🔥 Speech or Speculation + Terry O'Neill

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HEY Y’ALL!

Thanks for all the great feedback on the Tracey Emin piece I shared last day!

🔥 ICYMI – Catchs from the Last Week:

1. Michael Childress, Aurummm, 2021 - priced at £4,000

2. Russell Young, Marilyn Crying, 2013 - priced at £23,000

3. Luigi Ontani, Artiglio Cartiglio, 1982 - priced at at £11,500

Today we have a Terry O'Neill that's pure Hollywood—collector-grade and market-ready. Plus, art’s double life: sacred expression in one room, offshore asset in another.

-Today’s Catch-

Terry O'Neill

💭 My 2 Cents: This shot is peak O’Neill. Faye Dunaway, post-Oscar, robe on, newspapers everywhere, looking like the embodiment of “was it worth it?” It’s elegant and exhausted in the same frame. O’Neill didn’t do glossy perfection, he caught the moment after the win, when the cameras were supposed to be off. Co-signed by both of them, which gives it that collector-grade weight. It’s not cheap at £34,500, but it’s one of those pieces that doesn’t need a sales pitch. It speaks fluent Hollywood history.

🔑 Key Numbers: Edition 23 of 50, print made in 1977—not a posthumous rehash. Co-signed by O’Neill and Dunaway (good luck getting that again). Auction comps for this image top out at $60k, with most trading hands around $20k–$50k depending on size and signature. This one’s 76 cm square, museum-quality framing brings it to 90 x 93 cm. Sell-through rate for his top-tier images is solid, no deadweight in the market.

🧠 Why It’s a Smart Pick: This is O’Neill’s Mona Lisa. Blue-chip subject, peak-era print, signed, and instantly recognizable. When people talk about photography that actually shaped celebrity culture, this is on the mood board. It has staying power, and serious resale potential when the edition dries up.

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-In a Minute-

🔥 Words I Like: capital, asset-washing, loophole-chic

Art Talks Like a Poem, Moves Like a Stock

Let’s not pretend.
The real power of art in today’s market isn’t what it says—it’s what it protects.
Collectors, dealers, and advisors all know the trick: art lives a double life.

In one room, it’s a sacred act of expression.
In another, it’s a $4 million hedge against inflation.
And no one wants to ask which version is real—because the real game is in not choosing.

The legal code in the U.S. treats art as “speech,” which is why it slips past tariffs, taxes, and even sanctions.
But the financial world treats it as an asset, with auction data, returns charts, and IRR calculators.
That duality is the ultimate cheat code.

You see it when museums deaccession quietly.
You see it when someone writes off a donation at inflated valuations.
You see it every time an advisor says, “It’s a long-term cultural play,” then flips it next season.

Art is expression when you need protection, and an asset when you need liquidity.
Smart collectors already use that flexibility to optimize cross-border deals, tax strategies, and even divorce settlements.
The rest are stuck arguing about meaning.

So here’s your move: stop moralizing and start modeling.
Structure your collection like a fund, then talk about it like a manifesto.
That’s how you win in a market where ambiguity isn’t a flaw—it’s a feature.

-Whenever You Are Ready-

Here are 3 ways I can help you:​

1. Serious about collecting? Join Frame&Flame Circle, my exclusive WhatsApp group for top-tier art connections. Apply now!

2. Get in front of my audience - With more than 10,000+ newsletter subscribers and 200k+ Instagram followers, my team and I work with dozens of partners in unique ways to help them grow. Interested in a partnership, tap here.

3. Don’t gamble on your art investments. Get a free advisory consult and 60-day membership at Artscapy—no guesswork, just expert guidance.

See you soon!

-Alvaro (@theartmarketguy)

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Disclaimer

Not financial advice. Frame&Flame is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions.