Yesterday Edvard Munch’s iconic pastel painting, The Scream
sold at a Sotheby’s Auction for 119.9 million dollars. This makes it one of very few artworks to
sell for over 100 million dollars. The painting
was bought by a telephone bidder of an unknown origin.
The Scream is also one of four versions created by Munch but
what makes this one special is that Munch wrote a poem about this one.
Other artwork that rivals The Scream in price includes Picasso’s
Boy With a Pipe for 104 million, Alberto Giacometti, Walking Man I at 104.3million,
and Cezanne’s, the Card Players as the
most expensive at
254million.
In last the last couple of year’s paintings, sculptures and
other forms of art have been exceeding their auction estimates and selling at
very high prices relatively quickly. It
would however be foolish to assume that the Art world hasn’t been affected by
the recession. While there may be a
select few buyers out there willing to spend their hard earned millions,
museums and art galleries could be struggling to attract visitors. So I pose the questions; Is Art Recession
Proof? Can Art act as a long term investment? Is the market for high end luxury
good going to see a decline?
7 comments:
The price of pieces of art can be very subjective, especially at the higher end. With a market of so small supply and so few buyers and few sales, prices at the high end are likely to be strangely high at the high end since those who do buy such works of art at such prices can probably easily afford them, but at the lower end, art is a money sink and serves no practical purpose, making the subjective resale price go down unless the artist becomes famous. since the resale value of art is subjective, it is not an extremely recession-proof investment
I think that high end luxury items are rarely ever going to see a decline. People who can afford high end luxury items are going to be able to afford it whether we are in a recession or an economic peak because they have that kind of money at their disposal. If the Art world is hitting any form of a recessions, it's going to be because the average citizen is choosing to cut costs by cutting out the luxury of purchasing a piece of art or not visiting galleries and museums.
I think that The Scream in particular merits that astoundingly high price due to its immediate recognition. The Scream has been made into post cards, decals, stickers, etc., and has been parodied to within an inch of its existence. To own something that culturally renowned is surely worth a high price, albeit perhaps not ~$120 million.
To answer your question, Will, I believe good art is a recession-proof investment. So for the few of us who can afford to buy artistic masterpieces, the value of said pieces will only rise. However, finding those masterpieces is a task within itself.
I believe that famous art will certainly never lose its value. After all, if it's a famous painting now, it will probably remain famous in the future. Select people will always want to own works like "The Scream," so you could consider art to be "recession proof." To add to that, art, especially new works, could act like stocks in a way. Ordinary people could buy current art now for much cheaper prices than $100 million now, and hope that its value grows over time. But it is highly unlikely that ordinary folks will be out trying to by painting now hoping that one day the pieces will be the next Picasso or Van Gogh.
If I were a billionaire art collector I don't believe my money would be going to waste by purchasing The Scream. I think that art will always be available to those who can purchase it. Those who can afford to purchase expensive artwork aren't ones who will lose their millions in recessions. Sabrina is right in that finding masterpieces now is beginning to become an art itself. People may be able to name past famous artists and paintings. But nowadays I don't believe many could name 5 current artists. The painting become more extraordinary after decades, or centuries of time.
Much like the likes of a vintage Ferrari, the longer time goes on the more money the fine art will be. The older the more rare. When Enzo Ferrari passed then certain Ferrari's skyrocketed in price. Edvard Munch has obviously passed, making all of his great works more worthy considering that the scarcity of his work would skyrocket. There is always someone to purchase a high end luxury item that has scarcity.
It is really hard to tell whether Art, especially old Art, is recession proof. In this case The Scream is iconic and very recognizable due to the fact that it has been on several things such as post cards and in several places. As a result, Art so famous is going to be expensive no matter if we were in a recession or not and depending on its condition and other factors that could affect the price the paintings price could fluctuate. Therefore, I don't really think that the recession has had an affect or a large affect on the painting because I think that things such as its familiarity among the public sets its price so high.
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