Wall Street Journal Reports Rebound in Art Market
According to this August 4, 2010 report in the Wall Street Journal, the art market appears to be on a firm road to recovery.
As a basis for this report, among other things, the article cites to the following information:
* Christie's International PLC said it sold $2.57 billion of fine and decorative art in the first half, up 43% from a year earlier and the second-highest in the company's history.
* Christie's total includes $274.1 million in art it sold privately, up by more than a third from a year ago;
* Sotheby's said it auctioned $2.2 billion of art in the first half, more than double a year ago;
* At Christie's, overall prices were up for nearly all of the auction house's major art categories., including $853 million of Impressionist and modern art, up 37.4%; $460.7 million of postwar and contemporary art, up 139%; and $368.2 million of Asian art, up 120.6%.
These statistics do appear to show that the market has made a significant turnaround in one year.
Undoubtedly, as the overall health of the financial market recovers, too will the art market. The past few years may actually be incredibly beneficial to the art world as Wall Street investors begin looking for new places to put their money. In other words, apprehension of the volatile stock market and fear of inflation is actually boosting the art market, as financial investors, more than ever, are looking to art as an increasingly sound investment.