COULD this have been the year when the notion of art as investment began to lose credibility? At the least, could 2024 have been the point when its most pernicious iteration, that art can be considered only in terms of investment, became untenable? If so, then the first effects may be felt in what might be termed ‘brag-art’, the ‘I don’t know much about art, but you know how much I paid for it’, such as Warhol screenprints and Koons balloons.
Last month, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Warhol’s set of 10 Campbell’s Soup II screen- prints estimated to HK$650 million was one of the few bought-in lots. Similarly, in a London online session of Banksy screenprints, exactly half were unsold. At the more opaque end of the market, one cannot speculate on what the effects might be on unseen stocks of art held in free port warehouses, but it would be pleasing to think of owners bringing things out and learning to enjoy them.
The problem with contemporary art for investors is that it does not remain contemporary for very long. If it is strong enough to be remembered at all, the emerging, cutting edge and challenging will inevitably soon become mainstream and, once there is a secondary market, top dealers can no longer control supply through waiting lists. The best will be classed as ‘Modern Masters’, but even they may well suffer a period of eclipse, if not oblivion: artistic fashion ever rotates; when young, we despise what our parents revered and we often rediscover the idols of our grandparents. As I have mentioned recently (Art market, November 13), sculptured busts seem to be returning to favour after long neglect.
Denne historien er fra December 25, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 25, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Give it some stick
Galloping through the imagination, competitive hobby-horsing is a gymnastic sport on the rise in Britain, discovers Sybilla Hart
Paper escapes
Steven King selects his best travel books of 2024
For love, not money
This year may have marked the end of brag-art’, bought merely to show off one’s wealth. It’s time for a return to looking for connoisseurship, beauty and taste
Mary I: more bruised than bloody
Cast as a sanguinary tyrant, our first Queen Regnant may not deserve her brutal reputation, believes Geoffrey Munn
A love supreme
Art brought together 19th-century Norwich couple Joseph and Emily Stannard, who shared a passion for painting, but their destiny would be dramatically different
Private views
One of the best ways-often the only way-to visit the finest privately owned gardens in the country is by joining an exclusive tour. Non Morris does exactly that
Shhhhhh...
THERE is great delight to be had poring over the front pages of COUNTRY LIFE each week, dreaming of what life would be like in a Scottish castle (so reasonably priced, but do bear in mind the midges) or a townhouse in London’s Eaton Square (worth a king’s ransom, but, oh dear, the traffic) or perhaps that cottage in the Cotswolds (if you don’t mind standing next to Hollywood A-listers in the queue at Daylesford). The estate agent’s particulars will give you details of acreage, proximity to schools and railway stations, but never—no, never—an indication of noise levels.
Mission impossible
Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its rescue. Josephine Tyndale-Biscoe tells the story
When a perfect storm hits
Weather, wars, elections and financial uncertainty all conspired against high-end house sales this year, but there were still some spectacular deals
Give the dog a bone
Man's best friend still needs to eat like its Lupus forebears, believes Jonathan Self, when it's not guarding food, greeting us or destroying our upholstery, of course
