ART: Recession spreads to the art world as well.
Damien Hirst’s £111.5 million ($199 million) record auction in London last month marks the top of the art market in the UK, for now at least, according to a survey by valuers.
At the time that Hirst was grabbing headlines, the collapse in real-estate sales in the UK was taking its toll on prices of lower-value art and antiques, said the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
“The credit crunch and bank collapses are slowing down the markets, as is the falling house market,’’ said Simon Jones of Oxfordshire auctioneers Jones & Jacob, who was quoted in the survey. “It will get worse as the recession continues. That said, best quality lots are finding buyers at good prices,” he added.
Auction houses are watching for signs of how their sales will perform in London and New York in the next two months. Even wealthy art buyers may be deterred by the Sept. 15 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, said dealers.
A net balance of 34 per cent more auctioneers and valuers reported prices falling for items estimated at £1,000 and below in the quarterly survey completed last month. By contrast, a balance of 39 per cent reported that prices rose for more expensive works of £50,000 and higher as wealthy people snapped up trophy artContemporary art registered the strongest growth, with 41 per cent more surveyors reporting increased prices.
Twenty-two per cent more of those surveyed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said prices were dropping for items valued up to £5,000. Prices fell most sharply for antique furniture and traditional paintings, said RICS.
“It seems average buyers are reassessing their spending in the current financial crisis,’’ said the survey, based on responses from 63 RICS members. “With less people moving home, there is a diminished supply and demand for art and antiques.’’
