Videocrux - Leading auction houses hold auctions amid dismal art sales

#Videocrux - Leading auction houses hold auctions amid dismal art sales Leading auction houses hold auctions amid dismal art sales
Auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s are holding their first auctions of the year in New York. Will they discover that the market for high-priced culture has dropped even more, following a dismal art sales season last autumn?
Bidders expected to pay less at the time of recession
The world's leading auction houses are gearing up for a tough spring season. Sotheby's and Christie's will start a two week sale of impressionist, modern and contemporary art. But with a recession in full swing bidders are expected to pay a lot less for their Picassos.
An expensive sculpture of 6 million dollars at the auction
Sotheby's most expensive contemporary piece is this Jeff Koon's sculpture, valued at around 6 million dollars. That's pennies compared to last year's big sellers.Meyer,"You will see that the highest priced object in our sale now is 6 million dollars and a year ago it was 70 million dollars so there is a big differential and we've prepared ourselves during this sale for a new financial reality that is all around us."
People hoping prices and art market to bounce back
But some say this financial reality is only temporary. Prices will rise again and the art market will bounce back. It's just a matter of time. Guy Bennett, "We have seen these fluctuations before in the modern and impressionist market. Most recently in 2000 when a lot of the dotcom money contracted and again in the 1990's when the Asian markets teetered and collapsed. There will be ebbs and flows in this market but you will see prices achieved at the levels we saw 6 months ago again. When? I don't know."
Auction houses prepared for recession tainted prices
But Sotheby's and Christie's are prepared for recession tainted prices. They expect to sell up to $200 million dollars worth of art this year, down from $600 million in 2008.

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