investing in art is, well, an art – it’s easy to be derailed by prominent names and forget the little-known painter or sculptor whose works will go on to yielding huge returns. But like with all assets, you gain the most by getting in early. “I love contemporary art,” Indy adds. “Well, I love all kinds of art, but I concentrate on contemporary, and I don’t do it only as an investment. Of course, it’s an investment, because most of the art that I buy gains value over time, but I only buy pieces that I really like. In the beginning, I did it differently. I would just focus on well-known artists and buy anything that I could find at an affordable price. But after some time, I realised that I had to focus on only what I really wanted. And now I have a substantial collection of upcoming artists.”
Of course, you could go horribly wrong by picking someone not yet on the ‘best artist’ list. Selection (and taste and a dose of luck) is crucial to finding work that will pay dividends. “The whole point of investing is you take on some risk to get some reward,” Norman adds. “But if you’re looking at what we would call blue chip artists, they are the ones who are generally the most famous, that always tend to appreciate. If you look at any five-year period, the value goes up. They’re very well known. They’re very well respected across different segments as well. They’re not highly specialised in some niche form of art. If you’re buying art like that, and you’re holding it and you’re insuring it properly, storing it correctly, it’s a very safe investment. The only downside would be that it’s not a liquid asset like, say, the Apple stock.”
Art is expression. Which makes it a subjective choice. In such an exhibition of individual choice, how does one really invest in a piece? How can you guarantee that your choice will resonate with others, and drive its price up? Or should you focus on how it makes you feel and let fate and chance take care of the rest? The answer may be somewhere in between – but like with all investment, sometimes it’s just a game of waiting and watching.