Arts in Recession
March 5, 2009
My friends we are going through “troubling” “difficult” “unprecedented” “challenging” economic times. Have you heard?
Apparently the art world has. Check out this article in the New York Times Magazine on Jose Mugrabis and his sons. They’re buying modern art as investments the same way that some people by securities, and they’re trying to corner the market so they can control prices. Good luck.
Haven’t we heard that wealth built on ephemeral, hard to value items can be a dangerous proposition? The value of modern art is clearly based on perception. Almost like mortgages…
That said, it seems we’re entering a new gilded age where artists can operate for art’s sake. Just ask Holland Cotter.
But then again, the Metropolitan Opera is offering its Chagall murals as collateral on an existing loan.
There goes that idea.
