Q & A: Charles Pocock of Meem Gallery

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Dealing advice: Pocock is regarded as one of the leading international art dealers on the Arabian Peninsula, and has worked with pieces such as the Hijazi Qu’ranic manuscripts, dating from the foundation of Islam, through to the 21st Century.

Charles, why do you think contemporary Middle Eastern art is suddenly the centre of attention?

Auction houses are really pushing into this market because they’ve had a huge success with contemporary Chinese and contemporary Indian art, especially the latter. There was a huge explosion of demand for contemporary Indian art in New York and London recently - Bonhams started off the buzz. And it’s a common process - Indian art picked up, Chinese art is picking up, and now so is Middle Eastern art.

Where are the leading public collections of both ancient Islamic art and modern Arabic art?

The leading galleries in London, Paris, New York and Washington DC host permanent exhibitions of both genres. The ‘Without Boundary’ exhibition opened at MOMA in New York last year, followed by the opening of the ‘Word in Art’ exhibition of modern Arabic art at the British Museum in the summer and the opening of The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art at the V&A.

The regional market may be booming, but what advice would you offer to people considering moving into art as a form of investment?

When it comes to looking at investment in art - like stocks and shares - it’s important to look at other investors and see what other funds hold it. It’s about doing your research and analysing the market and its prices.

You look at what public collections have it, as that tells you that it’s been published and how well recognised it is. It’s important to get an idea of that individual investment’s past track record - both financially and ethically. Ethics in investments have become even more important and are sometimes essential, especially when considering Sharia investment.

Globally, art has a proven track record of being the second highest yielding investment after real estate - one has to buy the right product and at the right time to benefit from the potential yields that one can receive.

People think art’s just a hobby but it’s a business - some people make tens of millions of pounds a year - when you get to the big level, there’s serious money involved.

What’s the most expensive piece of art you’ve ever bought on behalf of a client?

It was a painting I bought for a Saudi client about 18 months ago which was US$6.64m. We’re working on two pieces at the moment - we’re selling a Jackson Pollock - and the last Jackson Pollock sold for US$141m. And then in this region, we’ve been approached by a client to sell a Tischen. It was last on the market in 1998, estimated at US$2.74m, so it’s probably worth between US$10m and US$14m. Clients can come to Meem and look at the catalogues to see how much the painting was sold for at auction.

A dealer will buy a painting for US$15,000-20,000 at auction and sell it for US$50,000-60,000, maybe even US$100,000, so it’s important to really know what you’re buying. So what you need is an advisory bureau which can give you access to knowledge. Like every other sector taking off in the region, there needs to be regulation in order to ensure that art doesn’t get abused and buyers hoodwinked.

What about running educational programmes?

In a new market, I think you have to run educational programmes. I think what Christie’s is doing for art in this region is good, but they should be running educational programs; they’ve been talking about them for eighteen months, but where are they?

Charles Pocock is Managing Partner of Meem Gallery.

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