Art as an investment

Edith Gregor Halpert was a gallery owner and an art dealer who helped shape the modern art market in America in the beginning of the 1900.
At that time, collecting art was the domain of the wealthy.
Wealthy families across America provided the much needed support for young American artists experimenting with abstract and other expression of none figurative forms.

American artist were not highly regarded at the time.
The art market was thought to be happening mostly in Europe and the young American painters were dismissed as doodlers.
But despite the resistance, American artists made some local waves and the interest and faith in their art started to rise.

Around the 1950's in America, an emergence of interest in modern art started to occur.
The post war years brought with them a sense of abundance and hard working middle class people started to collect art made in America.

Edith had an aversion to the direction in which the new art market was heading.
People no longer bought art because they appreciated it and wanted to hang it in their homes, to enjoy it and let it enrich their lives.
The new art collectors were interested in buying low and flipping the art in the auction market for a quick profit.

She was once asked by a buyer if a certain art piece was a "good investment".
Edith refuse to sell the painting to him: " I am sorry but I do not have a brokerage license and I am not authorized to deal with securities", she said as she walked away.