“Everyone is wondering if the downturn will be like 9/11”
New York dealers fear the worst
Brook S. Mason | 13.2.08 | Issue 188
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“Nobody wants to say the sky is falling but perception affects every market and clearly, we are
entering a new period in the economy,” said Martha Fleischman,president of Kennedy Galleries. “The people who see art as part of their portfolio and like to flip will get an education very quickly this year,” she added.
One of the art market’s noted analysts, William Goetzmann, of Yale School of Management, said the picture is mixed: “What we are seeing are the natural effects of economic concerns among the middle class and a shift away from non-essential, luxury goods, even as the demand at the high end of the wealth spectrum for art appears strong for now.” He sees sales of emerging artists’ work as having a speculative component, which “is sustained by the appearance that there is a market for them”. “However, if galleries close and the market for emerging artists retrenches, it is harder for buyers to believe in a future market for what they have bought,” he added.
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