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Uncertain Art World Awaits Fall Sales

Credit crisis has auctioneers, galleries bracing for bear market

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 29, 2007 10:47 AM CDT
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(Newser) – As the art world returns from its summer hiatus, dealers, auctioneers, and collectors are on edge about a possible downturn in the market, the Times reports. Fallout from the global credit crunch has led to speculation that astronomical prices for art, particularly in the contemporary sector, may be heading for a correction.

If jittery collectors buy less at the London and Miami fairs and swamp the auction houses with consignments, prices will be depressed and the fallout will be huge. "We've seen an unprecedented appreciation of contemporary art" in the past 35 years, says Eli Broad, one of the world's leading collectors. "We're bound to have a correction."

A Christie's sale.
A Christie's sale.   (Christie's)
An art critic stands in front of a work by U.S. abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, entitled White Centre ( Yellow , Pink and Lavender Rose) at Sotheby's auction house in London, Wednesday April 18, 2007. The work, formerly owned by David Rockefeller, is expected to sell for a sum in...
An art critic stands in front of a work by U.S. abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, entitled White Centre ( Yellow , Pink and Lavender Rose) at Sotheby's auction house in London, Wednesday April 18,...   (Associated Press)
Tobias Meyer selling Picasso's Boy with a Pipe at Sotheby's.
Tobias Meyer selling Picasso's Boy with a Pipe at Sotheby's.   (Sotheby's)
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