The fun part of art - Edward Kienholz For $132, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

I do not believe any buyer is immune from feeling pleased to find out that what he or she bought for what seemed a lot at the time is later worth multiples of their purchase price. For a true collector, however, that should be a bonus on top of the excitement and joy of looking for, looking at, and owning art, not the raison d'être.

In the 1960 more than a few artists made fun of the burgeoning art-investment fever, Where are they now that we really need them? California sculptor Edward Kienholz made watercolor drawings with the price prominently stamped across their face. These were signed and dated but also certified by him with a visible fingerprint. The first buyers paid the face amount. Other drawings spelled out commodities (One Dozen Eggs), and the first owners paid the artist, directly, with that commodity for that drawing.

Edward Kienholz
For $132, 1969
Watercolor and stamped ink on paper in metal frame
12 1/4 x 16 1/4 x 1/2 in.
(31.1 x 41.3 x 1.3 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.  The Judith Rothchild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection Gift (purchase, and gift, in part, of The Eileen and Michael Cohen Collection)

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Ref: The Value of Art, Michael Findlay