(Illustration by Nikki Sack.)

The problem, which Boehlert slowly realized after acquiring the piece, was that the lighting in his home did not do the work justice. "Because the painting changed so dramatically based on the time of day and type of lighting, it was critical to get exactly the right kind of lighting to show it off," he says. Several months—and some $22,000 later—Boehlert thinks he has it right. "There are now six little halogen lights suspended from a rod in the ceiling, each focusing on key parts of the painting, and all the switches are on a dimmer, so I can adjust the level as well," he says.

Martinez, while equally thrilled with all the attention his work has received, is also a bit bemused by the hoopla. "He spent almost as much on the lighting as he did for the painting itself."

For art collectors, lighting expenses are just one consideration. In fact, gallery owners, art advisors and veteran collectors compare art collecting to buying a house and finding yourself writing check after check to gardeners, landscapers, roofers, interior designers and antique shops. Furthermore, the costs of owning fine art continue to mount from one year to the next. "So many new buyers may not completely realize that they are just caring for works that really belong to art history," says Thea Westreich, a veteran New York art advisor who has worked with many experienced collectors. "They make more than enough money to pay for anything that needs to be done, but may not realize all that has to happen to properly care for a work—especially people who make big art purchases on a whim. They aren’t thinking that that Cézanne watercolor they just bought has to be shielded from light. Then the risk is that one day they wake up and an important work is lost, not just to the collector but to the world."

Pay to Play
For collectors, the financial realization may hit as soon as the auctioneer’s gavel descends and they find themselves the new owner of a work of art. Within the next hour or so, they will write a check not only for the purchase price but also to cover the buyer’s premium, typically around 15 percent of the final price. Then the auction house representative will ask how they want their work shipped to them.

TOP VIEW When a collector buys a treasured piece of art, his outlay is just beginning. Fees for insurance, framing, lighting and pres-ervation, among many other things, pile up quickly, often taking novice owners and investors by surprise. In today’s overheated market, where many view art more for its potential appreciation than for its aesthetic value, collectors must fully under- stand and calculate the entire monetary investment required for this asset class.

"That’s when the costs start to climb," says Lisa Erf, director of the JPMorgan Chase art collection in New York. "It’s not just the cost of building a proper crate or other packaging for the work, but the transportation." Not many works, she wryly notes, can submit to being rolled up in a tube and sent to the collector’s home via FedEx. "And then what many buyers forget about is the need to insure that work while it’s in transit. The auction house’s or gallery’s insurance does not extend beyond its premises, and typically your own insurance won’t cover it until it’s inside your front door."

Like transportation, framing is a cost that can surprise a novice collector. True, neither is likely to be nearly as costly as the work itself, particularly in the current overheated market for contemporary art; most collectors are more than willing to pay to protect and display their new treasure. "But when we go to art fairs like Art Basel Miami, and new collectors drift into the booth, that is the kind of expense that still shocks them—when they see on the invoice that the photograph they love needs to be framed properly, then shipped properly and insured," says Martinez, who works as associate director of the Winkleman Gallery in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.

But after a few thousand dollars here and a few thousand there, the hidden costs of art collecting reveal themselves. This is especially true for collectors who seek more than just the thrill of having an artwork they love hanging on their walls. "For buyers who think of these purchases as investments, every additional cost—especially if it’s a recurring cost—is going to eat into their total return," Westreich says.