Building a Museum-Grade Collection Without an Art Advisor with Jorg Rozier

When Jorg Rozier first reached out to tell me he had found a method that systematically allowed him to identify how an artist's trajectory was evolving within the art canon, I was obviously intrigued. He'd decided to put his model (yes, as in Excel model) into a book so that more collectors could use it. That book is The Canon Index, and that's how today's interview came about. Jorg's collection, in his own words, is built around one idea: a fight. The model he developed to build it is grounded in a peer-reviewed study published in Science in 2018, accessible to anyone, for free. But when I read his book, I was disconcerted. The contrast between the elusiveness most people perceive from the art market and the analytical lens this research provides felt like finding out about something I shouldn't know. And Jorg chose to apply it systematically to achieve his dream: building, within his means, a museum-grade collection. In our conversation we talk about how the model works, why auction might be the single best place for new collectors to buy, and why despite all of this, good art advisors will never be out of a job. Note: the Fraiberger et al. paper referenced in this episode was published in Science in 2018, not 2016 as stated during the conversation. Artist references: Fraiberger et al. — Quantifying Reputation and Success in Art Anton Heyboer Sergej Jensen David Ostrowski Josh Smith Barnaby Furnas Pamela Rosenkranz Richard Serra Takesda Matsutani Marcel Dzama Kaws Alec Monopoly Joseph Klibansky Retna Daniel Arsham Anne Imhof Rosa de la Cruz Collection