Art adviser and Baer Faxt founder Josh Baer has proposed specific price limits for works by "ultra-emerging" artists—those fresh out of school, such as an MFA graduate from Yale. In his No Reserve newsletter, Baer advises collectors to pay no more than $15,000 for a large work and $5,000 for a small piece at a first solo show in a reputable gallery. The advice comes amid ongoing debate about inflated prices for young artists, following a column by Artnet News editor-in-chief Naomi Rea that questioned the market's pricing logic. LA gallerist Charlie James endorsed Baer's thresholds, though some collectors argue that pricing cannot be so neatly codified.
Baer's guidance matters because it offers a rare, concrete benchmark in a market often characterized by opacity and speculation. By setting clear upper limits, he pushes back against the trend of escalating prices for unproven talent and warns that the era of buying low and selling astronomically high—like the Basquiat stories of the 1970s and '80s—is over. This could help new collectors navigate risk and encourage more disciplined buying, potentially cooling a segment of the market that has drawn criticism for unsustainable pricing.