Shutting up shop

One day, perhaps sooner rather than later, it may be possible to draw a telling analogy between the practices of the world financial markets which propelled the global economy to the brink of recession and those which prompted the phenomenal rise of the international contemporary art market. After all, so many of the players are one and the same. Of course, the contemporary art market has not crashed — its next real test comes with November’s multimillion dollar sales in New York — but only fools’ gold would bet on anything other than what might euphemistically be termed an adjustment.

In these more thoughtful times it seems likely that collectors might begin to ask themselves why art came to be produced in such large quantities in recent years, and why prices for these works suddenly and consistently came to outstrip those of the greatest old and modern masters. It is not inconceivable that anyone with any money left might begin to seek more value in the works of art that they buy — intellectual value, that is — and even, dare I say, beauty and a quality of facture.