Art World Stops Using Green

Now that the Financial Market Bubble has burst, so dies the Art World Bubble that it fueled.  Thank the gods.

Prices for art rose 20 % in 2007, compared to the 5.5 % achieved by the S&P 500.

“Tim Williamson, a Philadelphia-based financial adviser, had been dabbling in the art market over the past few years, and like other budding collectors, he sometimes turned to private banks to borrow funds to build his collection at an interest rate of 1 or 2 %.
But as the world was gripped by financial crisis, Williamson’s bank balked at lending him the roughly $500,000 USD he sought ahead of the important fall auction season.  The art boom was fueled in part by easy credit from private banks—and vice versa. Now, as the credit crunch continues to wreak havoc on global commodity and stock markets, many private lenders are pulling back, and art world professionals fear that will put even more pressure on the once-booming market for art.” – from Conde Nast Portfolio

Those of us in the industry are ecstatic.  Now maybe collectors will be forced to learn more about art history before spending their own money on works based on technical and aesthetic acheivement, rather than hype and outrageous pricing.