Excellent collecting advice from someone who grew up in St. Louis or Texas. AND a word of caution.

The city of your childhood was the gateway for Manifest Destiny.

Let's aim for masterpieces that are priced  at 75% or less of firm auction results at Christies and Sothebys that relate to this story.

Names like Lewis and Clark, George Catlin, Karl Bodmer, Alfred Jacob Miller, John James Audubon all walked through St Louis before the Civil War and provided an iconography that transfixed Americans.  That and the awareness that Texas has more free cash than the rest of the United States combined is compelling.   At the auction yesterday 75% of the purchases were made by collectors from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin.   Texans love the story of the opening up of America starting with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Highly motivated sellers show up occasionally.  Let me know if you would like to work with me to pounce. 

It is easy to check price history - go to the Sothebys or Christies web site and type in the name of the artist and the auction history pops up.

Of course  all of this is rubbish if Putin starts a world war.  That is certainly why Warren Buffet has 325b in cash right now.  For a company with a market cap of 1.1t he is telling us he sees disaster ahead.  But I am 74 and want to enjoy myself owning the icons of our civilization from 1500 to 1900.  So I dont care.   Cornerstone publications make me happy.

Graham