It’s been prophesied for years, and now it’s finally come to pass: Auction prices for fine art are falling.
“It’s been coming for a while,” says the art adviser Jacob King, who bought a painting by Sturtevant at Christie’s on Wednesday evening for $882,000. “Art has gotten so expensive, across the board. And when you’re talking about works that are $2 million, $5 million, $10 million, there’s just not that many buyers out there. Once someone has their de Kooning, they don’t necessarily want to buy another.”
This spring’s marquee auctions in New York have delivered a string of middling — and occasionally disappointing — results for artwork in a range of mediums, sizes and periods.
