Art Market Back in the Hands of The Pros

Art Market Reverts To The Pros (Art Market)

With most of the happy-clappy amateurs driven away from the auction arena by the financial panic, the game is back in the hands of those who buy art in full knowledge. Prices have dropped by 20 or 30 percent in categories where speculation was manifest, and will go further down, but outstanding objects are holding up at every level.

Capital Of Culture. Can It Really Transform A City? (Barcelona, Spain)

Can culture really perform miracles as the credit economy disintegrates? There is surely a real risk that a faith in the arts as agents of change, which has become universal among urban planners since Barcelona's Olympics-inspired success, is founded on air, or on the same postmodern delusion that everything is possible which has fuelled the current economic madness. In Britain, with our huge investment in our cultural image, this is especially worrying.

 

Vienna's Albertina Museum Faces Catastrophe (Vienna, Austria) 

VIENNA. Albertina director Dr Klaus Albrecht Schröder told The Art Newspaper that the financial crisis has been a "catastrophe" for his museum. In the past few weeks it has lost well over €2m in support.  An anonymous European donor had played a major role in supporting the Albertina's efforts to build up an important photographic collection. He has temporarily ended his assistance, which would have provided €1m.
The Art Newspaper

Survey: American Museums Making Deep Cuts (Museums)

The scenarios revealed by the survey are grim. The museums reported that state and local governments are already dealing with their deficits by reducing funding. Corporate, charitable and private support is also expected to fall off.