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Collecting
Insights and Perspectives
Unlike Chinese and Indian Contemporary art where prices are falling and values are being marked down, contemporary art in the Middle East is thriving. Furthermore, prices for Middle Eastern contemporary art is still a fraction of comparable work in India and China.
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An early victim of the slide in both sales and prices of contemporary art is the British Urban artist known as Banksy. A set of six prints of the iconic model Kate Moss failed to sell at Bonham’s Urban Art sale on 24 February 2009 in London. The pre-sale estimate of £100,000 to £150,000 was much lower than the £250,000 estimate that the prints were given in October 2008, also failing to sell.
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Recently released financial results from Sotheby’s and Christie’s makes interesting reading. Both major auction houses were on track to score record sales in 2008 until the meltdown in financial markets in the fourth quarter. What is clear is that sales fell less in both Europe and the U.K compared with the U.S. Despite the disappointing end to the year, there were some bright spots with European furniture, jewellery, watches and Asian art all registering increases. Russian works of art were down 55% in sterling terms and post-war and contemporary art down 23%.
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| Although historically the value of most works of art has risen over long-term periods, there have been periods where this has not been the case. There is no guarantee that the art market will continue to rise in the future. |
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