What’s going on here?
The value of the global art market fell by 4% last year, suggesting that even the very wealthiest have dropped their champagne budgets to, uh, slightly less expensive champagne budgets.
What does this mean?
The world’s art market picked up dust last year, falling to a three-year low of $65 billion. Now, the market does dip every few years, often by more than 4%. Strangely, though, the most expensive works took the brunt this time. Usually, the very richest investors – the only ones that can pick up a Monet like it’s a print at a Sunday market – aren’t financially impacted by the problems of the everyday masses. So unless world-renowned art has suddenly fallen out of favor, this bout of high interest rates, inflation, and political instability has even the ultra-wealthy watching their wallets.
Why should I care?
For you: Master the art.
Tensions are heating up between major countries, China’s deep in an economic hole, and with 40% of the world headed to the voting polls, the political landscape is far from locked in. So if the risky climate is why one-percenters are abstaining from fine art, the rest of the year could be quiet too. That could give budding art investors time to browse while prices are easier on the eye – a prospect only beaten by free prosecco at a private viewing.
The bigger picture: Maybe luxury loyalists don’t need more watches than wrists.
It’s not just the walls of mansions – or more likely, pitch-black private cellars – that are looking a little emptier recently. Big-buck shoppers have been spending less on luxury wares to fill their bespoke closets, forcing high-end brands to take a breather from the intense price hikes they’ve been rolling out since 2019. Even Rolex, as famous for its constantly inflating prices as it is for mother-of-stone watch faces, kept the same price tags out at the start of the year.
