In a year when the S&P 500 made headlines by moving just .04 points in 365 days and theDow Jones Industrial Average gained only 5.5 percent despite mountains of volatility, the art market has shown an impressive 35 percent gain over the last 12 months based on evening sale totals at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Welcome to the SWAG economy (more on that later).
A recent report from ArtTactic and Deloitte Luxembourg began to chip away at why the art market is so robust — and it doesn’t seem to be because people just like art more these days. Rather, using fine art as an investment tool is becoming more and more popular as equities remain flat and works by blue-chip names like Picasso, Lichtenstein, and Richter continue to appreciate on the secondary market. New York-based art dealer Christophe Van de Weghe recently told Bloomberg that he has noticed quite a few new faces at the auctions over the past few years. “The art market is a place for new people these days,” he said, adding, “The collectors who bought 15 years ago aren’t prepared to pay today’s higher prices.” To read more by ARTINFO’s Shane Ferro, click here.
Tags: Art Market, ARTINFO, Christie's, Shane Ferro, Sotheby's
