![Mark Rothko Number 301 (Red and Blue over Red) 1959
Of course now, I can not remember who I was telling this to, but I was saying the art market was going to turn around. I have a few reasons for this. The prices are falling on minimums at auction, galleries are desperate for sales and people want to invest their money in something a little more solid/reliable than Wall Street. Also, the influx to the market of pieces unseen for generations from people desperate for cash will get interest stirring no matter what among the people who can still afford to buy this Picasso or that Lichtenstein. Apparently I am not the only one who thinks this, I just across this article by Charlie Finch, and I realize we really have the same brain.*
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo points the way with his $2.4-million civil suit, announced this morning, against Rothko collector J. Ezra Merkin, whose hedge fund is alleged to have knowingly funneled money into the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Gallerists have been sniffing around Merkin’s Rothkos for awhile now, though the collector has publicly denied any interest in selling [see “Artnet News,” Jan. 8, 2009].
Art dealers should rejoice at the perfect storm on the horizon: cash-rich collectors desperate to invest devalued currency into artworks by the dead and aged, coming face-to-face with a slew of soon-to-be indicted moneybaggers, forced by either the law or necessity to sell their art collections. Like bookies in Vegas, these dealers need only match up both sides of the client equation and collect the vigorish.
I also like to throw in a little Madoff related business in there.
*Mr. Finch probably won’t appreciate this comparison. Too late, already made it.](http://29.media.tumblr.com/6PxqjMt83m0k5zwoW52G5fV7o1_500.jpg)
Mark Rothko Number 301 (Red and Blue over Red) 1959
Of course now, I can not remember who I was telling this to, but I was saying the art market was going to turn around. I have a few reasons for this. The prices are falling on minimums at auction, galleries are desperate for sales and people want to invest their money in something a little more solid/reliable than Wall Street. Also, the influx to the market of pieces unseen for generations from people desperate for cash will get interest stirring no matter what among the people who can still afford to buy this Picasso or that Lichtenstein. Apparently I am not the only one who thinks this, I just across this article by Charlie Finch, and I realize we really have the same brain.*
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo points the way with his $2.4-million civil suit, announced this morning, against Rothko collector J. Ezra Merkin, whose hedge fund is alleged to have knowingly funneled money into the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Gallerists have been sniffing around Merkin’s Rothkos for awhile now, though the collector has publicly denied any interest in selling [see “Artnet News,” Jan. 8, 2009].
Art dealers should rejoice at the perfect storm on the horizon: cash-rich collectors desperate to invest devalued currency into artworks by the dead and aged, coming face-to-face with a slew of soon-to-be indicted moneybaggers, forced by either the law or necessity to sell their art collections. Like bookies in Vegas, these dealers need only match up both sides of the client equation and collect the vigorish.
I also like to throw in a little Madoff related business in there.
*Mr. Finch probably won’t appreciate this comparison. Too late, already made it.
