Originally Posted by Libertine

Sure.

Your appraisal consists of the opinion of someone working in the field, who may or may not actually have insight.

The price you paid, you paid at a professional dealership, which has prices set to such a level that they are the highest price at which the dealership considers it likely that the object will be sold.

See how that works?

Getting great deals (eg, buying art for less than 50% of its real value) is something that will virtually never happen when you are buying from a professional and experienced dealership. If you want deals like that, buying from private collections, buying from inexperienced dealers and buying at small auctions is your best bet. Of course, to recognize the deals, you'll need to be an expert.

That is not to say you won't make a profit on this, of course. The profit just is likely to be in line with the rise of general art prices. (and, obviously, if in a few decades there's a large revival of interest in Picasso, you might make a lot more - you will need to follow the art market for that, though, and will probably need to have a lot of patience)