FOR much of the coming week, the tarmac at Basel’s airport will be buzzing with private jets flying super-rich collectors from across the globe to Art Basel, arguably the world’s most important fair for modern and contemporary art. The event in the Swiss city, which runs until June 21st, is one of at least 180 international art fairs held each year, up from only 55 in 2000, according to a recent report by the European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF).
TEFAF’s “Art Market Report 2015” shows that last year the global market in works of art rose by 7% in value terms, to around €51 billion ($68 billion), surpassing the pre-crisis peak of €48 billion in 2007. There used to be two main ways of collecting contemporary art: travelling round lots of dealers’ galleries, or attending auctions. But art fairs, where collectors can view and buy works from hundreds of dealers, have steadily taken a growing share of the market (see chart). Last year almost €10 billion of art changed hands at fairs, representing two-fifths of dealers’ total sales. The art calendar is so packed with them that there is increasing talk of “fair fatigue”—visitor and...
from The Economist: Business http://ift.tt/1QrdktS
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