Comments on: Global Art Market Avoids Crash – artmarketblog.com

By: Globalization and Art | Globalization101

Globalization and Art | Globalization101 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:15:27 +0000

[...] “Christie’s 2008 Global Art Sales Total $5.1 Billion.” ArtDaily. February 14, 2009. 3 “Global Art Market Avoids Crash.” ArtMarketBlog. January 8, 2009. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 “Monet avoids the crunch.” The Guardian. [...]

By: artforprofits

artforprofits — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:55:50 +0000

It is inevitable that some galleries will do poorly during the financial crisis but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the whole art market has tanked. The cause of many of the galleries not doing so well does is not necessarily a direct result of the art market correction. Many galleries are doing poorly because they are not able, or do not know how, to adapt to the current market. From what I have observed and been told, the art market has experienced a correction but more importantly it has also experienced a major alteration. Not only have prices decreased in many areas but the way transactions are conducted, the reasons people are buying art, the types of people buying art and other trends that were in effect prior to the correction have changed. If a gallery could reverse their poor performance by altering the way the do business or changing other things but choose not to then I don’t think that their poor performance is an accurate indicator of the health of the art market. Basically what I am saying is that the health of the art market cannot be accurately determined by looking at the number of galleries that are not doing well. The reasons behind the galleries poor performance are just as relevant, if not more relevant, than the results of the poor performance.

Nicholas Forrest

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:42:13 +0000

Certainly the art market includes more than just the auction market. However, from my knowledge, many galleries are doing poorly. Some refuse to lower prices and consequently are simply holding their inventory trying to hold on until the bad times pass, while other galleries are reducing prices.

By: artforprofits

artforprofits — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:06:35 +0000

I didn’t say that a significant correction has not transpired but that the correction is not as severe as people predicted. It is also important to remember that the auction industry is not the be all and end all of the art market and should not be used as the sole basis of any analysis. An analysis of the art market such as the one I have conducted above requires far more than mere data can provide. All sorts of information, input from other art market professionals as well as looking at figures is required to get a complete picture of the status of the art market. Art auction data makes up a small part of the information needed to properly analysis the art market.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:43:00 +0000

Hey Nicholas,

What data do you have to suggest that a significant correction has not transpired? Based on auction results, such a shift has transpired. I’d love to see data that suggests otherwise.

By: Max Donner

Max Donner — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:31:26 +0000

Here are just a few of the art market records set in 2008:

$ 2.5 Million – Record for Art by an Indian Artist (Souza’s Birth)

$ 8.0 Million – Record for Total Sales at Melbourne Art Fair

$10.0 Million – Record for Total Sales at Tokyo Art Fair

$14.6 million – Record for Art by Robert Rauschenberg (Overdrive)

$23.5 Million – Record for Art by Yves Klein (MG9)

$26.0 Million – Record for Sculpture by Jeff Koons

For more updates, please attend our program January 22 at the Los Angeles Omni Hotel.