Question of the Day | 03/11/2009 11:00 pm

Is Mona Lisa frowning? How do you think the current recession will affect the art world?

No more buyers? An influx of creative types? Artists and dealers underselling to make fast money? Candice Bergen, Judith Martin and the wOw women share their thoughts.

Joan Ganz Cooney | 03/11/2009 11:00 pm

Joan Ganz Cooney's Hopes for the Art World

So far, I think the market is holding but who knows what the future will bring if this recession drags on. I hope there is an influx of creative types but I don’t know why a severe recession would cause a flowering of creative activity.

3 Comments

Liz Smith | 03/11/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith: These Artists Ain't Starving

Oh, please – the art world will recover. It has endured famines, floods, volcanoes, wars and earthquakes but people won’t stop creating art and eventually others will come back to buying, collecting or rejecting it.

It’s not just artists and dealers who are underselling to make fast money. And, anyway, what a great ride they had for about 30 years! I can’t stand all this griping now that we are out of an immoral, greedy, money-exalting economy.

8 Comments

Candice Bergen | 03/11/2009 11:00 pm

Candice Bergen: Art World Has the 'Moral Compass of a Mobster'

Art world, schmart world. This depression is causing so many people to suffer that the art world, which has the moral compass of a mobster, is the least of our concerns. We have a house in France near the great cave paintings and people can always go back to something more primitive since the urge to create is primal anyway.

69 Comments

Judith Martin | 03/11/2009 11:00 pm

Judith Martin's Concern About the Performing Arts

It’s the performing arts that I worry about. Those folks don’t have the cold comfort of believing that posterity will appreciate them.

5 Comments

Joan Juliet Buck | 03/13/2009 7:10 am

Joan Juliet Buck Knows a Secret

I know how this recession is affecting the art world and I’m not allowed to say.

But Picasso and Rembrandt are good bets.

0 Comments

Jane Wagner | 03/13/2009 7:30 am

Jane Wagner on the Rise, 'Bubble' and Fall in the Art World

Now that so many rich people suddenly feel nouveau pauvre, yes, the art world is being affected. I was talking with a gallery owner in New York about the recent art fairs in New York and Miami. There has been a big bubble on exhibit in the art world for some time, and this one wasn’t made by Jeff Koons — or maybe when you think of his prices and other brilliant artists like Murakami, they had a hand in it. When you think of the art market itself, I have sometimes wondered if there wasn’t more creativity in art dealers and gallery owners than in the artists themselves. But the art market will bounce back and maybe one or two new "isms" will emerge, like "relativism." Maybe one or two movements will end, but that, ironically, seems only to strengthen a movement — when you can look back and say that’s the end of that movement — it just seems to solidify its importance.

When I go to galleries or museums now, I see the usual people wandering around wondering what it’s all about. The rich people are there, but with Madoff on their minds as if, perhaps, Madoff made off with their money — or they feel squeamish at the thought — it could have been them!

Things will be normal again, even in the art world. There will always be collectors with OCD compelled to buy, buy, buy, buy, and genuine art lovers. Thank God for the "Art Appreciators." And the good art dealers — all codependents of the artists.

There are no foreclosure signs in the art world — although, this wouldn’t be a bad idea for Ed Ruscha. I can see it now, can’t you?

In the March issue of Art News, there’s an article that may be of interest: "Where Is Art Going."

5 Comments

Read more about: Arts, Culture, Economy, Recession

51 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Are we talking a new career direction for you here, nanchan? ;)

By Green Tears on 03/12/2009 1:05 pm

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Nanchan, the public must realize that in the USA, corporations are allowed to claim art they own at any value on their assets reports; hence, corporate America’s link to "the arts." No, it is not always purist, at all, and in many ways has diluted our nation’s concept of the true gifts that our artists possess.

You touch on something that I as a philanthropy consultant, and once orchestra manager, often felt most aggrieved. When we stand by and watch replicated, and often less gifted examples, works our greatest artists/performers received it broke my heart.

Each person has a right to parake of that which they enjoy - regardless of "value," or any market-driven concepts - in other words, items purchased at Michael’s and MJD, for example, are valid. What I am referring to is the monetary value placed on an art work, composition, performance, etc., which affects the public’s concept and respect for art.

I am not diminishing the funding that corporate-America has contributed to the arts, but it is from their annual "marketing" budgets, and I believe that corporations should not permitted to place a value on their collections "out of the blue." There is an industry standard for determining the value of any art work, and museums must adhere to that regarding their own collections. Everything must be appraised by legitimate appraisers, and even the standards set for to determine who is legitimate are tight! I have had to commission an appraisal of collections in my career, and I know only too well what is involved. So, why not require that all industries adhere to the same standard required of a museum or university?

(what a lovely topic for Friday the 13th!)

By C jay on 03/13/2009 8:53 am

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Interesting response. The particular company I am referring to has one of the most respected art collections in the state, yet you know that in a few years, some of those very expensive pieces of art will be auctioned off when they are no longer "au courant". I can’t tell you how many storage bins I’ve been in during my career where I have seen original artwork leaned up against walls, dust gathering, because it doesn’t fit the new decor.

I was joking, of course about Michael’s. In my own home, I have all sorts of art, original stuff that I got at street fairs (my favorite: the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach, CA or it’s swanky sister the Laguna Arts Festival across the highway, be careful when crossing the street!), stuff I’ve actually made (big on paint), stuff my daughter has made through the years. It’s all precious to me. But I love museums and seeing the good stuff.

Thanks again for making me think….:) Have a wonderful and interesting 13th!

By nanchan u on 03/13/2009 9:17 am

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nanchan, thinking … The Pottery Shack - is it still there? I used to spend hours at "Laguana" in the late 1950s - an aunt lived in Santa Ana on N. Towner, and I loved visiting her (my mother’s "kid" sister), and her young family.

By C jay on 03/13/2009 9:57 am

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Last time I was in OC was for my pop’s wake, but I think the Pottery Shack is still there (it may have moved a little bit down PCH)

http://www.potteryshack.com/

The Greeter of Laguna, sadly, died years ago (he used to scare me when I was a small child, but then I grew to love him and would hug him whenever I got to the Beach). They put a statue of him on PCH where he used to stand… I miss Labeena Gooch!

And to keep this on topic (in case the Topic Police are out today) it will be interesting to see what the attendance is to the Arts Festival (and all arts festivals) this year. I bet it will be up: affordable interesting art, affordable family fun… maybe I need to head home this summer after all!

By nanchan u on 03/13/2009 10:23 am

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Oh, do go, Nanachan - you deserve to go! I’ll ‘tag’ along for festival, and go see our Dora, too.

By C jay on 03/13/2009 3:40 pm

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Discretionary income may be down, but the appreciation of the arts and literature should remain strong. We’ve been visiting more public museums (check local sites for free days, 1/2 off days), parks, libraries and more lately because we can’t afford to "go out". Theater tickets are out the budget, but we’ve discovered college and community theaters in addition to local symphonies running discounts on certain concerts or even free concerts in the park.

Visit your local bookstore for an author signing. You don’t always have to buy the book and being there to ask questions, hear a reading is being supportive.

If the artists’ world plays this downturn right, you could see a return to the appreciation of the arts. And new artists, well, they could find their new audience.

By Sylvia M on 03/12/2009 7:02 pm

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Yes, our artists from the names we know to ones we should know are suffering like the rest of us.

The Art Institute Of Chicago is raising their rates. GEE, I wonder why?

If major institutions are struggling what would keep you from thinking that our wonderfully talented WOW sisters aren’t feeling the pinch. We are talkin’ about women who have chosen a field that does celebrate the living. THIS IS HOG WASH!

We should celebrate and buy, buy, buy while we can celebrate their gift of giving so that they may keep the breath and life that their works spring from.

I represent Andy Warhol’s Superstars …. not all of them mind you, I do represent a few of them and they are struggling. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? For instance Taylor Mead, Louie Waldon and Gerard Malanga are looking for those that love what they love and love what they do.

Me, I ain’t got much money but I am workin’ on it (doin’ very well actually) and I have commissioned several works on account art is for the living and not the dead.

Buy some art from your local gallery, I promise it is a decision you won’t regret.

Our good friend Josie is a very talented artist and so is our Mugsy … go buy something and support your sisters.

And yes, ain’t grand how far one can come in a year!? Thank you WoW for my humble beginnings … get a load of me in year from now!

By Blue Circle Girl on 03/12/2009 8:08 pm

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Candice B. is clearly a …… fill in the blank!?

Oh, yeah, actor schmactor … born into it …. I saw your little pretty princess BLACK AND WHITE tv appearances … pishh.

Oh, Candy, don’t be a dummy!

By Blue Circle Girl on 03/12/2009 8:15 pm

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Looking at the Mona Lisa in person is breathtaking as seeing it in print does not do it justice. Just to stand and look, not only at the magnificent detail but also in realizing just who painted it and how long ago he did.

By HA BIBI on 03/12/2009 8:22 pm

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HA BI BI, Ha bi bi, Do recognize your writing style? I think I do.

I feel like a kitten with a ball of yarn!

By Blue Circle Girl on 03/12/2009 9:41 pm

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B.Nyce did not delete me this time. Dear Ms. Nyce, thank you for being so nice!

Please donate to your local animal shelter. Our pets are being put down in record numbers.

Please support agencies that have love for cats and dogs in your area or contact www.anticruelty.org .

Break A Leg Ms. Nyce

By Blue Circle Girl on 03/12/2009 10:34 pm

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With all due respect, not everyone owns a house in France to which they can retire to explore cave paintings. What more important time is there for the flourishing of creativity and beauty? At whatever cost, at whatever scale, the soul is enriched by the realization of someone’s vision. To stop for a generation, to eliminate the arts from schools and museums and restaurant walls, is to rob young people of an aesthetic that is as important to the quality of a civilization as numbers and gerunds and historical dates.

Artists cannot merely pursue their creavity as a hobby during this recession. This is their livelihood, their loaf of bread and jug of wine. Perhaps high end dealers can sweep through this decision, but those who do not have the support of a high end gallery in a major city create art as inspirational and joy-producing unique creations which a family can appreciate each day. A reminder one passes daily to remind us of vibrancy in a world so full of gloom and doom.

Personally, I cannot buy an old master, an impressionist. But I choose to reach beyond my grasp or what’s a heaven for. To me unique art supports the artist and provides me with pride and hope. Let’s the sun shine when the dark clouds are hovering.

Josie Sullivan, a wowower; Mugsy Peabody, a wowower…these are artists and you don’t have to be a spelunker in France to embrace their work.

Peace and grace

By beth willis on 03/12/2009 10:19 pm