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The Recession Has Ended… in the Art Market?
Says who: Sotheby’s head of contemporary art Tobias Meyer in reference to his $43.76 million sale of Andy Warhol’s “200 One Dollar Bills”
“… after a year of not buying … collectors have started buying again … The desire to have great things will make (them) step up and pay more than $40 million for a work of art.” (via Reuters)
Why it might be false: One pricey painting is an uptick, but it doesn’t suddenly become representative of a shift in the market. It is an outlier. While Warhol wowed the market with a big sale, other art stars floundered. Compared to last November when Sotheby’s and Christie’s sold a total of $729 million in art, the volume sold at last week’s auctions are pale in comparison.
Why it could be true: For a market that dropped precipitously during the financial collapse, it’s an encouraging sign of health and wealth that there are collectors out there willing to drop so much coin on a single painting. According to Alan Bamberger, who runs a prominent San Francisco-based art consultancy, art “is one of the first things off the priority list, and one of the last things to come back on” in economic downturns. The ultra rich aren’t the only ones starting to spend. The affluent are also spending according to major retailers.
Our call: Clearly some of the ultra rich that have been keeping their money on the sidelines are ready to spend again, but it’s still going to take a while for their wealth to ripple through the broader economy and then trickle down to main street. With all the headlines about the multi-milion dollar art sales at a time when millions around the country are struggling to pay for their meals, Sotheby’s and Christie’s better watch out. That said, it would take an art ponzi scheme from one of the art houses to really spur scorn on Main Street.
Tags: Discussion
2 comments for “The Recession Has Ended… in the Art Market?”
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FLYP just blogged about this not too long ago, and linked back to a great story they did a while back–
L.
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