Art sales in a down economy

Watching art galleries close around the country and how the art auction houses are doing during the economy is reported carefully by those who would profit from a relationship with art sales. Some say art will continue to sell in this economy and it is the time to buy, but this may not be so true.

The Art Newspaper was straight on in its reporting on art sales by Sotheby and Christie recently. "Prices for 18th- to mid-20th-century American art plunged in May as Sotheby’s and Christie’s struggled to sell just 60% of their New York auctions, making $32.1m, down from $159.6m a year ago. 'There were fewer bidders than we’ve seen in a decade,” said Dara Mitchell, the head of Sotheby’s American painting department. 'People were cautious and really waiting to see where this market is going.'"

The NYT says: In Christie’s traditional early summer sale of Impressionist and Modern art held on Tuesday, desirable paintings were scarce. A desperate effort to pad the catalog with a sufficiently large number of works led to the inclusion of some mediocrities that never stood much chance to pull through. Inevitably eight of the 42 works that came on the block crashed unsold. Things could have been a lot worse if bidders had not been as ready as ever to pounce on any works, even modest ones, worth fighting over."

Thank you British Counsel for the image.