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| The ARTnews—Summer 2015 (cover) |
The economics of art show pretty well the game of power worldwide
Less rich countries should be more careful about how to spend public money on contemporary art. These countries don't play in the first league, and for that reason it is preferable to give priority to basic art education and grants for artists, art critics and art curators to travel and to post-graduate abroad. Fewer art bureaucrats would also be beneficial for all. Last but not least, less rich countries should have fewer but better museums and fewer but better art institutions. A minimal approach may prove more rewarding.
There are no Portuguese, and no Spanish art collectors among ARTnews 200 top buyers of antique, modern and above all contemporary art. Top art collectors are from USA, Europe (Germany, Switzerland, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy and Greece), China, Mexico, Japan, and Brazil (see the graphics in 'Inside The List').
Those who decide policies should read these facts and numbers.
THE ARTNEWS 200 TOP COLLECTORS
The ARTnews, Summer 2015
We go to press on the 25th anniversary edition of our “200 Top Collectors” feature at a historic moment in the art market, marked by the unprecedented sale of Picasso’s 1955 painting Les Femmes d’Alger for $179 million in Christie’s May auction “Looking Forward to the Past.” It is the single most expensive artwork ever to sell at auction. Notably, over the course of just two weeks of sales in New York in May, Christie’s and Sotheby’s brought in a staggering $2.5 billion.
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“We are definitely in a bubble,” said seasoned art adviser Todd Levin, director of Levin Art Group. Nevertheless, he was quick to qualify that assessment: “When people hear the word ‘bubble,’ they immediately think about an impending burst. The truth is that bubbles inflate and deflate in many different ways. No one knows how long this will go, or how or when it will end.”
