18
11
2008
Anatomy of an Art Market Meltdown
Posted by: admin in International art failure, The art world is its own worst enemy, Damien Hirst, Art market decline, The struggles of artists, Commerce and the failure of art, Artistic failure in AmericaWhile I haven’t been the most active poster over the past three weeks, I have been following one story carefully (and collecting multiple links on it)–i.e., The Meltdown of the Current Art Market. For your enjoyment, then, I’ve put together a Cavalcade of Links tracking the falling fortunes of the art market over the last month:
- Tapped Out? (Big New York Auction Houses Brace for a Slower Dance at the Fall Sales), New York Times, October 26
- Economy Shrinks with Consumers Leading the Way, New York Times, October 31
- Our False Oracles Have Failed, We Need a New Vision to Live By (Huge financial success has hidden the moral bankruptcy in our civilisation, we must rediscover our lost values or perish), London Times, October 30
- The Medici Meltdown (What was true then is still true now), Forbes, October 31
- Jeanette Winterson on What Art Means to Us in Times of Crisis, London Times, October 31
- NYC fall art auctions open against gloomy backdrop, Associated Press, November 3
- Auction Season Opens With Little Enthusiasm, New York Times, November 4
- Art Market “Corrects” as Lots Go Unsold at Sotheby’s, Bloomberg.com, November 4
- Gris Sets Record in Slow Christie’s Auction, New York Times, November 6
- A Dreary Night for Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s, New York Times, November 11
- Bottom Falls Out of Contemporary Art Market, This is London, November 12
- Contemporary Art Stars Plunge to Earth in Auction, AFP, November 12
- Fall Auctions Still Getting Paddles, Conde Nast Portfolio, November 12
- Hirst Painting Flops at `Brutal’ New York Art Auction, Bloomberg.com, November 16
- In Faltering Economy, Auction Houses Crash Back to Earth, New York Times, November 16
And, my very favorite link of all:
- Hirst on the Art Market: “What Goes Up Must Come Down,” ARTINFO.com, November 17
Entries (RSS)
November 18th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
The most irritating thing about art celebrities is that others do the work as fame spirals out of control. Is that how art functions in the ether of fabulous success? Other than that I’m ambivalently disinterested in the great ones’ careers. The fox and grapes comes to mind.
The economic slump this decade, I believe, is a manufactured crisis feeding on general panic buoyed by complete uncertainty over the near term. All will pass soon as the near future appears a bit clearer. One positive thing for our little market is the dedicated funding. I will be curious as to how this funding will be implimented so as to benefit the greatest numbers of artists. Thanks for the links.
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:05 am
Interesting collection of links. The art world of late as been pretty much like the stock market - built on speculation.
Which makes you ask yourself , what are the speculators basing their speculations on … I agree with Bob on the panic aspect but thing that maybe - this meltdown should be viewed as a forest fire - making room for new growth.