Acquire A Great Instrument – The Masterpieces of
Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù

A Market Perspective for Individual and Institutional Collectors

by Robert Bein and Geoffrey Fushi

For several hundred years, instruments made by Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744) have been prized by artists and collectors for their extraordinary tonal qualities and unrivaled playing characteristics. Although instruments made by their contemporaries have become quite valuable, none are ever chosen above those of Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù.

Antonio Stradivari lived a long and remarkably productive life — sons Francesco and Omobono assisted the master for his last forty years. There are nearly six hundred and fifty surviving Stradivari instruments, including sixty cellos and fourteen violas. Guarneri del Gesù, who had a much shorter working period, produced fewer than one hundred and thirty-five violins and only one cello.

Geoffrey Fushi, Delia Dai, Mary Galvin, violinist and Society recipient Vadim Gluzman, Betty Haag, and Suzanne Fushi

Fine instruments are valued on three criteria — period, physical condition, and history or provenance. Generally speaking, Stradivari violins made after 1700 are the most valuable, reaching a peak around 1715. Pre-1700 Stradivari instruments tend to lessen in value the earlier they were made. Guarneri instruments are divided into three periods including the 1720s, his early period when he worked with his father; the 1730s, his most productive period; and 1740-1744, his late and most valuable period.

Instruments by these two masters have commanded high prices since the end of the 18th century and have never been easily affordable by rank-and-file musicians. In this country in the 1920s, sales were in the range of $25,000 to $50,000. Toward the end of the 1960s, the violin market began to change as examples of fine violins sold for amounts approaching $100,000. At this time, the teaching method developed by Dr. Suzuki was leading to nearly universal education of Western music in Japan. As millions of children were taught the violin, audiences for Western music grew at an incredible pace. By the early 1970s the demand for classical music in Japan, and fascination with the violin in particular, were at an all-time high.

This unprecedented growth spread similarly to Korea, Taiwan, and mainland China, resulting in new audiences, concerts, violinists, and collectors. In 1971, a particularly fine Stradivari known as the "Lady Blunt" was purchased at auction by Robin Loh for the record price of just over $200,000, signaling a new market. About that time, C. M. Sin, an avid collector from Hong Kong, purchased over twenty Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù violins. In just a few years, the previously untapped Asian violin market had outgrown the American market.

There was certainly no slackening in the American market, where orchestra members had become the highest paid in the world. American musicians were eager to use their new incomes as well as several tax incentives to make major instrument purchases. In addition, several active collectors in major American cities continued to acquire great violins.

Thus, the violin market had become truly global in the 1970s. Three large markets — Asian, European, and American — put pressure on the limited number of fine violins. The prices reflected this change. A fine example by Stradivari or Guarneri del Gesù could command as much as $500,000 in 1980, and the prices of all violins had increased in similar proportion. The market continued to expand into the 1980s, and by the 1990s exceptional instruments had crossed the million-dollar mark. Itzhak Perlman purchased the famous "Soil" Stradivari from Yehudi Menuhin for $1,250,000.

Foundations and Individuals Acquire Instruments to Loan to Deserving Artists

Kyoko Takezawa

As great instruments became less and less affordable, wealthy classical music enthusiasts stepped forward to acquire great violins for use by worthy artists. The idea of patronage is not a novel one, yet the significant change in the last decade has been the advent of patronage on an institutional basis and an international scale. This has had a significant impact on the violin market. The Stradivari Society® currently has more than 20 instruments on loan to outstanding artists with a total value in excess of $30,000,000.

Large Institutional Acquisitions Intensify Competition for Instruments

A wealthy plastics manufacturer from Taiwan formed the Chi Mei Foundation in 1990. Some of the instruments are on loan, and the current value of the collection is in the range of $50,000,000.

A few years ago, the Nippon Music Foundation purchased the Paganini Stradivari Quartet of instruments from the Corcoran Gallery in Washington for a record price of $15,000,000. The Foundation has since acquired several major instruments including the famous "De Munck" Stradivari cello, the "Muntz" Stradivari, the "Jupiter" Stradivari, the "Dolphin" Stradivari, and the Ysaÿe Guarneri del Gesù of Isaac Stern. These instruments are on loan throughout the world. The foundation currently has the largest collection of great violins in the world and has a considerable yearly endowment to further acquisitions.

Patron Paul Steinwachs warmly greets recipient and Chicago Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal violist Li-kuo Chang as Consul General of Canada Anne Charles looks on.

The Korean market opened up in 1994 when all duties and VAT were lifted on antique musical instruments. Initially, this lead to brisk sales to individual Korean customers. A few years ago, the Samsung Foundation announced its intentions to provide outstanding instruments to Korean musicians, and subsequently purchased an important quartet of instruments including fine Guarneri del Gesù and Stradivari violins. Other Korean corporations have stepped forward to help one outstanding young Korean cellist to acquire a very important Italian cello for nearly a million dollars.

There are many orchestras that have secured great instruments in Europe and America. The Chicago Symphony has two Stradivari violins for use by its members and The Los Angeles Philharmonic has a Stradivari violin and cello. In addition, most major orchestras have developed programs for assisting musicians with the loans they need to acquire instruments. This is now an expected benefit with major symphonies.

Internationally renowned concert violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter with Geoffrey Fushi

The entry of large institutional buyers has had additional impact on the market by reducing the number of instruments that are available. The instruments they purchase are ostensibly off the market, intended to remain installed in the various institutions and museums forever. Of the Guarneri del Gesù violins generally accepted as the "top nine," four belong to museums (Library of Congress, Paris Conservatoire, City of Genoa, and the Zagreb National Museum) and will never be for sale.

Each year, as institutions and museums hold an increasing percentage of the great violins, the competition intensifies for the remaining instruments when they do become available, and the continued increases in violin prices of the current decade dramatically reflect this fact. Since 1990, we have seen a threefold increase in the value of Stradivari and Guarneri violins and instruments by other well regarded makers. Most of the post-1700 Stradivari violins and post-1730 Guarneri violins currently sell in a range of $2,000,000 to $6,000,000, depending on their condition and historical significance.

As we begin the new millennium it is clear that these precious and irreplaceable Stradivari and Guarneri instruments will continue to be heard in the hands of great artists only as a result of concerned individual and institutional sponsorship.