Impressionist Masters as Issuers of Security: An Empirical Study on The Investment in Masterpieces

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the capacity for art to perform as an investment, and add to the relevant current academic discourse through the increase in specificity with which the scope of data is defined. This paper does not seek to create a market-wide, generic use index for investment return in art collection. Instead, it aims to target the specific category of oeuvres created in the late 19th to 20th century by Impressionist masters in Europe, and to empirically show evidence of the “Masterpiece Effect.”