The Little Book of the Shrinking Dollar: What You Can Do to Protect Your Money Now

Spring for the Picasso?

If ever you want to get out of Dodge in a hurry, and make some quick cash on a hard asset, invest in a painting. Consider the case of Polish Count Jaromir Czernin.

He saw it coming. Count Czernin knew his family’s valuable Vermeer was a very worthy asset. Prior to World War II, he was ready to sell. American industry magnate Andrew Mellon was ready to part with $1 million for the thing. That price would have made it the most valuable painting in the world.

There was only one problem. The Austrian government wouldn’t allow the Vermeer to leave the country. (See, there’s that pesky government again, getting in the way of the free market.) Instead, the situation worsened, both personally and politically.

Soon it was Hitler who wanted the painting. Hitler’s private secretary was sniffing out whether back taxes could be used to take the painting away. Meanwhile, envoy Hans Posse offers 1.65 million reichmarks—$660,000. Czernin agreed.

While it’s unlikely you’ll get your paws on a Vermeer, the ever-popular Picasso was wonderfully prolific—and still holds his value.

According to French research company Artprice, Picasso held the number one rank for world auction prices for all but two years: 2007—when Andy Warhol topped him, and 2011—when Chinese artist Zhang Daqian took the lead.

We asked Dubai-based Peter Cooper whether he’d own a Picasso, over both T-Bills and gold.

“Well,” he confesses, “we have just signed up as a guest of Art Dubai in March and would have ...