Kelly Crow begins her article with: The art market sank into a deeper slump last year, with London-based auction house Christie’s International PLC saying Wednesday it sold £4 billion, or $5.4 billion, of art last year, a 27% decline..
And this is how Christie’s started off their press release: Global Collecting Demand Underpins Resilient Art Market as Christie’s Art Sales Total £4 billion/$5.4 billion
Guess it is all about how you want to spin the numbers!
Why is the health of the art market based on the yearly sales of just two or three auction rooms? An auction room’s results are only as good as the works they get to sell. If buyers decide to sell in a more private way — like through art dealers — then the auction rooms will take a hit. I know that our business has been fairly steady over the past few years.
In addition, with the help of the Internet, some sellers now have the option to sell in peripheral auction rooms which will take business away from the big boys. The pendulum swings back and forth between the dealers and the auction rooms and I think a more appropriate title for this article would be — 2016 Was A Tough One For Sotheby’s & Christie’s.
Source: Art Market’s Slump Gets Worse in 2016 – WSJ
Source: Auction Sales Down at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, in a Challenging 2016