My “Art Market Recession Report” on NYFA’s Current

1292009-toc-hv

My first article for the New York Foundation of the Arts’ online magazine for artists, Current, went live today on the NYFA site.

Here’s an excerpt from my “Art Market Recession Report“:

Since last fall, a fog of uncertainty has blanketed New York’s art world as galleries, artists, and collectors have tried to make sense of the current economic recession. While the economy was still in free-fall, New York Magazine critic Jerry Saltz predicted a dire economic future: “If the art economy is as bad as it looks—if worse comes to worst—40 to 50 New York galleries will close.”

And some juicy stuff:

Ground zero for the gallery rumor mill is a blog called How’s My Dealing. The site is the art world’s secret guilty pleasure, although not one without its share of misinformation and controversy…

Rumors aside, nine city art galleries have or will close since the economic crisis began: 31GRAND, Cohan and Leslie, Guild & Greyshkul, Mehr Gallery, Fotosphere, Plane Space, Rivington Arms, Roebling Hall, and werkstatte. Many others have downsized or are faced with uncertain futures.

Read the whole thing here (registration on the NYFA site is required).

Also in this issue of NYFA Current:


4 responses to “My “Art Market Recession Report” on NYFA’s Current”

  1. Mike@MAO Avatar

    Congrat’s on a nice story..

    Fair, balanced and well researched.. you clearly got the inside scoop from some of the best and the brightest of the NYC art world!!

  2. hv Avatar

    Thanks Mike, I tried to keep to honest and you were a major help.

  3. […] news: NYC museums are hurting, L.A.’s MOCA announces layoffs (MAN) and Hrag Vartanian reports on the state of the market. Even the Daily Beast is blabbing about the art […]

  4. jameskalm Avatar

    Hrag,
    Kudos on this article, what a scoop. I think there will be more fallout after the Armory Show Fair Week. Dealers never openly discuss their economic plight until it’s history. The art business has never marched in lockstep with normal economic trends, so there may not be a 10% closure rate but, we won’t know for another two years.

Leave a Reply

Latest Posts

A Historic Year of Protests
This past year saw a huge groundswell of support for protests, most notably for Black Lives Matter. Protests for Palestine, Artsakh, and Pride were also some of the other campaigns …
The T**** Presidential Library
(2021) My only question is if hardcore MAGA supporters would hurl themselves into the hole at a certain age, like something out of Logan's Run (1976), as a sign of …
My First Therapist
I took this photograph while leaving my first therapist's office. It was my last appointment. I went to her for 11 years. The first stretch lasted six years, then I …