A Whole New Meaning to a "Bubbling" Economy
No End in Sight for Soaring Art Market
By ULA ILNYTZKY The Associated Press Tuesday, December 25, 2007; 7:01 PM
NEW YORK -- Art is hot. Despite turmoil in the financial markets, there are no signs that the art market is softening. The fall auction season in New York saw robust prices across most categories, with postwar and contemporary works in particular going through the roof. It seemed like a new record was being shattered every time an art auction was held.
. . . These buyers paid astronomical amounts for art. An Andy Warhol painting sold for more than $71 million in a May auction that brought in a total of nearly $385 million. A Matisse fetched more than $33.6 million in a November sale that also took in nearly $400 million. A limestone lion sculpture that measures 3 1/4 inches hauled in $57 million earlier this month.
. . . "What the market was saying was that the property being offered was very heavily estimated and the quality was not there to support this value," said Ian Pe…