John Maynard Keynes was an economist, an investor, and an art patron. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, his eponymous flavor of economics has become fashionable again. After a faltering start losing money in the currency markets, Keynes enjoyed a glorious run as a stock picker, building an endowment that still benefits his alma mater King’s College, Cambridge. For those wanting to emulate his prowess collecting paintings, a new study attempts to calculate how his art investments have fared compared with market returns.
The good news is that the study, published on the Oxford Academic website, suggests wealthy collectors can potentially enjoy the “emotional dividends” of owning art without missing out on returns. The bad news is that they’ll have to be either pretty astute in picking winners, or damned lucky in the artworks they buy. Keynes probably benefited from both.