Wednesday, July 17, 2013

What marks today’s dynamic art market?

Investment scenario is getting further complex with metal and precious commodities like gold and silver witnessing a free fall. With the big equities sell off and some rebound in them, for now at least, after Ben Bernanke hinted that the US Fed might soon begin unwinding its quantitative easing program, investors are even more confused. Where does that leave art market?

With the different sets of buyers with differing motives and mindsets in the complex mix of today’s dynamic art market, calling its direction and guessing its trajectory is not easy. The stock market dive in particular has resulted in inevitable speculations about the fact whether the global art market would remain insulated from these developments!

“Well, there are not any easy answers to this query,” points out, Kathryn Tully, a contributor to The Forbes, “Supporters of art as an investment argue that art is not correlated to traditional asset classes. They say that many people view art and other so-called real assets as a place to protect their money and hedge against inflation when things get hairy elsewhere in the markets. But the argument that art is not correlated to other assets is not always true.

“Art market movements, at least some of the time, can be closely aligned to stock market gyrations. When the latter sold off at the end of 2008, the art market did take a hit. The global sell off of mid-2011 when the euro zone debt crisis was at its peak and the US lost its triple-A credit rating caused jitters across the art market, as well.”

The truth of ‘the tricky matter’ is: The art market can get rattled. “It’s very much based on confidence hence can get spooked. Still, more and more people world over will continue buying art simply because they genuinely love it.

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