Buying original art

In the 12 months before the survey, an estimated 269,000 people, or 10 percent of adult New Zealanders, bought an original art work. Similar proportions of men and women made purchases. The proportions of the population buying original art increased with age, peaking at 45–54 (13 percent) and then declining to 6 percent of people aged 65 and over, as figure 7.06 shows.

A higher proportion of European/Pākehā (11 percent) than any other ethnic group bought original works of art in the 12-month period. Māori were next, with an estimated 7 percent having bought art.
 

People who bought art typically tended to be tertiary educated. Thirteen percent of those with tertiary educational qualifications bought an original work of art in the 12-month period. By contrast, 9 percent of those with a secondary qualification and 4 percent of those with no qualifications did the same. A higher proportion of people who were employed (11 percent) bought art than those who were unemployed (8 percent) or not in the labour force (6 percent).
 

As figure 7.07 shows, buying original works of art increased steadily as incomes of individuals increased, from 7 percent of those earning under $15,000 to 18 percent of those earning more than $50,000. The ability to purchase original art is closely related to the level of disposable income available to individuals.

As figure 7.08 shows, regional variations in the proportion of people who bought original art were slight, with around one in 10 of those living in most regions purchasing art in the 12-month period. These differences were not statistically significant.

Figure 7.08
Proportion of adults buying original art, in previous 12 months, by region 

Buyers of original art

Table 7.02 shows the art purchasing public by their demographic and socio-economic characteristics. It shows that 55 percent of the people who bought art were women, nearly half were aged 35–54, 87 percent were European/Pākehā and two-thirds held a tertiary qualification. Three-quarters of those who bought art were employed and lived in major urban centres. One-third lived in the Auckland region.

Table 7.02
Characteristics of adults buying original art in previous 12 months 

Across most demographic and socio-economic variables, the proportions of people buying art are similar to their proportions in the population. However, there are four variables that characterise the art-buying public. The group is disproportionately European/Pākehā, tertiary qualified, employed, and earns more than $50,000.

Number of original art works bought

Half those who bought original art works bought only one. Just over one-third bought two or three and 13 percent bought four or more. Generally, the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the group who bought more than one art work in the 12-month period were very similar to the group who bought art as a whole.

Barriers to buying art

Of the 269,000 New Zealand adults who purchased art in the preceding 12 months, an estimated 127,000 (47 percent) indicated they would have liked to have been able to do so more often. For the vast majority (89 percent), cost was the reason they did not.

A total of 2.5 million adults had not purchased an original art work in the 12-month period. Of these, an estimated 389,000 people, or 16 percent of this group, were interested in doing so. As with people who wished to purchase art more often, the major reason for not buying art at all was the cost (84 percent). Other reasons given by much smaller numbers of people included a limited selection of works (5 percent), lack of time (5 percent) and works not being available (4 percent).

Buying art direct from artist

Overall, nearly half (133,000) of those who bought art bought it direct from the artist. Of those who bought art, a greater proportion of women (53 percent) than men (44 percent) bought from the artist. The tendency to buy art increased up to the age of 54 and then declined. However, the proportion of people in each age group who bought art direct from the artist followed a different pattern, with a greater proportion of those aged 15–24 and those aged 55 and over buying direct, as figure 7.09 shows.

Nearly two-thirds of Māori who bought art bought it direct from the artist, compared with half of European/Pākehā. Proportions buying direct from the artist varied slightly across income groups, with just over half of those earning between $15,000 and $49,999 buying from the artist, and 44 percent of those in the $50,000 and over group doing the same.

Interest in New Zealand art

People who had either bought or were interested in buying original art in the 12-month period were asked how interested they were in buying New Zealand art. Forty-two percent were very interested and a further 42 percent were somewhat interested. Eleven percent were not interested and 5 percent had no opinion. Overall, 607,000 people were interested in purchasing New Zealand art.

Women were more likely than men to purchase original art works and this was reflected in their interest in buying New Zealand art. As figure 7.10 shows, women who were interested in purchasing New Zealand art outnumbered men. An estimated 189,000 women were very interested, compared with 115,000 men. A further 171,000 women were somewhat interested, compared with 132,000 men.

Figure 7.10
Adults interested in buying New Zealand art, by sex 

As figure 7.11 shows, the number of people interested in purchasing New Zealand art increased up to the age of 44. After this they began to decline. This is consistent with the increase in the number of New Zealanders purchasing art in each age group up to the age of 44. Of those who had purchased art, the proportions interested in buying New Zealand art increased from 79 percent of those aged 15–24 to 88 percent of those aged 55–64.

Figure 7.11
Adults interested in buying New Zealand art, by age 

Most people interested in buying New Zealand art held a tertiary qualification. As figure 7.12 shows, an estimated 194,000 New Zealanders holding a tertiary qualification were very interested in purchasing New Zealand art and a further 181,000 were somewhat interested. Similar proportions of those in each level of qualification who had purchased art were interested in purchasing New Zealand art – around eight in 10 people.

Figure 7.12
Adults interested in buying New Zealand art, by highest educational qualification 

When analysed by income, those earning under $15,000 a year were numerically the largest group interested in buying New Zealand art, as figure 7.13 shows. An estimated 100,000 people were very interested and 112,000 were somewhat interested. Those most likely to purchase original art works (those earning more than $50,000) were numerically the smallest group of people interested in purchasing New Zealand works – 59,000 were very interested and 53,000 somewhat interested. Of those who had purchased art, or were interested in doing so, the proportions interested in purchasing New Zealand art increased slightly in each income group, from 82 percent of those earning less than $15,000 to 87 percent of those earning more than $50,000.

Figure 7.13
Adults interested in buying New Zealand art, by annual income 


back to Visual arts

back to A Measure of Culture