Saturday Seething (part 36 of a 444 part series)

Is Art Recession Proof?

 

Yes, art has been around since the beginning of time.

Yes, art has and continues to serve a function in society.

But, art is a true luxury item and such items are the first things to go off a priority list when times get tough (financially).

 

The filthy rich will always be filthy rich and unfortunately there will always be some sort of poverty because it serves a function in society (from a Functionalist sociological theory) so that leaves the middle-class left to feel the effects of a fluctuating economy. I guess one could argue that the rich are the ones who purchase art (originals) so there will always be a market to sell art in. In this post, I am questioning the sustainability of the middle art market, meaning the market for fine art reproductions and small originals. 

 

We are in a golden age for quality reproductions. The gicleé (pronounced jee-clay) printing process gets us closer to recreating the original than ever before. Developed in the first decade of the 21^st century, they take several HD photographs of the original artwork then, using paint pigments instead of lithographic ink, spray the canvas with the image. The pigment is laced with a UV protectant to insure the canvas is impervious to any fading or sun damage. The colors are rich and the canvas has a glossy glow to it.  Gicleés are made to be cost-effective and with the middle-class art buyer in mind. If the middle-class no longer purchase gicleés, I wonder if the ability to maintain this technology will survive. I also wonder if an even better reproduction process could exist but would not be developed because lack of funding. 

 

The middle-class art market is slowly shrinking. Artists are going bankrupt (or selling their souls to big box warehouses), art publishers are cutting back product and galleries are going out of business all over the country. Luckily, museums are still going strong but even they have the felt the effects of an unstable economy. Yet we still hear stories of art being sold at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Just this weekend, there was a story on MSN about Jennifer Aniston and how she let her boyfriend bid and win a painting titled “Stranger #44” by a contemporary NYC artist. The winning bid was $450,000 and that shattered the record for this artist’s originals that usually go for around $250,000. The high-end market is still very strong (in cities like NYC or LA) but in middle America, art for the middle-class is floundering.

 

The reason why I am concerned about this is not only because I sell art but because I love art.

I know that I will never be filthy rich, I can hardly even begin to hope to be minimally rich, but that should not mean that I will never be able to have good, quality art in my home. I believe that every one should have access to art that moves and touches them, or at least creates some sort of reaction. I believe that artists are blessed with talents that they must share with the world, not only the cultural elite.

 

So, is art recession proof? I don’t know but I sure hope we all can weather the storm.